What does a marketing strategy include?
- Target buyers: the groups you'll focus on, and the ones you won't.
- Positioning: the one idea you want buyers to link with you, such as "the fastest delivery in town".
- Value proposition: what the buyer gets, in their words, and why it beats the alternatives.
- Main routes to market: how buyers will find you and where they'll buy.
- Business goals: the result marketing must deliver, such as enquiries, dealers or revenue.
Types of marketing strategy
The table above lists the common types, what each one does and when it fits. In practice, you choose by stage. A new brand nobody knows needs some brand building, or demand capture finds too few people. A known brand often grows fastest by capturing demand and keeping customers. A business that sells through dealers adds trade and channel marketing. One with a few large buyers adds account-based marketing. Most businesses run two or three types together, each with a clear job.
Three frameworks that still work
STP: segmentation, targeting, positioning
Split the market into groups of buyers with similar needs (segmentation). Choose the groups you can serve best and profitably (targeting). Then decide how you want those buyers to see you (positioning). STP stops you trying to please everyone. One way to split a market is by attitudes and lifestyle, explained in our article on psychographic segmentation.
Ansoff's growth matrix
Igor Ansoff set this out in the Harvard Business Review in 1957. It shows four ways to grow:
| Existing products | New products | |
|---|---|---|
| Existing markets | Market penetration: sell more to buyers you already serve | Product development: new products for the same buyers |
| New markets | Market development: take existing products to new cities or segments | Diversification: new products for new buyers (the riskiest) |
Porter's three ways to compete
Michael Porter described three broad choices in Competitive Strategy (1980). Be the lowest-cost option. Be clearly different in a way buyers value. Or focus on a narrow group of buyers and serve them better than anyone. Trying to do all three at once usually leaves you stuck in the middle.
A fourth tool is the marketing mix. It lists four things a business controls: product, price, place and promotion. Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge says businesses weigh these four when they launch a product. Two of its researchers suggest a fifth: people. Use the mix after the strategy has chosen the buyers. The mix then shapes the offer for them.
Marketing strategy examples
A client's view of the approach
Bobby Srinivas, Chief Manager Marketing and Brand Marketing at Utkarsh India, says: "A practical approach to ensuring return of investment has been the day one mantra." That is how we like to start: judge every channel on what it brings the business.
Content and search for a marketplace: Desi Machines
Desi Machines is a PromotEdge group company that we built end to end. The work ran from its name and identity to its website, content, SEO and AI-search work, chatbots and WhatsApp marketing. It is a construction-equipment marketplace. So its strategy rests on content that answers buyers' questions about machines, and on being easy to find in search.
A made-up example: market development for a snack brand
A snack brand that sells well in Kolkata wants to grow. Using Ansoff's matrix, it picks market development: the same products in Siliguri, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar. Its strategy is trade and channel marketing to get into local shops, plus regional-language radio and Instagram for awareness. Success is measured in outlets stocking the product and repeat orders from those outlets.
How is a marketing strategy different from a marketing plan?
The strategy is the choice: which buyers, which position and which broad routes. The plan is how you carry it out over a year: specific channels, budgets, timelines and targets. Our guide How to write a marketing plan has a one-page template.
| Level | What it decides | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | Buyers, position and routes | Enter new cities. |
| Plan | Channels, budgets, dates | A yearly budget. |
| Tactic | One action in the plan | Post reels daily. |
| Level | What it decides | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | Buyers, position and routes | Enter new cities. |
| Plan | Channels, budgets, dates | A yearly budget. |
| Tactic | One action in the plan | Post reels daily. |
Common strategy mistakes
- Targeting everyone. A message for everyone convinces no one.
- Copying the market leader. Their budget and stage are not yours.
- Confusing tactics with strategy. "Post reels every day" is a tactic, not a strategy.
- No link to business numbers. If you can't say what result the strategy should deliver, you can't judge it.
- Changing direction every month. Strategies need time to work. Review them every quarter, not every week.
Choosing who to win and how to stand out is the heart of brand strategy. For a launch or a new city, see go-to-market strategy.
