Recipe for Success: The Importance of A Marketing Strategy

A successful meal starts with a recipe – each ingredient being added over time comes together to create something delicious. Cooking without a recipe can be hard – you risk burning or undercooking it, you might not make enough or you might miss a key ingredient that gives your meal that certain “je ne sais quoi.”

In a business context, a carefully crafted marketing strategy (the recipe) gives an organization a clear direction and a plan of tactics (the ingredients) to achieve their desired business goals (the meal).

Your marketing strategy should analyze the needs of different audiences (i.e. customers, shareholders, public, employees, etc.) and provide a road map to achieve your organizational objectives (i.e. sales growth, increased brand recognition, improved sponsorship opportunities, or membership growth).

A professional marketing strategy will:

• Provide the organization with focus and direction by identifying the opportunities worth pursuing as well as threats to be avoided;
• Identify the tools or tactics that the organization can effectively use to reach goals, such as web marketing, social media, or trade show materials;
• Stretch resources by focusing only on marketing initiatives that support the overall objectives;
• Translate the organization’s vision, mission, and objectives into marketing initiatives;
• Act as the foundation for a fully integrated communications program that maintains a consistent approach across all brand elements; and
• Improve the effectiveness of the message to customers, members, sponsors and partners

When it comes to marketing, you should never go in blind. Instead, do your research, plan ahead and stay focused with a professional marketing strategy. Clueless where to start? Get in touch.