If you’re a regular reader of the Dos Setenta blog, you’ve probably noticed the wide range of branches within marketing. Among them, we find strategic marketing, which is often confused with operational marketing. Do you have doubts too? Don’t worry — we’ll explain what it is, how they differ, and why it’s so important.
What is Strategic Marketing?
Strategic marketing is the branch that studies the market before introducing a product or service. In other words, after analyzing the market and studying the competition, target audience, and sales environment, the ideal product or service is defined for launch. By keeping users’ needs and current trends in mind, it becomes much easier to achieve successful sales later on.
As mentioned, trends are often the focus of strategic marketing since the goal is to identify and design the ideal product that customers are currently demanding.
Differences Between Strategic and Operational Marketing
- Timing of action: Strategic marketing takes place before launching a product. Operational marketing begins once the product or service is already available.
- In strategic marketing, you plan the actions that will be implemented in the following phases.
- Strategic marketing requires time, as it involves not only studying the market to identify the ideal product but also finding opportunities to stand out from competitors. Operational marketing, on the other hand, focuses on short-term actions that allow you to test and verify product viability.
Despite their differences, the two are complementary. What do we mean by that? Even after conducting a market study, when we decide to launch the ideal product, we’ll still need operational marketing actions — such as advertising campaigns or social media strategies. During these processes, it’s also essential to continue monitoring the environment to detect changes and new opportunities for improvement.
Why Is Marketing Planning Important Before Starting?
The answer is simple: taking action without prior research is like jumping into a pool without knowing if there’s water. A marketing consultant or agency not only helps you conduct market analysis but also assists in planning the best actions to take for your business.
How to Create a Step-by-Step Strategic Marketing Plan
While it may seem tedious, with the right tools and by focusing on competitors similar to your business, you can design a strong, high-potential marketing plan.
- Study the market: Before launching any service or product, you must determine if there’s demand, if the sector is accessible, and if the costs are manageable. You’ll also need to assess whether your sales environment is suitable and identify your ideal customer to determine how best to reach them. If all conditions are favorable, proceed.
- Study your potential customer: Have you heard of the buyer persona? This represents your ideal client. What’s their age? Where are they from? What are their interests? What’s their income level? Segmentation is essential here — tools like A/B testing can help refine it. The goal is to know exactly what your target customer needs so you can deliver it. It’s much easier to make a sale when you already know what they want to buy.
- What is your competition doing? Within your sector, you must understand your competitors’ strategies. Depending on your strengths, you’ll decide how to act — but generally, you should focus on exploiting competitors’ weaknesses. For example, in SEO, if you’re launching a new website, it’s difficult to compete for high-difficulty keywords already dominated by established players. Instead, you should target low-competition keywords with decent search volume that match your ideal customer’s search intent.
- Develop a strategy: Based on the previous steps, you can determine what to prioritize. Maybe your ideal customer is on social media and you can reach them through Instagram or Facebook. You can also estimate how much to invest in Google Ads or social networks. Or perhaps your clients are businesses you can reach via LinkedIn, or local customers better targeted through local SEO, radio, or physical advertising.
Strategic Marketing Consulting: Dos Setenta
At our marketing agency, Dos Setenta, we pride ourselves on offering comprehensive service to our clients. We accompany them throughout the entire process — starting from the study and design of their strategic marketing plan. That’s why we find it essential to explain these concepts clearly and in detail.
