Is Strategy Really Important In Marketing?

There is a simple answer to this question—YES! Strategy is at the heart of marketing and is critical to success! Then again, I’m a strategist and love the work I do so you may think saying yes is too easy of a reply.

So let me put it another way for you. Would you build a house without a blueprint or drive to a vacation destination without your navigation device leading the way? I’m sure, well I hope anyway, you said no to both questions. Developing a marketing strategy serves as a “road map” for all of your marketing efforts and provides a general direction to follow so you can achieve your specific objectives.

Since one component of a marketing plan can impact another, it’s important to look at all of your activities in a holistic way to maximize effectiveness. At a high level, a marketing strategy does this by considering each marketing component, identifying priorities and outlining necessary connection points. This can simplify your marketing efforts on a day-to-day basis because it allows you to make better implementation decisions when both challenges and opportunities present themselves—and we all know this will happen at some point on your marketing journey.

If you’re still not convinced, here are the top three benefits of developing a marketing strategy:

1. Provides an end user focus – A strategy includes the profiles of your customer base so instead of wasting valuable time and resources “being everything to everybody” you can focus your efforts on what matters most to your target audience.
2. Helps you stay ahead of your competition – Included in a strategy is an analysis of your competition which allows you to benchmark what they are doing and then differentiate yourself from them in the marketplace.
3. Serves as a foundation for producing relevant content – In today’s marketing world, it’s all about delivering the right content to the right audience and at the right time. A strategy helps you map out these opportunities so you can produce more qualified leads and more loyal customers overtime.

So remember, much like your navigation device will re-route you if you take a wrong turn while driving, if you follow the guidance of a marketing strategy you will arrive at your marketing destination by achieving your objectives—and you’ll know how to handle all of the twists and turns along the way.