There is hardly a small business owner who is not obsessed with this term: marketing strategy. That’s the main aspect that makes the difference between successful entrepreneurs and those that fail. It’s strange how everyone cares about discovering the perfect marketing techniques for their business, but we don’t bother realizing what marketing strategy really means.    

Let’s start with the fundamentals. Marketing strategy is a collection of techniques that enable a particular organization to direct its resources towards the best opportunities in terms of increasing sales and achieving a sustainable advantage over the competition. A company’s marketing strategy consists of long-term activities that contribute towards developing strong brand awareness.

Now that we have a clear definition of the term, it’s time to get into the details: when can you be sure that you have a good marketing strategy? Pay attention to the following components, and you’ll get there:

1. Target Audience

Who are you trying to reach through your marketing efforts? Who falls into the category defined as the perfect customer? This is the first step in every marketing strategy: identify your target audience. This doesn’t mean you’ll ignore potential buyers who don’t fit into the criteria you set at this stage. Everyone interested in your products and services will still be able to get them, but you should definitely narrow your marketing efforts to the category of people you are most likely to attract.

Levi’s, for example, aims to attract young, vibrant people who love the mix of modern and classic. That’s the customer their whole marketing strategy is focused on.

When you identify the interests of your target customer, you’ll adjust the overall style of your marketing strategy in a way that suits this category of users. You’ll create the perfect TV ads, you’ll write blog posts in a language they understand, and you’ll easily connect with them via social media.

2. Awareness

The ultimate goal of any business is to gain more trust with current clients and achieve better brand awareness among the target audience. Some of the classic ways to boost awareness for your brand include advertising (TV, newspapers, magazines, and online) and word of mouth. These tactics are not outdated as many contemporary marketers think. You should still consider them as part of your content marketing strategy.

In the current market conditions, the concept of building brand awareness is mostly determined through online marketing techniques. This means that your business needs a website, as well as a blog where you will post high-quality articles related to your niches. Videos, podcasts, infographics, images, and presentations are also important. Visual and audio content creates lasting impressions.

3. Unique Advantages

Your brand has to offer a unique advantage if you want your target audience to choose it over competitors’ offers. What are the main things that distinguish your product/service from the similar offer on the market? If you cannot identify such advantages, you better think of them as soon as possible. Then, you’ll focus your marketing strategy on promoting them.

If, for example, you’re promoting new photo editing software, you’ll face huge competition and you’ll have to attract the audience with unique features. The customer wants effectiveness, speed, a great choice of filters and editing options, and a unique flair that will make the photos different from the mainstream trends. If the description of your offer gets the attention of your target audience, you’ll be one step closer to achieving the goals of your marketing campaign.

Don’t make things too complicated. Elaborate commercials are annoying and counterproductive. You need to identify one or two things that make you different and promote them as much as possible. Is your product cheaper and better than everything else on the market? Well, that’s all your potential clients need.

4. Communication with Your Clients

It’s important to know when and how to communicate with your audience. You cannot simply create social media profiles and use them whenever you have time for them. The connection you develop with your customers is a key aspect of the success of your marketing strategy. Social media is certainly important, but you have to use it strategically. Consider paid advertising on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. These ads will be featured in front of a huge audience, so you’ll easily attract a base of followers with this method.

When you obtain a decent number of followers, you’ll need to maintain successful communication with them. Don’t make it all about your business. You’ll certainly promote your products and services as the best choice on the market, but you should focus your attention on the needs and wants of your followers. Identify the problems they have and show how your business is a proper solution.

Monitor the activity of your audience and make sure to publish updates during traffic peak times!

5. Activities

Okay, you identified your target audience, you started building brand awareness, you have a unique offer and you understood the importance of proper communication. Now you’re left with one factor that connects all previous elements of a good marketing strategy whether you go DIY or hire a marketing agency.

You need to inform your target audience about the advantages of your business through a series of activities that include advertising, online presence, seminars, webinars, promotions, giveaways, interviews, and other smart ways of using media. Each and every action you take must maintain the relation with your marketing strategy.

A Successful Marketing Strategy Takes Time and Commitment

There are no shortcuts to achieving the ultimate goals of your business through a proper marketing strategy and sometimes businesses will outsource this work to a growth marketing agency.. You should be ready to invest a lot of time, effort, patience, and finances in this goal. When you pay attention to the key elements of a good marketing strategy, it will be easier for you to develop a logical, effective plan that will lead your business to success.

Need help training your marketing team on how to craft and implement an effective marketing strategy? Check out our Certified Marketing Manager program. This program can help you build, implement, and evolve a new marketing system that will drive growth for your business.

Kenneth Waldman is a professional content writer with over 5 years of experience and also a blog editor at essay writing service EssayMama.com. His expertise includes education, marketing, freelancing. You can get in touch with him on Linkedin.