All about marketing strategy: concept, types, development methods

The marketing strategy of an enterprise allows you to understand how to plan and implement all kinds of activities in a company aimed at implementing plans and objectives using certain marketing tools. It is focused on increasing sales and income of the enterprise, learning how to dynamically sell products for a long time.

Types of Marketing Strategies

• Cause Marketing
  Causal marketing is a type where businesses and companies support social causes to raise funds or spread awareness and receive marketing benefits in return, such as customers and brand loyalty. According to some recent studies, approximately over 90% of customers say they will buy from companies and businesses that support their social activities, such as breast cancer, anti-bullying, anti-smoking, suicide, etc.
• Relationship Marketing
  Relationship marketing is the art and process of developing long-term relationships with customers. It is much more than a normal transactional selling relationship where you only focus on selling a product/service in the first place. Technological advances have made customers more informed and empowered. Nowadays, the customer has every opportunity, and companies follow the principle that the customer is always right. Relationship marketing is all about satisfying the needs and desires of customers, getting their feedback, and improving the product/service.
• Word of Mouth Marketing
  Word of mouth marketing is based on the principle of making a good impression on customers. If customers have a good experience with a company's product/service, they will recommend it to their friends and family and do the same in return. Word of mouth marketing sets off a chain reaction; If it works, then this is one of the most interesting marketing techniques.
• Paid Marketing
  Paid marketing is also called digital marketing. It is a marketing strategy in which businesses and companies target customers based on their interests and previous interactions with the brand. This is an expensive method, but if you plan it well, it will give the best results. Companies typically use different channels for paid marketing campaigns such as social media platforms, search engine results pages, sponsored social media posts, affiliate marketing, pay per click, TV ads, cross website banners, and guest posts.
• Diverse Marketing
  Diversity marketing is a technique that businesses use when they have to deal with a diverse population. This means developing different marketing plans for different customer segments based on their attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes and needs.
• Transactional Marketing
  Transactional marketing is a type of marketing where retailers use various methods such as discounts and coupons to increase sales. The goal is to encourage and motivate customers to buy more and more products. This is because sales have become very difficult recently due to strong competition in the market. Transactional marketing is the opposite of relationship marketing. Discounts, coupons, special packages and offers, bundle offers, group offers, and ""buy one"" and ""get one free"" offers are examples of transactional marketing that retailers use to increase sales.
• Electronic Marketing.
  Email marketing is also known as internet marketing strategy. This means that the company or business will use the Internet to market their products and services. Search engine optimization (SEO), paid marketing, sponsored posts, guest posts, advertisements, banners, video and written ads, and email marketing are some of the main examples of email marketing.
• Covert Marketing
  Covert marketing is also known as covert marketing. This is a very elaborate form of marketing strategy where businesses and companies advertise their product/service or brand without showing that they are selling it. In a covert marketing strategy, brands manipulate the perceptions of customers into thinking they don't know about them.
• Offline Marketing
  Offline marketing is also known as traditional marketing. This means that enterprises, businesses and companies use traditional product distribution channels. For example, television, radio, print media, billboards, brochures, and newspaper advertisements are some of the main examples of offline marketing.

MS Examples

One example of a successful marketing strategy is Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Companies offer CLV to those customers who make recurring purchases overtime. Some companies make their regular customers ""brand ambassadors"". In order to recognize their importance to the company and attract many new customers to the brand.

Pay per click social media advertising, banner advertising, influencer marketing and ad retargeting are some of the prime examples of paid marketing that companies and businesses use to reach their target audience.

Stages of developing a marketing strategy

At the first stage it is expedient to preliminarily perform pre-strategic diagnostics. As a rule, conducting a marketing audit and diagnostics of an enterprise reveals not only problems with a product in marketing, but also problems associated with other aspects of production activities that may have a negative impact on the sale of products.

In the second stage market research, study of consumer preferences, selection of target markets and directions for entering them.

Depending on the results of this stage, the company may decide on:

• rebranding
• changing channels of contact with the target audience
• search for additional target consumer segments
• expanding the product line
• development of one or two products from the range
• development of the export direction
• product elimination

In the third stage development of a promotion campaign, selection of channels and distribution of the budget, calculation of the cost of rebranding, design, etc.

If we consider in more detail, the main steps in the formation of a marketing strategy will be:

1. Marketing audit (if the company is not new)
2. Market Research
3. Analysis of competitors and assessment of the company's competitiveness
4. Setting marketing strategy goals
5. Market segmentation and selection of target segments (consumer research)
6. Analysis of strategic alternatives and choice of marketing strategy
7. Positioning development
8. Preliminary economic assessment of the strategy and control tools