Building and sustaining a competitive advantage is critical for any organisation’s success in today’s highly competitive business landscape. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through strategic marketing. Strategic marketing is the process that involves analysing the market, identifying customer needs and preferences, developing a marketing plan, and implementing marketing tactics that differentiate the organisation from its competitors. This article will discuss the key components of strategic marketing and how they can be used to build and sustain a competitive advantage.

Marketing Analysis 

Marketing analysis is the first step in strategic marketing. it involves identifying and understanding the market, including its size, growth potential, and key trends. The market analysis aims to identify opportunities and threats in the market and determine the organisation’s strengths and weaknesses relative to its competitors.

Customer Analysis 

After conducting a marketing analysis, the next step is to analyse the customer. Customer analysis involves understanding the needs, preferences, and behaviours of the organisation’s target market. The goal of customer analysis is to identify the target market’s needs and preferences and to develop a marketing strategy that meets those needs.

One of the most effective tools for customer analysis is customer segmentation. Customer segmentation involves dividing the target market into smaller groups based on characteristics such as age, income, and lifestyle. By understanding the characteristics of each segment, organisations can develop marketing strategies that target each segment effectively.

Competitive Analysis 

Competitive analysis is the process of analysing the organisation’s competitors. The goal of competitive analysis is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and to identify opportunities for the organisation to differentiate itself from its competitors. Porter’s Five Forces model is one of the most effective tools for competitive analysis. The model analyses the five forces that shape industry competition, including the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitute products, and the intensity of competitive rivalry.

Marketing Plan 

After conducting market, customer, and competitive analysis, the next step is to develop a marketing plan is a document that outlines the organisation’s marketing goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.  The goal of a marketing plan is to guide the organisation’s marketing activities and to ensure that they are aligned with the organisation’s overall goals and objectives.

A marketing plan typically includes the following elements:

Executive summary: a brief overview of the marketing plan

Situation Analysis: an analysis of the market, customer, and competition.

Marketing Goals and Objectives: a description of the organisation’s marketing goals and objectives.

Marketing Strategies: a description of the organisation’s marketing strategies.

Marketing Tactics: a description of the specific marketing tactics that will be used to achieve the marketing goals and objectives.

Budget and Implementation: a description of the budget required to implement the marketing plan and a timeline for implementation.

Implementation and Evaluation 

The final step in strategic marketing is implementation and evaluation. Implementation involves executing the marketing plan and implementing the marketing tactics identified in the plan. Evaluation involves measuring the effectiveness of the marketing plan and making adjustments as needed. One of the most effective tools for evaluation is marketing metrics. Marketing metrics are quantitative measures that assesses the effectiveness of marketing activities. These metrics can include measures such as customer acquisition cost, customer retention rate, return on investment (ROI).

Conclusion

In conclusion, building and sustaining a competitive advantage is critical for any organisation’s success. Strategic marketing is one of the effective ways to achieve this. By conducting market, customer, and competitive analysis.