What does 'marketing strategy' actually mean?

[MickDee]

Hey,

I'm struggling to actually understand what strategy is / looks like.

For example if someone asked me to come up with a marketing plan I get what that is, but if someone asks what is the digital marketing strategy or come up with a strategy, I don't get how it differs from the plan? I have Googled and read many web pages that go into the detail of building a strategy document etc but it still doesn't make sense to me. Can someone explain how a digital marketing strategy differs from digital marketing plans? I'm sure this should be clearer to me than it is!

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Hey,

I'm struggling to actually understand what strategy is / looks like.

For example if someone asked me to come up with a marketing plan I get what that is, but if someone asks what is the digital marketing strategy or come up with a strategy, I don't get how it differs from the plan? I have Googled and read many web pages that go into the detail of building a strategy document etc but it still doesn't make sense to me. Can someone explain how a digital marketing strategy differs from digital marketing plans? I'm sure this should be clearer to me than it is!

Thanks.

Hi Mick, A marketing plan is what you are going to do to achieve your aims using the marketing strategy. It’s an annual plan with specific measurable targets.

Marketing Strategy is more about how you will create competitive advantage for your organization and it’s more long term.

I used to explain it to my students by showing them a slide of a picture on the wall. I said your aim/ objective is put a picture on the wall. Your strategy is how. Are you going to use a simple method- nail or more complex screw hook. Your plan will then define which tools you use and the correct steps to make sure you get the right result.

Strategy is more of a long term view of how you will create competitive advantage for your business.

How will you distribute your products or services - direct to customer or via intermediaries). This may well impact on your pricing strategy - to be the cheapest or most expensive.

How will you promote your company- what media channels what are the key long term aims etc.

Hope this helps get the basic points over. Others may elaborate on this to give you more insight.

 

[AllUpHere]

The strategy deals with working out all the stuff you need to know before you start promotional work. The marketing plan tells you how you are going to do the promotional work.

 

[The Byre]

1. Position your product. The right product with the right positioning can often survive bad marketing. This is particularly true in fields such as computers, mobile phones, etc – which are driven by innovation.

2. Research and testing, to tell you whether you are going to be doing the right things or not.

3. Targeting. A poor message to the right people beats a good one to the wrong people.

4. Incentives. What you are going to give the customer tends to matter more than what you say to them.

5. Creat your campaign.

6. Test, test and test again!

Have a look here - https://draytonbird.com/articles/ Lots of good tips on marketing there!

 

[Alan]

Don't get confused, they are all plans

Think
Strategic Plan = big picture
Implementation Plan = doing it
Tactical Plan = responding to a change

etc

Marketing Plan in it's own right is not defined enough, is it Strategic Marketing Plan ( big picture ) or Marketing Implementation Plan ( what to do today )

 

[MickDee]

Marketing Strategy is more about how you will create competitive advantage for your organization and it’s more long term.

Thanks for this detailed response, could you give me a specific marketing example?

For example I may do social media marketing , with the main goal being to increase brand awareness and sales so is this correct for social media strategy:

Strategy - grow followers on Instagram with engaging content
Plan - do photoshoot for new imagery, run giveaways, film brand video etc

This feels like its the same thing to me, one is just more indepth.

Thanks!

 

[MickDee]

Don't get confused, they are all plans

Think
Strategic Plan = big picture
Implementation Plan = doing it
Tactical Plan = responding to a change

Thanks for this, could you expand this to a specific marketing example using social media for me?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Thanks for this, could you expand this to a specific marketing example using social media for me?

Sounds a bit like homework?

At a practical level, for the normal small business owner it's just semantics; I wouldn't worry about whether is't a strategy or a plan, just make sure it's thorough, realistic & achievable.

 

[MickDee]

Sounds a bit like homework?

At a practical level, for the normal small business owner it's just semantics; I wouldn't worry about whether is't a strategy or a plan, just make sure it's thorough, realistic & achievable.

Purely trying to grasp the difference with a simple quick example that's tangible.

 

[fisicx]

Don’t get hung up on the names of things.

Start with what you want to achieve (sell stuff) and work backwards. It may be you will find social media is the wrong platform (it often is) and the best way to customers is on eBay or wherever.

Forget brand awareness. It’s marketing puffery that means nothing.

 

[antropy]

Don’t get hung up on the names of things.

So easy to overthink. If in doubt take a step back, do some more research, ask around and it will all fall into place. As Fisic says don't get too worried about the names of the strategies. Alex

 

[ethical PR]

Thanks for this detailed response, could you give me a specific marketing example?

For example I may do social media marketing , with the main goal being to increase brand awareness and sales so is this correct for social media strategy:

Strategy - grow followers on Instagram with engaging content
Plan - do photoshoot for new imagery, run giveaways, film brand video etc

This feels like its the same thing to me, one is just more indepth.

Thanks!

you need to have SMART objectives which you can then evaluate to see if your objectives are achieved - raising brand awareness and sales is pretty meaningless without including tangible measurements as to what this actually looks like .

your strategy should include reasoning behind your chosen approach based on your market research, target audiences, messaging, recommended channels, recommended collateral and content and how you will measure whether your objectives are being achieved.

your action plan is a month by month calendar of activity , which audiences you will reach through said activity and which objective the activity is designed to achieve.

you should be evaluating activity at least quarterly.

if you are providing marketing strategy and planning services I would presume you have qualifications and experience in the sector so surely this is something you should know?

 

[Paul W.]

I guess the main difference is the strategy itself is more about the medium to longer term goals you are trying to achieve and the identity you are trying to project as a business. The plan is more about the nitty gritty tactics of how you will go about achieving your strategy.

 

[pkpolymers]

I think marketing strategy is a much broader term and lies at the very heart of your business. Anything and everything that you do to SELL is your marketing strategy. Buying a years supply of raw material during offseason, while it's cheaper, with excess liquidity sitting in banks at lower rates and selling your products during peak seasons at unparalleled rates can get you entire market shares, provided you have the infrastructure to meet that demand.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Sounds a bit like homework?

At a practical level, for the normal small business owner it's just semantics; I wouldn't worry about whether is't a strategy or a plan, just make sure it's thorough, realistic & achievable.

That's the word a practical level
We have the most prominent courier site in the South West .It ranks high nationally
Terminology and A level business standards are very low on my agenda.
You may already know about my low standard of education but we have always just done it .
I spend hours studying this stuff

 

[Financial-Modeller]

Perhaps old school, but:

• Mission Statement - to be the biggest / best / most profitable etc
• Strategy - how you plan to achieve it - expand into new markets / invest in customer acquisition / increasing repeat spend / expand product range / exploit new channels / integrate your supply chain / buy competitors etc
• Plan - the discrete tasks that you need to be complete to deliver the strategy to achieve the Mission Statement.