Creating a marketing strategy isn’t just about planning campaigns; it’s about charting a path that connects the company’s vision with concrete goals. A well-thought-out approach helps companies target the right audience and use available resources efficiently.

What is a marketing strategy?

A marketing strategy is a key tool for any company that wants to grow and secure a strong position in the market. It’s a long-term plan that connects company goals, vision, and resources to successfully reach the target audience. The strategy takes into account the company’s strengths as well as limitations, such as budget size or market position. It serves as a compass that points the way in a world full of competitive challenges.

The importance of a marketing strategy

Without a thoughtful approach, doing business online can easily get lost in chaos and inefficient spending. Companies may target the wrong target audience, choose unsuitable channels, or invest in activities that don’t deliver results. In contrast, a well-crafted strategy helps define goals clearly, understand customer needs, and optimize all marketing activities. This enables steady growth, better return on investment, and a strong position in a competitive environment.

What does a marketing strategy include?

Every successful market plan starts with carefully answered questions that set the direction of the business. You need to understand your current market position, clearly define your target audience, and determine how to address its needs. Another important step is effectively allocating the budget across channels and aligning long-term brand building with short-term goals. The plan includes specific actions assigned to responsible team members and regularly tracks performance so you can respond to changes in time and optimize to achieve results.

Marketing strategy and plan: How they differ and why they depend on each other

A marketing strategy and a marketing plan are like two pillars that together support stable growth. Although they may look similar, their roles and time horizons differ significantly. The strategy provides the framework that defines long-term goals and direction. It creates the overall vision and answers how the company wants to succeed in the market, what sets it apart from the competition, and what image it wants to leave in customers’ minds. It usually looks five to ten years ahead and provides a solid basis for all subsequent marketing decisions.

The marketing plan, on the other hand, translates this strategic vision into concrete steps and tactical tasks. It serves as an action manual focused on a shorter period—usually a year or just a few months. Its purpose is to describe what needs to be done, when, and how to actually achieve the strategic goals. It includes exact timelines, budget allocations, task prioritization, and sometimes definitions of specific campaigns. An important part of the plan is metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), which allow you to continuously evaluate whether the company is moving in the right direction.

What both share is interdependence. The strategy is always the starting point; without it, the plan would lack focus. Without a plan, the strategy would remain an abstract idea without real impact. A company needs both: a long-term vision to ensure continuity, and short-term steps to turn that vision into tangible results.

Business and communication strategies

Business, marketing, and communication strategies form an interconnected triangle in which each side has a specific role, together creating a solid foundation for company development. The business strategy acts as the main plan that defines long-term objectives and the direction the company wants to take. It focuses on growth, profitability, market expansion, and competitiveness. It sets which products or services the company will offer, which markets it will target, and defines the overall business model.

The communication strategy has a narrower focus and is responsible for building relationships with the target audience through effective, consistent communication. It focuses on choosing the right messages, channels, and tone used to address customers, partners, and the public. It includes methods of engaging audiences through media, social networks, or public relations, aiming to present the brand and build credibility and customer loyalty.

The marketing strategy functions as a bridge between business goals and concrete communication tactics. It connects business ambitions with how the company presents itself in the market and creates value for customers. To reach full potential, all three strategies must be connected and aligned—their unified direction is key to long-term success.

Strategic marketing and the marketing strategy

Although “strategic marketing” and “marketing strategy” may seem interchangeable, they play different roles. Strategic marketing is like planning the journey: it maps long-term ambitions, examines the competitive landscape, and looks for the most advantageous route. The marketing strategy is the precise itinerary, detailing the steps, tools, and tactics that will get you to the destination.

One doesn’t work without the other. Without strategic marketing, there’s no vision; without a marketing strategy, it’s just unused theory. Together they form an inseparable tandem leading to success.

Who can help you create a marketing strategy

When creating a marketing strategy, you have several options. If you have enough time and knowledge, you can do it yourself—ideally with a quality template that guides you through each step. This option is less costly, but requires diligence and a deep understanding of your business.

The second option is to entrust the strategy to a professional. They can provide a comprehensive, expert perspective—at a higher price. Effective communication is crucial here so the expert can gather all the necessary information to create a strategy tailored to your needs.

How to create a marketing strategy: Step by step

Building a marketing strategy isn’t a one-size-fits-all process; it’s a flexible, adaptable framework that depends on your company’s specific circumstances. Every business has different needs, so the path to an effective strategy may vary. However, the first steps are similar and can serve as a strong foundation for your planning.

Market and needs analysis

Start with analyzing your options and needs to understand where your company currently stands. What is your overall business strategy? What is your vision and mission? What do you want to sell—and why? In this step, focus on business orientation and clarify whether you prioritize product, profit, market share, or the customer.

Don’t forget company culture, which plays a key role in which strategies are realistic for you. Use tools such as SWOT, PEST, or Porter’s analysis to define strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These analyses are often influenced by team opinions and may not always reflect reality.

Another important step is market analysis. What are the current conditions in your market? How large is the market for your products, and how fast is it growing or changing? What about the competition? Once you know whether the market is saturated or there’s room for innovation and growth, you’ll gain crucial insight for setting your strategy.

This analysis should also include factors such as technological trends, legislative changes, or cultural shifts that may affect your business. Use reliable public data sources—such as the Chamber of Commerce or research agencies—to gather valuable market information.

Competitor analysis and target audience

Without understanding who your competitors are and how they operate, you can’t plan effectively. Identify the main players in your industry. Find out what defines them and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. Which market segments do they target? What products or services do they offer and at what prices? What marketing strategies do they use to attract customers? This will help you navigate the market, adapt your plans, and spot opportunities to differentiate.

Defining target groups is another crucial step. Every product or service has ideal customers. Your primary audience is those who actually buy your products, but secondary audiences—who influence decisions and can spread your brand—are also important. Focus on demographic data (age, gender, location) as well as behavior and preferences.

What matters to them when choosing a product? What motivates them to buy? How do they make decisions? User research can help you understand these aspects and bring valuable insights.

Setting goals and defining your competitive advantage

Setting marketing goals turns ambition into action. Once you’ve mapped the market and target groups, it’s time to set clearly defined goals to guide your success. Goals should be SMART—specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound—so you can accurately track progress.

With goals set, define your competitive advantage. How will you stand out? What do you offer customers that they can’t find elsewhere? Your answer should be clear and persuasive. Your advantage should deliver real value to the customer and be difficult for competitors to copy.

The edge may lie in unique quality, service, technology, or customer approach. What matters is clearly communicating why customers should choose you. And while a lower price may seem like an advantage, it’s often not an effective way to build long-term loyalty.

Brand review and choosing marketing channels

A brand review is a necessary part of creating your marketing strategy because the brand carries the values you want to communicate. Focus on key aspects such as brand benefits, archetype and tone of voice, as well as visual elements like the logo and corporate design. Review whether all of these match the insights from earlier steps and align with your goals, market situation, and customer expectations.

After the brand review comes the selection of marketing channels, which is crucial for achieving your goals. Choose channels that best fit your target groups and support them at different stages of the buying cycle. The right channel mix enables effective integration and synergy—fundamental for a successful campaign. When allocating budget across channels, be clear about what content fits each stage and how to distribute it effectively.

Crisis readiness and bringing the strategy to life

A crisis plan isn’t just part of the strategy—it’s a lifeline when things don’t go as expected. Think of it as insurance in case a campaign takes a different turn than planned. Focus on analyzing potential threats and unplanned situations that could impact your strategy. These may be external factors like changes in the economy or consumer behavior, as well as internal issues such as website problems or negative feedback on social media.

Once you identify threats, define how to avoid them or respond effectively. Create concrete procedures and don’t forget to set aside sufficient budget reserves to cover crisis costs if needed.

With a crisis plan in place, it’s time to implement the marketing strategy—turning ideas and plans into action. The marketing plan becomes your blueprint with clearly defined steps for what you’ll do and how. Each task is assigned to specific people or teams—internal or external experts who handle the details. This might be content creation for social media, analyzing website user experience, or launching an ad campaign.

All tasks come with clear deadlines and metrics so you know when and how you’ll measure success. Implementation isn’t just about execution; it’s about monitoring, optimizing, and flexibly adapting the strategy to guide you to your goals.

Measuring success and adapting the strategy

Measuring and optimizing your marketing strategy is the final—but crucial—step. Once you have your goals, define specific metrics (KPIs) to assess how well your strategy performs. These indicators act as guideposts—like a compass showing the direction.

But measurement alone isn’t enough. Companies often have great tools and systems for tracking performance but forget continuous evaluation and response to change. That’s where success is decided. If part of the strategy or a channel isn’t performing as expected, intervene immediately—either double down on what works or reduce what doesn’t.

Don’t forget financial reserves here either. Even with a carefully planned budget, you may need to improvise and seize opportunities that arise during the year. Reserves give you the flexibility to adapt and improve where needed. Your goal should be continuous learning and improvement so your strategy better matches customer needs and market dynamics.

Conclusion

A marketing strategy is the foundation of any successful company that wants to survive and thrive in a dynamic market. Without a clearly defined direction, you risk chaos and wasted spend on ineffective activities. A well-designed strategy helps optimize resource allocation, reach the right audience, and sustain steady growth—while regular evaluation and responsiveness to market changes remain crucial. Connecting a long-term vision with concrete, short-term steps ensures the company keeps moving toward its goals and adapts to current conditions.

Frequently asked questions

How should a company measure the success of its marketing strategy?

Success is measured using analytics tools, customer feedback, and measurable indicators such as return on investment (ROI), conversion rate, or growth in brand awareness.

How do you build an effective marketing strategy for startups?

For startups, it’s crucial to define the target audience and choose the right communication channels. When creating the strategy, analyze competitors, use low-cost tools, and focus on digital marketing.

Which marketing trends should companies watch in the coming years?

The coming years will see a strong rise in the use of artificial intelligence, personalization, and automation. Companies will increasingly focus on sustainability and ethics, which will influence their marketing strategies.

Useful links:

1. https://www.salesforce.com/marketing/strategy/
2. https://www.park.edu/blog/effective-marketing-strategies/
3. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-strategy
4. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing-strategy.asp