Developing a marketing strategy is vital for any business. Without one, your efforts to
attract customers are likely to be haphazard and inefficient.
The focus of your strategy should be making sure that your products and services meet
customer needs and developing long-term and profitable relationships with those
customers. To achieve this, you will need to create a flexible strategy that can respond to
changes in customer perceptions and demand. It may also help you identify whole new
markets that you can successfully target.
The purpose of your marketing strategy should be to identify and then communicate the
benefits of your business offering to your target market.
Once you have created and implemented your strategy, monitor its effectiveness and make
any adjustments required to maintain its success.
This guide helps you identify which customers to focus on and your key objectives in
reaching them. It explains what to include in your marketing strategy and how it can be
used as the basis for effective action.
Key elements of a successful marketing strategy
Understanding your strengths and weaknesses
Developing your marketing strategy
Tips and pitfalls
KEY ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGY
One of the key elements of a successful marketing strategy is the acknowledgement that
your existing and potential customers will fall into particular groups or segments,
characterised by their “needs”. Identifying these groups and their needs through market
research, and then addressing them more successfully than your competitors, should be the
focus of your strategy.
You can then create a marketing strategy that makes the most of your strengths and
matches them to the needs of the customers you want to target. For example, if a particular
