This post will explore what marketing is, the elements of a marketing strategy, the marketing funnel, different types of marketing, and why every business needs an effective marketing strategy.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is the set of actions an organization takes to promote its products or services. By using target market research, marketing implements campaigns to inform target audiences about your product and drive them toward a desired action, such as purchasing.
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “…the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”
Marketing looks different for every organization, big or small. It also evolves to meet customers’ needs and keep up with market trends.
It’s also important to note that marketing differs from other components like advertising and branding, which we’ve covered previously.
What are the Elements of Marketing Strategy? (The 4 P’s)
The key elements of marketing strategy – often called the marketing mix – are the 4 P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
The Marketing Mix
Product
The first element of the marketing mix is product, which is what your company offers to customers. Your product does not have to be something physical; it could instead be a primary service you offer.
Knowing your company’s product will help you determine if it fulfills market demand and how to align the remaining 3 P’s of marketing to create an integrated marketing mix.
Price
The second element of your marketing mix is the price you sell your product for.
It’s more than just money; your pricing communicates to customers how your product is positioned in your target market. Customers weigh the benefits of price versus quality in every purchase. In some instances, customers are willing to pay a higher price for a high-quality good, but in others they will try to secure a product for the lowest price, regardless of quality.
Pricing is an easy way to differentiate yourself from the competition, but it’s important to remember the profitability of your business when selecting your pricing strategy.
Place
The third element of the marketing mix is place, which is where and how you get your product to customers.
How you sell your product will vary based on your business’s goals and product type. For example, many businesses choose to sell their products in brick-and-mortar stores or online through their website. If your company offers a service to customers, how that service is delivered is important, too.
Promotion
The final element of the 4 P’s of marketing is promotion. This aspect considers how you market your product to customers. It involves communicating to customers why your product will fulfill their needs and providing information that answers their questions, driving them to purchase.
Promotion can be accomplished through various kinds of advertising, using strategies most relevant to your product type and target market.
The Marketing Funnel: What is it?
As we’ve mentioned, the main goal of marketing is to inform your customers about your product and drive them toward a desired action, such as purchasing. This process is summarized in the marketing funnel, or the AIDA model.
Let’s take a look at each element of the model.
Attention
The first step of the marketing funnel is gaining the attention of your target audience. Some sources will also call this stage awareness since it’s all about making your target audience aware of your product.
This first stage is all about getting your product and brand in front of the right people. Get customers familiar with your brand so they can recognize it in the future.
Interest
Now that you’ve gained the attention of your target audience, it’s time to begin moving them toward that desired action. This is done by getting them interested in what you have to offer.
At this stage, provide information about the product to help them learn more about it.
Desire
Third, after getting your product in front of customers and giving them relevant information, it’s time to show customers why they need to buy your product.
This stage is where all the evaluation and consideration occur, so ensure customers have already received all the information they need to progress with their decision.
As Hubspot notes, the goal of the Desire stage “… is to turn that ‘I like it’ into an ‘I want it.’”
Action
Finally, your customer has reached the action stage – this is where we want them to complete the desired action we’ve been guiding them toward, such as purchasing your product.
To accomplish this, it’s important to include a Call to Action (CTA) in your marketing message. It can be as simple as a line that says “Buy Now” or an “Add to Cart” button. Suggesting an action for the user and making it easy to do so helps bridge the gap between Desire and Action.
Marketing Funnel Overview
The marketing funnel demonstrates how a large pool of target customers narrows down to those who complete the desired action. Customers may stay in the attention or interest stages for large periods of time. Or, they may be convinced that your product is something they want to purchase, but other circumstances, such as money or their situation might prevent them from doing so right now.
Marketing should always aim to keep customers moving through the funnel from one step to the next. Also, different types of marketing are most effective at different levels of the customer journey through the funnel. For example, informative campaigns will help customers who are just learning about your product. Customers in the Desire and Action stages should be shown marketing with clear calls to action and buying opportunities.
What are Some Different Types of Marketing?
The most effective types of marketing for your business depend on your company’s goals, your industry, your competitors, and the market at large.
Marketing can be divided into two key areas: traditional and digital.
We’ll list out some traditional marketing methods to consider and then dive deeper into digital marketing methods.
Traditional Marketing Methods
TV & Radio
TV allows brands to engage with customers through video, bringing your brand to life. Radio ads can increase brand awareness by helping your name stay top of mind.
Print ads in magazines, newspapers, or posters use bold designs to leave an impression.
Out-of-Home (OOH)
Out-of-home marketing includes billboards, transit ads and more. OOH allows for location-specific ad placement, increasing brand awareness among a local audience.
Events
Hosting an event can help you access your target audience in a memorable, personal way. Examples include conferences, tradeshows, educational events, celebrations, and more.
Digital Marketing Methods
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing includes posting content to social platforms like Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and TikTok. Depending on the platform, this could include posting images with creative captions or sharing videos.
Video content has become increasingly popular across social media thanks to its ability to hold users’ attention.
Websites
Your business’s website serves as the digital home of your company, being the first impression people have of your business online. Websites allow you to share relevant information about who your business is, what products or services you offer, and additional resources like a blog.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is an overlooked but effective digital marketing method. By delivering your content, such as a newsletter or exclusive offer, directly to your customers, purchase intent remains higher, and metrics are easy to track.
Content Marketing & Blogs
Content marketing gives you the opportunity to inform customers of topics important to your brand, often through blog post content. This long-form content allows you to dive into a topic and provide lots of information, helping inform customers to continue moving them through the marketing funnel.
Video & Podcasts
Video and podcasts are newer alternatives to help you stay engaged with your target audience.
Online Ads
There are many types of online advertising, including display, search, and social media ads.
The difference between these types of digital ads is where and how they appear. For example, display ads appear on web pages, often after you’ve shopped for something on a previous site. Search ads, rather, show up when you search for something, and the ad appears as “Sponsored Content” near the top of the results page.
What is a Marketing Strategy, and Why Do I Need One?
A marketing strategy is a high-level, long-term plan that coordinates your business’s general objectives with a way to reach its customers, resulting in brand awareness and product sales.
Your marketing strategy will help your business reach people and turn them into customers using a variety of marketing tools.
Marketing Strategy vs. Marketing Plan vs. Campaign
Your marketing strategy describes the long-term goals of your business’s marketing.
Then, a marketing plan takes the strategy and details the specific resources and timelines required.
Finally, a marketing campaign focuses on a single element of the plan, such as publishing Instagram content for your business.
How Does a Marketing Strategy Help My Business?
Your marketing strategy offers a coordinated approach, ensuring time and money is used efficiently. Taking a big-picture approach and aligning your marketing goals with organizational objectives, for example, will help your business target customers effectively.
How Do You Create a Marketing Strategy?
To help summarize what we’ve covered in this comprehensive post, here’s a quick look at key steps in creating a marketing strategy for your business.
Research Your Market
Start by looking at what types of customers you want to attract. Understand where your product fits into the competitive landscape.
Analyze the methods your competitors use to reach their audience and meet their goals. It’s not necessary to take an identical approach to your competitors, but understanding their techniques will help you determine how to stand out.
Set Clear Objectives
Understand what you want to accomplish by implementing a marketing strategy. Take a long-term view, and consider how marketing can help your company grow into the future.
Use a SMART goal framework to set clear objectives.
Learn About Your Target Audience
Do research to understand who your target audience is. What are their defining attributes, such as age, gender or average spend?
Consider how you can meet their needs by providing them with your product.
Define Your Key Message
Determine the one key thing you want your audience to remember.
For example, do you want customers to remember that your company provides high-quality products or that you offer the best selection among your competitors?
Select Appropriate Marketing Channels
Once you know what you’re trying to accomplish and how to communicate it to the audience, analyze where your target market can be reached.
Determine if traditional or digital marketing methods, or a mix of both, would be most effective based on the characteristics of your target customers.
Digital marketing could be beneficial for businesses with a younger clientele, whereas traditional marketing may be an effective way to reach older audiences. Using a mixture of traditional and digital methods creates a balanced approach, too.
Implement Your Marketing Strategy
Begin to implement your strategy by developing the next components, including a marketing plan and individual campaigns. Campaigns will be used to accomplish smaller goals, such as increasing sales for a specific product over a time period.
Analyze Your Progress and Adjust as Necessary
Marketing and consumer behaviour are constantly evolving.
To stay on top of trends and best practices, it’s essential to analyze your progress and make adjustments as needed. A great way to ensure your strategy remains effective and uses its budget efficiently is to assess and adjust the allocation to each marketing method based on the return on investment of each.
It’s important to note, though, that just because a strategic element does not consistently provide a high return on investment does not mean it should be totally eliminated from your marketing strategy. Every strategic element should serve a purpose, such as raising brand awareness or engaging with your audience. Since each component is one piece of your overall strategy, you can adjust your spending on each piece as you see fit.
Conclusion: Creating Your Marketing Strategy with Ripple
Ripple Design & Marketing believes that every business has a target market and a unique story to tell. We help communicate your brand’s story to audiences through a customized marketing strategy that achieves your goals.
Our strategic marketing process begins by understanding your brand. Ripple analyzes how to lead your customers through the marketing funnel, driving them toward a desired action.
As a full-service design and marketing agency, Ripple manages every element of your strategic marketing in-house. Our integrated team specializes in digital marketing, including web design, social media, email and content marketing, and online ads, to elevate your brand’s overall presence.
When you choose to work with Ripple, you benefit from the expertise of a collaborative team that seeks to let your brand speak up in our digital world.
If you’re looking to reassess your strategic marketing goals or better integrate your brand identity into your marketing, we’re here to help you get started.
Contact us to learn how we can take your brand’s strategic marketing to the next level!