Marketing Strategy Process Description

Reasons for implementation

In the current world, every organization wants to be competitive and successful. However, the achievement of goals in the competitive market of today calls for the organization to match its potential to the taste of consumers and to woo extra customers to ensure their aim of expanding remains achievable. As a result, every organization is implementing marketing strategies (South West Arts Marketing, 2002).

Marketing strategy definition

The combination of words ‘marketing’ and ‘strategy’ derives from the term marketing strategy. Marketing is the management process that helps to recognize, foresee, and supply the requirements of customers (South West Arts Marketing, 2002). According to South West Arts Marketing (2002), Strategy is the determination of organizational objectives and goals with the identification of the best way possible to implement these goals. A marketing strategy is therefore a systematic approach taken towards a major and important responsibility of ensuring the organization’s position relates to its environment with a guarantee of success and future security (Cravens, 2000).

Consequently, the responsibility of strategic management is to guarantee that the functions of the organization throughout the marketing period align with its surroundings either outwardly or internally. The management team ensures the mission, purpose, or aims of the organization govern the marketing operations. Moreover, modification of the aims and goals occurs from time to time depending on the changing environment of marketing to ensure the organization gets the best from the environment presented. It also involves the use of mechanisms ensuring utilization of the process of strategic thinking. That is, data collected and analyzed from the market is helpful when making decisions about the position of the organization in the market and its competitors.

It is important to note that the key management roles like product-market relations, quality determination, and resourcing require approval by the senior management. Furthermore, the senior management team puts in place the necessary organization strategies throughout the organization and ensures they are implemented to meet the decided objectives. Besides, after getting feedback from the market data, the senior management keeps on varying the set goals and objectives to suit its market. At the end, when the set strategies meet the organizations objectives, it becomes a tactic.

As South West Arts Marketing (2002) notes, one mans strategy is another’s tactical and the strategic thing is where you currently sit. However, at levels of the organization, strategic marketing management helps to manage those processes making up strategies, helps in the realization of the strategies, and ensures the organization is running on rails of the strategies by the current market environment to achieve the set goals. As a result, the process of managing strategies is integrative. It is an iterative process made of three stages, which include strategic market planning, implementation, and control (Cravens, 2000).

According to Aaker, (2004), a marketing plan is a time scale write-up of the organizations aims, its products on sale, the targeted consumers, market shares, possible profits, advertising methodologies, and channels of distribution with the specification of responsibilities of individual workers. This is the most essential stage when making strategies and at the same time, it consumes a lot of time. It makes a detailed examination of the trends in the current markets, sets the objectives of the firm, creates the strategy of achieving the set objectives, and describes the evaluation and assessment of the strategies implemented on their applicability (Cravens, 2000).

Marketing strategy plan stages

Therefore, the resultant marketing strategy plan should have an introduction about the company, brief information about the companys product, and its market coverage. Then, the objectives and aims of the organization are stated and defined. In the marketing strategy management plan, the market researches, sales outline, product researches, and data analysis are briefly described. Moreover, a detailed analysis through evaluation tools such as PEST and SWOT analyses determines marketing strategies’ workability. Likewise, a statement of strategies and description of its market in terms of competitors and the consumers taste follows. These help to give a detailed explanation of actions expected, and tasks per individual against a time scale during marketing strategy plan implementation (Aaker, 2004).

During planning marketing strategies, the marketing mix is well considered. The promotional objective, plan, and budget are made in a way it will help the organization to retain and woo new customers. It also illustrates the pricing strategies to the business and the understanding of commodity distribution channels during its execution. Hence, it becomes possible to forecast the expected sales in every targeted market (Chiquan, Guo, Anand, Kumar, Pornsit, & Jiraporn, 2004).

Since the whole process of planning marketing strategy is liable to deviations, there are set limits to which the strategies can operate. It is possible deviations can override the limits. To prevent the negative outcomes when this occurs, the marketing strategy planners must suggest some control measures in their plan and others arise during implementation to keep the organization focused on its objectives and goals. To determine whether the market is working within the limits, evaluation measures are used. They involve analyzing sales, market, marketing mix impact, and customer satisfaction. Then, solutions are derivable from the analyzed information and when the opportunity presents itself, the organization seizes it.

Between implementation and planning of marketing strategies, communication plays an important role. When planning the marketing strategies, it must pass information from the members of staff to the senior management. To counteract, when implementing the marketing plan, the employees need to get adequate information from the senior management. Moreover, senior management requires quick and efficient communication with those in the marketing to update the control measures of their marketing strategy plan. Otherwise, poor communication in the new marketing plan demoralizes everyone and this may lead to the organization making losses (Walker, 2003).

Lastly, the implementation process is the most important part of marketing strategy. This part determines the success or failure of the process. It involves putting on the ground the whole plan of marketing strategy.

References

Aaker, A., D. ( 2004). Strategic Market Management. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley.

Chiquan, Guo, Anand, Kumar, Pornsit, & Jiraporn (2004). Customer Satisfaction and Profitability: Is there a Lagged Effect. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 12(3), 129.

Cravens, W., D. (2000). Strategic Marketing. Boston, London: McGraw-Hill.

Walker, C., O. (2003). Marketing Strategy: A Decision-focused Approach. London: McGraw Hill.

West Arts Marketing (2002). Strategic Marketing Planning. Web.