Clearly most marketers have different perception of marketing strategy. The term itself refers to a company approach intended for development, production and positioning of goods and services to specific customer groups in order to meet their needs best. Marketing strategies prioritize forward-looking company objectives and uses planning marketing programs that help companies insight into their objectives. Companies turn to marketing strategies for not only established product lines, but also for new products and services.
The Marketing Development
Even though marketing practices have a longer history than commerce has, marketing was not recognized as a formal discipline until the 1950s, i.e. precisely when businesses began to apply to analysis and ask questions: how to attract more clients? How to make customers feel satisfied? How to deal with competition? At that point, marketing transformed into the process of analyzing and focusing business on the customer. So that businesses can provide goods or services valued by consumers.
In fact, marketing presupposes never-ending decision making that strongly affects consumer interest in a company, e.g. pricing, product line, promotions, advertising and etc. The majors concerns of marketing are usually referred to as the “four Ps”, or the “marketing mix”: product, price, place, and promotion.
Consequently, marketing provides shaping a company’s reputation and creating a good impression onto customers, as well as developing and implementing policies that will enable a company to maintain its repute. This is where we encounter a marketing strategy which constitutes the process of planning and implementing those policies seeking to both understande company objectives and adjust them to the company vision. Marketing strategies are rather general, for instance market segmentation and loyalty campaign, as well as countless focused strategies for specific areas of marketing.
What are the best marketing strategies to use?
Businesses tend to face this head-scratcher all the time. It is apparent they are in a great need of increased visibility to improve their sales substantially. However, a visibility increase requires money expenditures. This brings in the question: what are you supposed to do having run out of your financial resource?
Unfortunately, we are not going to suggest you definite answers to that question covering any situation you might encounter or a universal strategy that will become a salvation for your commerce. But there certainly exist some things that will help you reach more customers. And you can do them right away on a shoestring budget!
General Marketing Strategies
General Marketing Strategies chart the course for all marketing actions and campaigns by explaining how marketing can reach its targets in broad terms. Although there is ample diverse General Marketing Strategies, the majority of them can be regarded as belonging to one of the following categories:
Market Expansion
This general strategy lets marketing specialists enhance overall sales applying to one of the two methods:
Boost your Existing Products Sales – In this way the marketer aims to robust growth of the overall products sales and can accomplish this through:
1) more purchases by existing customers,
2) purchases by potential and new customers (meaning those who haven’t bought from you yet),
3) sales of current products in new markets.
Intensify New Products Sales – That is how we can achieve our goals by introducing new products to customers. This can be done by the introduction of:
1) updated products that you already sell,
2) extensions of your current products,
3) totally new products.
Share Growth of the Market
This strategy gives us a chance to scale up the overall share of our market. As a rule, this can be obtained only through taking sales away from competitors. Hence, the Share Growth strategy frequently draws on aggressive marketing and selling tactics.
Niche Market
As for this strategy, it seeks to overrun a commanding position in a particular market segment. Most commonly the niche market appears to be way smaller than the overall market with respect to total customers number and sales figure. The ideal model of this strategy is to view the product as distinct from the one other companies offer to the larger market. Here you are to make every effort to position the product.
Status Quo
This strategy is about preserving your current position in the targeted market, e.g. upholding the market share. It prompts us to reflect on the life-asserting principle “Be happy with what you have”. This works when you want to sustain your level of expenditures and overall position in the market.
Market Exit
The Market Exit strategy looks towards removing your product from the company’s range of products. This can be attained by means of:
1) sales of your product to another organization,
2) the organization’s product offerings removal.
The paramount advantage of the described General Marketing Strategies is their being universal and adjustable that allows us to customize them to literally any kind of market you’re targeting at. The only thing you’ve got to do is to define the right strategy for your business.
Are you looking for a marketing strategy that will best suit your business?