Strategic marketing planning is a system that will help an organization to focus its limited resources in the most cost-effective, results-oriented ways to increase revenues and reach a sustainable competitive edge. There are many forms of marketing strategies, but the most common strategy is to create a “market basket” that contains customer, brand, and product information to allow a company to focus all their resources in one place for maximum results. This is the ultimate goal of any marketing plan.
When an organisation creates a strategic marketing plan, they first need to perform a swot analysis. Swot analysis is a systematic process to identify opportunities and threats, using available information, to determine which strategy best suits a certain organisation’s objectives. For example, if a business wishes to increase their customer base, the objectives could be to create a market segment specifically for this purpose. The second strategy could be to build relationships with other businesses. Both of these strategies are important, and can overlap, depending on the business objectives. The third strategy, which is often the most important, is to build a marketing mix that effectively combines all of the previous strategies into one seamless plan.
In order to get the best results, it is important to have an accurate assessment of an organisation’s strategic marketing needs, and the means to reach those needs. This can be done by performing a comprehensive SWOT analysis for your organisation, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and then combining these into a strategic marketing plan that provides the most benefit to the organisation. An effective strategic marketing plan ensures that a company maximises its own productivity potential and reduces the cost of doing business. A good planning process will provide a framework for the organisation, and allow it to develop a strategic marketing plan, that is aligned with the organisation’s goals, and provides the highest return on investment.