Introduction to Marketing

Marketing strategy is defined by David Aaker as a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its resources on the optimal opportunities with the goals of increasing sales and achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing strategy includes all basic and long-term activities in the field of marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of a company and the formulation, evaluation and selection of market-oriented strategies and therefore contribute to the goals of the company and its marketing objectives.The benefits of a planned marketing strategy are numerous. Business owners often rely solely on their intuition to make business decisions. While this informal knowledge is important in the decision making process, it may not provide you with all the facts you need to achieve marketing results. A marketing strategy will help you in defining business goals and develop activities to achieve themAn organization's strategy that combines all of its marketing goals into one comprehensive plan. A good marketing strategy should be drawn from market research and focus on the right product mix in order to achieve the maximum profit potential and sustain the business. The marketing strategy is the foundation of a marketing plan.If you think that developing a strategic marketing plan is something only big, fancy corporations need to do, think again. You need one, too! It’ll help you better understand your business, your customers and your strategy for success.

Most people fall into the trap of thinking that “marketing” just means advertising, PR or promotion. But marketing and a marketing plan is so much more than that, and includes everything from understanding the market to which you’ll sell your products and services, to choosing specific tactics you’ll use to reach that market (which is actually where things like advertising come into play - they’re tactics!).

Here’s the marketing plan sections you’ll be writing: