A marketing strategy is the action plan that guides a company in achieving its market objectives.
Editorial
Marketing strategy: how to do it
Date
19 February 2025
Defining a clear strategy allows you to establish the direction to follow, identify the target audience, and choose the most effective marketing levers to differentiate from other industry players.
Every business decision, therefore, from creating brand identity to promoting a product, is more likely to succeed if it is part of a solid marketing strategy, as it is designed and structured based on tailored data and analysis. When the various elements of the plan work together in synergy, business performance improves, resources are optimised, and competitiveness increases.
The main components of a marketing strategy include market analysis, building brand identity, applying the marketing mix, and integrating digital and traditional techniques. The ability to combine these elements coherently is one of the distinguishing features of IED’s communication and marketing courses, designed to provide up-to-date skills and practical tools to face the challenges every Marketing Manager will encounter.
Understanding brand identity
Brand identity is at the heart of a marketing strategy as it defines the set of visual, verbal, and value elements that make a business recognisable and distinct from its competitors. Structuring a brand identity is essential for conveying a coherent image of the company, building trust, and creating an emotional connection with the audience. Its key elements are:
- Logo: the visual symbol that encapsulates the brand’s identity, which should be as recognisable as possible.
- Color palette: the chosen tones designed to evoke specific emotions or values in users or customers.
- Tone of voice: the brand's communication style, which must remain consistent with the company's personality across all communication channels.
- Company values and mission: the guiding principles that underpin all the brand’s actions.
A well-defined brand identity must consider various elements, including product, price, promotion, and distribution. It is crucial that all these aspects are consistent with each other to integrate effectively into the overall marketing strategy, ensuring that each component contributes to the brand's success.
An example
Patagonia is a company that has built its identity around the values of environmental sustainability. Every element of its communication consistently reflects its brand identity, creating an authentic connection with an audience that cares about environmental issues.
The marketing mix and its importance
The marketing mix is the operational tool that translates strategy into concrete actions. It is based on the integration of four main elements, known as the 4Ps of marketing:
• Product: defining the product’s features, design, packaging, and perceived quality.
• Price: selecting a pricing strategy based on perceived value and market positioning.
• Promotion: planning communication and promotional activities aimed at raising awareness and highlighting the product.
• Place (distribution): choosing the channels through which the product is made available to the consumer.
An example
Apple’s marketing mix is a well-structured example, integrating product, price, promotion, and distribution in perfect alignment with its brand image. The distinctive design of its products, premium positioning, minimalist advertising campaigns, and distribution through Apple Stores all help reinforce Apple’s image as an innovative, high-end brand.
Each component of the marketing mix must align with the brand identity and adapt to the specific needs of the target market, creating a recognisable and competitive value offering.
Integrating digital and traditional marketing
In building an effective and coherent marketing strategy, integrating digital and traditional marketing is essential—especially today, when multichannel thinking is a must.
Traditional marketing includes established tools like print, TV, radio advertising, participation in physical events, and sponsorship activities. These channels remain higly effective for building brand awareness, especially when targeting a broader audience.
Digital marketing, on the other hand, leverages online platforms to reach specific target audiences with focused actions. Social media, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, and online advertising allow for customizing communication and real-time campaign performance tracking.
An example
Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign combined the personalisation of bottles in physical retail outlets with a major social media campaign, directly involving users in sharing photos and messages. This created a virtuous cycle between traditional and digital promotion. The combination helped expand the campaign’s reach while maintaining a consistent message across all channels.
Market analysis and target audience
Market analysis is a crucial step in developing a marketing strategy. It allows businesses to understand the competitive landscape, identify growth opportunities, and anticipate industry trends.
By gathering and processing data, it’s possible to identify main competitors, analyse consumer behaviour, and assess the economic and social factors influencing the target market.
An example
Netflix, before expanding into new markets, conducted thorough research to understand potential subscribers’ consumption preferences, cultural habits, and online behaviours.. These insights guided the brand’s content choices, campaign localisation, and pricing strategies.
Correctly identifying the target audience is equally important: an effective marketing strategy is based on tailoring actions to meet the needs and expectations of the intended public.
Measuring and optimizing campaign performance
Monitoring and measuring marketing campaign performance is essential to evaluate their effectiveness and identify areas for improvement. Using KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) allows marketers to track specific aspects of campaigns, such as:
- Conversion rate: measures the percentage of users who perform a desired action.
- CTR (Click Through Rate): shows the ratio between clicks and views.
- ROI (Return on Investment): calculates the profitability of the advertising investment.
- Engagement rate: assesses audience interaction with the content.
An example
Spotify's annual Wrapped campaign is entirely based on continuous analysis of user listening data. Thanks to careful monitoring of engagement metrics, Spotify is able to to optimise content personalisation and campaign distribution on digital channels, significantly increasing user engagement.
Would you like to gain the skills needed to design an effective and innovative marketing strategy? Discover IED’s communication and marketing courses and start building your professional future.
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