Why your marketing strategy comes before you go to market plan

But what exactly is a marketing strategy? Investopedia says, "a business's overall game plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers of their products or services." A marketing strategy aims to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage over the business' competitors. 

4 elements of a marketing strategy  

To have successful marketing to create a competitive advantage over the competitors, the marketing manager of the business must understand the 4 main components of a marketing strategy. Price, Promotion, Product, and Place are also known as the 4Ps of the marketing mix. Each factor helps the firm gain advantage over its competitor.

Product

This marketing mix component is responsible for the product itself and the good or service the business provides to its customers; the marketer has to define the product and its qualities and introduce it to the consumer. In addition, marketers need to understand the product life cycle (PLC) and develop strategies for tackling each phase to maximize their profits from the product.

Generally, a successful outcome can fill a void in the consumer's minds that the competitors' products weren't able to. Therefore, one of the best ways a marketeer can use the product to create a successful marketing strategy is to figure out how the product that the business provides can fill the void in the minds of the targeted audience. 

Price

Price is the amount consumers will be willing to pay for a product or the amount of money a business charges for a product or service. It is essential to pick a price that is simultaneously accessible to the target market and meets a business's goals, as it is one of the most significant factors that decide whether the customer will buy your product or not.

To set a price that will help you maximize profits and have the maximum number of customers possible, the marketeer would need to understand the target audience and their willingness to pay for a product that the business operates.

Place

The place is where you sell your product, and the distribution channels the business uses to get it to its customer or the consideration of where the product should be available, in walk-in stores and eCommerce websites, and how it will be displayed. The place is an integral part of the marketing mix. Finding the right place to market and sell your product is critical in reaching your target audience.

The easier the accessibility of the product or service for the customer, the higher the sales are likely to be; if the customer has to look around at the business' particular product, the less likely they are to purchase that product as the customer will desire a hassle-free experience. 

Promotion

Promotion is how a business advertises its product or service. Promotion encompasses advertising, public relations, and the overall media strategy required to introduce a product. In the digital age, the "place" and "promotion" factors exist both online and offline, so the business must pay attention to promotion to stand out from the competition.

The more attention the company pays to its promotion strategy, the more people it will reach, and the higher the brand awareness will be for the business's products and services. This leads to higher sales numbers, as consumers are more likely to buy a product or service from a brand they recognize.

The marketing strategy is an essential part of the marketing plan as it provides the base structure of the marketing plans; if the marketing strategy is done correctly, the business will be ready for all situations. The company can take action according to the marketing strategy rather than creating a strategy on the spot. A marketing strategy allows a business to create a competitive advantage over its competition and the marketing plan allows the company to sustain that competitive edge over the competition.

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