The role a marketing strategy plays in a business plan

What is a marketing strategy?

According to Investopedia, a marketing strategy refers to a business’s overall game plan for reaching prospective consumers and turning them into customers of their products or services. A marketing strategy is a long-term plan for achieving a company’s goals by understanding the needs and pain points of your customers. A marketing strategy contains the company’s value proposition, key brand messaging and data on your target customer demographics.

Have you ever heard of the 4 or 7Ps in marketing? A marketing strategy when done properly should cover the 4 or 7Ps (such as product, price, place, and promotion). This is because your marketing strategy needs to be thorough and provide you with direction for what you want to achieve. Generally speaking, companies who have a documented marketing strategy are 313% more likely to be successful than those who do not.

The role marketing strategies play in a business plan

You often will hear ‘marketing strategy’ and a ‘marketing plan’ used interchangeably in some cases. This is because in some cases the marketing strategy and the marketing plan may be incorporated into one concise document. This typically occurs with smaller companies that may only run one or a few major marketing campaigns each year.

The role a marketing strategy plays in a business plan is that the marketing strategy is outlined in the marketing plan. A marketing plan as defined by Investopedia is a document that details the specific types of marketing activities that a company conducts. It also contains a timeline for when various marketing activities and initiatives need to be conducted.

At the end of the day a marketing strategy covers your approach to achieving your competitive advantage. While your marketing plan contains all your activities that will help get you there. A marketing strategy at the end of the day should be longer than an individual marketing plan. This is because marketing strategies contain a brand’s value proposition as well as other key brand messaging.

If you and your marketing team are ever in doubt. Remember the main difference between a marketing strategy and a business plan is that your strategy is the why behind your efforts. While your marketing plan is how you’re going to execute your strategy.

In summary, a marketing strategy and a marketing plan work hand in hand with each other. Your marketing plan is driven by your marketing strategy and the marketing plan simply outlines the roadmap for your marketing efforts to help you to achieve your goals. To grow your business, it is very important that you consider both a marketing plan and a marketing strategy to help guide your future marketing activities.