Why Strategic Marketing
is Most Important
Strategic theorist Henry Mintzberg, provides a useful approach to thinking
about strategy. According to Mintzberg, there are 5 key components or types:
Plan:
A consciously chosen series of actions to
achieve a goal, made in advance …
Ploy:
A deliberate attempt to confuse,
mislead or distract an opponent …
Pattern:
A consistent, repeated series of actions
that achieve the desired result …
Position:
A considered relationship between an
entity and its context … (or content) …
Perspective:
A particular way of viewing the world, a mindset regarding
actions that lead to a distinct outcome, and way of behaving …
( I change this one to: viewing your marketplace, and with desired
outcomes … how and why your target or ideal customer “behaves” )
AND,
Sun Tzu recognized Strategy vs Tactics many years
ago when he stated, (and typically concerning war),
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory …
Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat …”
Ever think like this about your Marketing or Advertising?
Ever think like this when it comes to growing your business?
Ever hear anything like this when speaking to a Salesperson?
Strategy Comes First
What Makes Strategic Marketing So Important
Strategic Marketing is the way a business effectively differentiates itself from its
competitors by capitalizing on its strengths (both current and potential) to provide
consistently better value to customers than anyone else. In principle it’s that simple,
but it means a lot more than getting creative with just a Tactical Marketing mix.
Armed with a thorough understanding of the firm’s capabilities and aspirations,
the customer market and competitive landscape, the Goal of Strategic Marketing
(and of the Strategic message) is to maximize a firm’s positive differentiation
over competitors in the eyes of its target market. It does this by answering these
3 questions; where, how and when should the business compete.
Most Businesses use Tactical Marketing
Instead of Strategic Marketing
Running an ad in the local newspaper … sending out an email or direct mail letter …
airing a radio or TV ad on a local media station are all examples of Tactical Marketing …
Don’t get me wrong … the newspaper, radio or direct mail can be successful Marketing
channels … IF your Marketing message is powerful and compelling … But that’s the
problem … the messaging is the Strategic Marketing … and yet, the most neglected …
This distinction between Strategic and Tactical Marketing is huge and one you need to be
acutely aware of anytime you start talking about generating more leads … Many businesses
mistakenly assume that when you talk about Lead Generation, you’re automatically talking
about Tactical Lead Generation … placing ads, sending out mailers, joining a networking
group, attending trade-shows, implementing a prospect follow up system and so on …
They fail to realize that the Strategic side of the coin, what you say in your Marketing and
how you say it is almost always more important than the Marketing medium where you
say it … If you fail to make this distinction, then you risk becoming jaded towards certain
forms of Marketing and Advertising that should be a part of your Tactical plan, but you
eliminate them from consideration because they haven’t worked for you in the past …
When Lead Generation results are less than optimal, Small Businesses tend to blame
the Marketing medium … like the newspaper, or the Social Media platform, or even the
Salesperson … They blame the “tactical” part of the plan … without any regard for how
good or bad the Strategic Marketing is or was. Business Owners often say things like,
“we tried radio and it doesn’t work for our kind of business”, or “we sent out 50,000
pieces of direct mail and generated 3 orders … It just doesn’t work” … Just because
it didn’t work, don’t assume it won’t work … The “strategy” is missing or wrong …
Most Business Owners don’t have the evaluation skills,
or the know-how to “judge” whether poor Marketing
results from poor Strategy or Tactical execution …
This is where Strategy Marketing and a Road-Map can generate more
leads than your business can handle … For example, most businesses
rely heavily on platitudes in their Marketing … They say things like …
“We have the lowest prices the best service”
“We’re family owned and operated”
“We offer convenient hours”
and “the best value”
Look at your own Marketing …
How many platitudes did you use in YOUR Marketing?
By The Way,
This Is NOT Your Fault!
Most, if not all Small Business Owners have been conditioned to think this is
the proper way to Market their businesses … since most advertising follows this
same pathetic Marketing formula … including the Fortune 500 types … As human
beings, we’re all after just one thing when we buy something … the best deal!
Unfortunately,
when you use platitudes and jargon throughout your Marketing, there’s absolutely
no way to tell who is actually offering the best deal … Everyone says they have the
lowest prices, the highest quality and the best rates … So, who do you believe?
There’s only one way to know … and that’s to research every single business that
offers what you want to buy … How many of us have the time or patience for that?
So, most of us automatically assume that everyone is pretty much the same, and
therefore we default to calling on the business that offers us the lowest price …
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