How to Make a Smart Marketing Strategy Plan

By: | April 20, 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , |
The steps in the SMART marketing process explained

Are you familiar with the marketing process?

When you publish web content, you need to be a marketing strategist.

Whether your goal is to make money online or generate new subscribers, you need to have a marketing strategy plan that helps you meet your goal.

What kind of marketing will you conduct?

This post will explain the 30 types of marketing so you know your choices.

Then this post will help you decide which one to choose.

Two steps exist in the marketing process: You need to choose the type of marketing you want to conduct and then formulate a strategic marketing process to help you use that type of marketing to reach your goals.

This article will explain how to do both.

By the end of this post, you’ll be able to make a marketing strategy plan that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

What is the Marketing Process?

The marketing process is a series of steps you take in order to analyze consumers’ wants, your ability to satisfy those wants, and the current marketing trends.

Where to Start in the Marketing Process

You need to choose the type of marketing you want to conduct. Choosing the type of marketing escalates your plan from a marketing process to a strategic marketing process.

Note: Many of these types of marketing are synonymous or have commonalities.

Affiliate Marketing – In affiliate marketing, a business rewards an affiliate for bringing a visitor or a customer to the business.

Blog Marketing – Marketing using blogs.

Business Marketing – Allows companies to sell their products or services to other businesses that resell them.

Buzz Marketing relies on word-of-mouth to make sales.

Content Marketing – According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing is creating and distributing content with the ultimate purpose of making sales.

[Read How to Easily Build an Effective Content Distribution Strategy.]

Context Marketing – The ability of a company to deliver what the consumer wants within the context of their history of purchases.

Database Marketing – Database marketing is marketing using the databases of customers or potential customers to make sales.

Digital Marketing – Marketing on the internet using electronic technologies.

Email Marketing – The act of sending emails to a group of people.

[Read Why These 7 Email List Providers Are the Best in 2018.]

eMarketing – Internet Marketing or Online Marketing

[Read eMarketing: How to Convince a Customer to Purchase Your Product.]

Global Marketing – Marketing internationally and capitalizing on international differences and similarities.

Guerilla Marketing – a marketing strategy that relies on low-cost, non-traditional advertising. For example, publicity would be considered guerilla marketing.

Inbound Marketing – a way of selling customers services and products using social media, content writing, and SEO.

Influencer Marketing – a form of marketing that relies on the influence of influential individuals over potential customers.

Information Marketing – information marketing relates to selling informative products for example an ebook.

Internet Marketing – a synonym for ecommerce, selling using electronic mediums.I

Location-based Marketing is based on selling online and offline using a consumer’s location.

Map Marketing – a study of different market conditions plotted on a map

Niche Marketing – a small segment of the market has specific needs, and the marketing goal is satisfying the needs of that segment of the market.

Offline Marketing – marketing without the use of the internet.

[Related: 5 Innovative Trends Every Marketer Should Have in Their Toolbox]

Online Marketing uses the internet to market products and services. Online marketing is also called “internet advertising” and “online advertising.”

Permission Marketing – A term devised by Seth Godin which entails marketing when advance permission is given.

Relationship Marketing focuses on keeping your customers and making them happy.

Retail Marketing – how retailers make consumers aware of their goods and services.

Search Engine Marketing – marketing using search engines.

Situational Marketing relates to the consumer’s situation. For example, a situational marketer might ask, “When does my potential customer want to receive an advertisement?”

Social Media Marketing – using social media sites to promote a product or service.

Trade Marketing – focuses more on the needs of the brand than the consumer.

Viral Marketing – a marketing technique that encourages potential customers to share information about a brand’s product or service.

Video Marketing – When the video is placed on a social media site, a new marketing strategy emerges, social video marketing. This strategy is designed to increase audience interest in a product or service by watching a video.

[Note: You can even get paid to watch videos and you can pay people to watch videos to generate customer interest and feedback as explained in this Kingged article.]

Once you know what kind of marketing you want to engage in, you need to make your goals.

Marketing Goals Should Be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely

Specific

Marketing goals should be specific. Marketers should state one goal and then try to achieve that goal before tackling another. For example, marketers’ goals might state how many customers they want to attain.

Measurable

A marketer’s goal must be measurable. How will you determine if your goal has been met? For example, will your goal state that a certain percentage of visitors will become customers?

Attainable

Can the marketer achieve the goal? For example, a goal to double your conversions in one month’s time may not be realistic.

Relevant

Does your marketing objective reflect current marketing trends?

Timely

Are the goals timely? What is the time frame in which marketers hope to achieve their goal? Marketers need to set a deadline, a specific date by which they need to have their goal met.

Wrapping Up the Steps in the Marketing Process

In closing, the SMART acronym is an easy way to remember your 5 goals in the marketing process. With so many types of marketing techniques to choose from, the marketing process should be a breeze.

Readers, please share so other marketers learn the 5 steps in the marketing process and the 30 types of marketing strategies available to them.

  1. Dimitri

    So many different ways to market. Possible the best is to combine different methods, but it can be very time consuming I found. Just running the blog and doing some SEO, takes a big chunk of my time already.

    • Janice Wald

      It takes a big chunk of my time as well. Thank you for the suggestion about combining methods. Thank you also for commenting.
      Janice

  2. farhanaz

    traditionally I knew only two types, content marketing, email marketing, but this article gives knowledge about marketing that I never heard and a detailed explanation about marketing. very nice explanation thanks

    • Janice Wald

      My pleasure. Thank you for writing to tell me you learned about some new methods of marketing.
      Janice

  3. talha rana

    thanku for sharing g very useful information
    i have one question can you tell which theme you are using in your blog please tell me its look very nice

    • Janice Wald

      Custom made. The designer’s name is at the very bottom; if you are interested, contact him.

  4. Moss Clement

    Hi Janice,

    The steps here are actionable and effective which will make any serious marketer a marketing guru. However, one marketing tip I encourage marketers to use especially retail business owners is Geofencing Marketing tactics. As the name suggest, fencing im this context means creating a virtual fence around your customers and eventual consumers in any location you choose including around your competitors. Then you can send them notifications about you product and services, new offers, discounts, coupons, and so forth. It helps to drive foot traffic and increase sales several folds.

  5. telcob

    Thanks for sharing valuable content your ways will really help me to become a good marketer.

  6. Alice

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  7. Jukseo

    Sir i really like your content as a newbie, now i understand we have many types of marketing process and strategies. Basically i am more into Search engine marketing or Seo strategy. Write on search engine optimization as well its best and free way i think. As a newbie if we don,t have money for marketing then its works according to my knowledge. Waiting for more interesting topics.

  8. Jitendra Vaswani

    Hey Janice,

    When it comes to Marketing Strategy Plan, one question comes into my mind “Where to Start in the Marketing Process”.

    But here you have explained well how we can easily create marketing strategy plan. Really, I’m gonna use some of your valuable tips for my marketing plan too.

    Thanks for sharing such an informative post.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Jitendra,
      1. Start by choosing a type of marketing.
      2. Follow the SMART acronym to make your marketing goals.
      Thank you for the compliments and reading what I wrote.
      Janice

  9. Pingback: How To Grow Your Product Business From Zero To One Million
  10. Sharlene Andrade

    Your points are all well taken. Well thought of marketing strategy can give your business the edge among the other competitors. Thank you for sharing this. All the best!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Sharlene,
      I’m glad you felt my points were valuable. I tried to provide a strategy in the post that would give marketers the edge– the SMART strategy. Thanks for writing.
      Janice

  11. franchise marketing

    If you’re using a business plan to get a loan or generate angel investors, the marketing strategy and marketing plan will be essential elements to your success.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Franchise,
      I agree. Are angel investors anonymous donors? Yes. A business model– a marketing plan– will make people feel confident enough to invest in your business or even to make a loan. Thanks for writing.
      Janice

  12. Pingback: How to Make a Smart Marketing Strategy Plan — Mostly Blogging – Articles & thoughts from Framework Marketing

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