4 Essential Parts of a Successful Strategic Marketing Plan

Many people dream about having a business of their own but are too afraid to take a leap of faith and do it – and develop a strategic marketing plan. It is understandable why one may not be prepared – or think they aren’t – given that starting a business is no easy task. As an entrepreneur, there are many things you have to oversee and plan. 

Parts of a Strategic Marketing Plan

From refining your business idea, writing a compelling and well-structured business plan, to thinking about your marketing techniques, it isn’t just one job you have to do. Not to mention that it can be much more challenging without a solid team backing you and being committed to seeing this idea come to life.

When it comes to creating a team, this doesn’t have to be made of too many people, especially if you are at the beginning and your budget is quite limited. You could only have one business partner at the beginning and, together, can drive the business further.

Free Download: MoreBusiness.com's Sample Marketing Plan Template

Nevertheless, if you have managed to lay the foundation of your business, it is of the utmost importance to start laying the foundation for your marketing plan too. It is never too early to begin developing a strategic marketing plan once your idea is refined and you have a well-established business plan.

In fact, when you are preparing your start-up’s launch, it is highly recommended to have a clear strategy already when it comes to marketing, with some techniques already implemented and campaigns started.

Why? Because this is how you will create the needed hype around your newly created, fresh-out-the-oven brand. Otherwise, you risk launching the business and not having anyone from your target audience know about this. There is no doubt you want to avoid this type of scenario. 

Therefore, creating a strategic marketing plan from the beginning is of the utmost importance. You even have to include it in your business plan in those initial stages of opening a business, so you might as well apply those strategies as soon as it is relevant and when the brand is not far from being launched. 

In case you need any help with this part, here are four tips on how to develop a strategic marketing plan that works for you and is good for the business:

1. Know Your Market and Audience Extremely Well

How could you ever develop or even think about a marketing plan if you haven’t researched the market you are about to enter and don’t know your target audience exceptionally well? Truth be told, this is impossible. For this reason, first and foremost, you should make sure you know everything there is to know about your market and audience and what is relevant to your business. 

In order to effectively target your market segments and interested customers, you may want to know who the people likely to buy into your business offerings are. This should be considered in line with current trends and customer buying behaviour and habits. It helps a great deal to define your buyer persona. This is a detailed profile of your ideal customer. Based on this, you can start creating a strategic marketing plan relevant to your audience and the market you belong to. 

2. Have A Clear Idea of Your Marketing Objectives

It is crucial to have a clear idea of your marketing objectives and goals when it comes down to developing a marketing plan and strategy. Only this way can you create something relevant and will have a return on investment. Among some of the most common marketing objectives is to increase brand awareness – especially as a start-up that needs to build a community and follower base – and acquire new customers, or increase brand engagement or website traffic.

These goals are relevant at all times. Whether your business is at the beginning or is well-established in its market, having such marketing objectives and a business goal is always necessary and crucial to grow the brand or maintain its good reputation. If you need support identifying all your marketing goals and objectives, hiring a digital marketing agency is highly recommended. Getting help from specialist marketers can help your business implement efficient business strategies.  

3. Select The Relevant Types of Marketing You Want to Use

While traditional marketing techniques can still be effective, such as print or word-of-mouth, it is crucial to implement digital marketing strategies, given today’s climate. Nowadays, the majority of individuals across the globe utilise social media platforms or access the internet for various activities. From shopping to gaming and making use of digital tools and services, there is no denying that this is where businesses have to be – in the online environment.

For this reason, it is of the utmost importance to develop a strategic marketing plan in the digital space. Content marketing and Search Engine Optimisation are two of the most effective types of digital marketing, which can help brands increase traffic to their online channels and, hence, boost brand awareness and increase brand recognition. In time, this translates into revenue. It is vital to create SEO-friendly content on your website, on a blog area, and on social media platforms for this to work. An SEO agency in London that specialises in this area could assist you in creating an effective strategy.

Another relevant type of digital marketing you could use is email marketing. This is an excellent method for creating a personalised message which your customers will greatly appreciate, increasing their loyalty. So, once you have an established database of clients, you may also want to consider email marketing. 

4. Make Use of Digital Marketing Tools 

Last but not least, when you develop a strategic marketing plan, you may want to make use of digital marketing tools. Thankfully, the internet and the emergence of new technologies have given businesses of different focuses the opportunity to facilitate the marketing plan a great deal. 

With digital tools, you can schedule posts and stories so that you don’t have to lose time every time with creating and posting multiple content posts per day. In addition to this, digital marketing tools can also support marketers in collecting insights and analytics. This helps you conduct analysis based on which you can create future relevant marketing campaigns.