What Are the Benefits of a Marketing Strategy?

Create a brand to differentiate yourself from your competition.

While it sounds nice, the business strategy, "If you build it, they will come," may be as effective as crossing your fingers and hoping customers will find you. Simply providing a good product and advertising it is not enough to maximize sales and revenues. A marketing strategy targets the best ways to get the biggest return on your advertising, promotions and public relations expenditures.

Find the Best Customers

A marketing strategy helps you target potential customers who are most likely to buy your product or use your service. Creating a primary customer demographic lets you target your marketing efforts toward them. For example, advertising in the local newspaper requires you to spend part of your budget getting your message in front of many people who will never be your customers. If you own a hair salon, advertising in a local women's magazine or sponsoring a women's tennis league or 5K race lets you target your exact customer demographic.

Maintain Brand Image

Part of a marketing strategy includes creating a brand for your business. If you are a restaurant, you can position yourself as a high-end, fine-dining establishment or an inexpensive family eatery. A marketing strategy will help you protect your brand by not diluting your message. For example, if you are a fine-dining restaurant, passing out buy-one-get-one-free coupons on street corners will send the wrong message about your restaurant.

Spend Ad Dollars Wisely

During the course of your business, you will have an opportunity to advertise in many different media outlets, sponsor a variety of activities and events and get involved with many promotional activities. If you analyze each opportunity in conjunction with a predetermined marketing strategy, you can decide whether or not it's a good use of your funds. For example, if you have the opportunity to buy advertising at a low price in a new slick, upscale magazine for affluent women, you might jump at the chance. Referring to your marketing plan, you might learn that you're already reaching these affluent women through your sponsorships of local tennis and golf leagues and charity balls.

Segment the Market

While most of your business may come from one gender or age group, you can increase your business targeting a secondary group of customers. Just because the majority of your customers are young adults doesn't mean you can't spend part of your marketing budget on attracting older customers. You can create daytime, low-cost or early-bird specials for seniors, advertising in venues they frequent or using media they read. You will continue to promote your evening and late-night business for young adults, using targeted marketing. When segmenting the market, you'll need to make sure you don't compromise your brand by promoting two different messages to the same group.

References

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Advertising, Marketing, Promotions, Public Relations, and Sales Managers
• Free Management Library: Basic Definitions: Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public Relations and Publicity, and Sales

Resources

• Marcomm Wise: Five Characteristics of Highly Successful Advertising
• SCORE: 5 Tips for Effective Business Planning