Our first video production and it is only 3 minutes in duration. We’ve made a checky video answering the question, “What is a Marketing Strategy?”

Simply put, a marketing strategy is a direction. The major elements of a marketing strategy that will help you define which strategy to implement include:

• Reviewing the competition, your company and clients
• Conducting the underlying analysis to support decision making for a strategy
• Making the decisions or selection for the marketing strategy

My point in this video is to help you expand your ability in how you approach marketing. It should come from a strategic perspective, ask the right questions at the right time, sift through the hype, and pursue integrated strategies that make sense for your organization and offerings.

Stop the doing, Pursue integrated strategies

For example, if you are a late market entrant you can determine who your competitors are, and whether or not to compete directly or through differentiation. By conducting this analysis, it allows you to choose your competitions and not be stuck with competitors you don’t want when it comes to brand positioning.

This approach is determined by these three decisions:

• how you position your offering in the mind of the customer
• how you place yourself vis-à-vis your competitive set within the distribution channel
• your pricing

Therefore, in marketing, the strategy describes the ‘what‘ while the plan describes the ‘how.’ Unfortunately, many people try to achieve the ‘how’ without first determining what the ‘what’ is.

Your strategy comes before your plan

As soon as you have determined what your marketing strategy is, you can draw up a marketing plan. The plan describes how you are going to execute your strategy. It also shows how you will evaluate its effectiveness or success.

Enjoy the show!