Strategic Planning Process
How we develop effective strategic marketing plans
Every marketing plan we develop (AKA marketing strategy, as they're sometimes referred to) follows a standard process with three fundamental stages, which allows us to deliver plans that are based on a strong foundation, highly actionable and aligned to the business needs.
Diagnosis
Understand the current market, competitive environment, past performance and business capability.
Strategy
Decide on a shortlist of market segments to target, with clear positioning and measurable objectives.
Tactics
Develop a detailed tactical plan across relevant channels, plus a budget, resourcing and systems requirements.
From the Marketing Toolbox
Guide to Marketing Strategy & Planning
If you want to better understand what marketing strategy and planning really are - without the BS and jargon that is common to marketers - take a look at this all-encompassing guide.
Marketing Planning > Diagnosis Stage
In the Diagnosis stage, we evaluate the current situation of the business, including the market conditions, past performance and competitive environment.
The most important thing about this stage is not falling into analysis paralysis, but to dedicate enough time to answer all essential questions such that you can formulate an effective strategy. You can always do further research and analysis in the future.
We conclude with a Segmentation map.
Business Goals
Understand the business vision, direction and goals - ideally short, medium and long-term (3 horizons)
Product & Services Review
An augmented map of the full range of products and services, sales history, lifecycle, new products and future focus.
Market & Business Environment
What defines your market and how big is it. What's happening in the external environment, including your competition.
Customer Profiles
Who are your ideal customers, what makes them tick, which ones are the biggest contributors to sales, margin.
Customer Journey / Funnel
How you engage customers across the marketing and sales funnel, from brand awareness to acquisition and retention.
Channel & Pricing Review
What sales channels do you use and how is your pricing defined and managed across these channels.
Past Performance
How has your marketing performed over the past 12+ months. What would you do again, do more of, stop doing, try new?
Resources & Systems
What marketing software do you use; what marketing resources / skills do you require? Where are your gaps?
Segmentation
A total map of your market, broken into key customer segments for use as a strategic decision making tool.
Marketing Planning > Strategy Stage
In the Strategy stage, we use the Segmentation map to guide our strategic decisions: what segments you will target and why; develop the positioning for each target segment; and quantify 1 or 2 SMART objectives for each target.
Occasionally this will require dipping back into Diagnosis to do some further evaluation and improve your understanding. It can also involve developing more than one set of strategic choices - experimenting with a few different strategies to help you decide on the best path for the business.
Targeting
A shortlist of 3 to 5 customer segments you intend to target. Ideally a combination of the total market plus individual segments.
Positioning
A succinct positioning statement for each of your target segments - that doesn't deviate from your core brand positioning, but is further refined for this audience.
Objectives
One or more objectives for each of your target segments. They must be SMART and readily quantifiable. The simpler the better.
Marketing Planning > Tactics Stage
In the Tactics stage, we map our the four main tactical choices as defined by the 4 Ps of Marketing - Product, Place (distribution), Price and Promotion (integrated marketing communications).
And then we bring all of this together in a final budget and presentation slide deck.
Products (& Services)
What products and services will you focus on for each target market?
Distribution (Place)
How are you going to reach each target with your desired range?
Pricing
At what price point and leveraging what strategies?
Integrated Marcomms
How will you build brand awareness and support the entire funnel?
Systems & Resources
What marketing systems and resources do you need to implement the plan?
Budget
How much will you need to spend to achieve the objectives set.
Presentation
A succinct 20-30 slide deck for presenting to the management / leadership team.
Finalise Plan
Build out a 12 month marketing calendar to support implementation.
Service Delivery
How we develop the plan with you
We can deliver a marketing plan via a number of formats, depending on your location and what suits your business needs.
Workshops
Delivered in-person or via video conferencing and online tools.
Templates
Pre-built templates to speed up data gathering and analysis.
In Person
Half and full day sessions to work through analysis, strategy and planning.
Video Conferencing
In combination with online tools such as Miro, Monday and Google Workspace.
Industrial Expertise
Our Marketing Services
Our full range of marketing services for the industrial sector.
