Strategic Marketing: What It Is, Objectives, Strategy Examples and How to Apply It

Strategic marketing is something like a compass that guides the success of organizations of all sizes. Beyond simple advertising or sales, it represents a systematic and profound approach to understanding the market, anticipating needs, and creating lasting value.

This comprehensive process allows companies not only to survive, but to thrive, even in the most complex markets.

We will discover how strategic marketing can transform the way companies connect with their customers and build sustainable competitive advantages.

What is strategic marketing?

Strategic marketing constitutes a systematic and continuous process that analyzes and studies market needs to develop profitable products and services, aimed at specific buyer groups.

This approach is executed by focusing on deeply understanding the business environment, competition, and above all, the consumer.

Unlike traditional marketing, the strategic approach is oriented toward the medium and long term, seeking to position the company sustainably in the market.

Strategic marketing involves constant research of opportunities, trend analysis, and continuous adaptation to environmental changes, and allows organizations to identify and develop lasting competitive advantages that generate value for both the company and its customers.

Objectives of strategic marketing

The fundamental objective of strategic marketing is to create a sustainable competitive advantage that allows the company to stand out in the market and generate value for all its stakeholders.

This general purpose is materialized through various specific objectives that guide the organization’s actions:

• Identify new market opportunities: involves the constant search and analysis of unserved or underserved market niches and segments that represent growth potential for the company.
• Develop differentiated products and services: consists of creating unique offerings that respond to the specific needs of the target market and clearly distinguish themselves from the competition.
• Establish clear and memorable positioning: seeks to create a distinctive image in consumers’ minds that reflects the unique values and benefits the brand offers.
• Build lasting relationships with customers: focuses on developing loyalty and retention strategies that generate long-term value for both the customer and the company.
• Optimize resource allocation: requires efficiently distributing available resources (human, financial, and material) to maximize return on marketing investment.
• Maximize long-term profitability: pursues generating sustainable profits over time through building lasting competitive advantages and creating value for all stakeholders.

Characteristics of strategic marketing

Strategic marketing is distinguished by its analytical approach and future orientation. Its proactive nature allows anticipating market changes and adapting the organization to new competitive realities.

Being more specific, we can divide the characteristics of strategic marketing as:

• Long-term planning that goes beyond immediate tactical actions, allowing companies to build a solid market position through time and changing trends.
• Continuous value generation through creating lasting benefits that strengthen the relationship between the company and its customers, surpassing simple commercial transactions.
• Permanent market research through systematic studies that analyze trends, behaviors, and emerging consumer needs.
• Constant competitive monitoring to identify threats and opportunities in the competitive environment, allowing strategy adjustments as necessary.
• Inter-departmental coordination that ensures all company areas work aligned toward the same strategic marketing objectives.
• Adaptability to market changes, allowing modification of strategies and tactics as environmental conditions evolve.
• Precise segment identification based on demographic, psychographic, and behavioral criteria that allow better understanding of each consumer group.
• Offer personalization for each target segment, developing products and services that satisfy specific needs of each group.
• Systematic results measurement that allows evaluating the impact of implemented strategies and making adjustments when necessary.
• Continuous resource optimization through efficient allocation of budget and marketing efforts toward the most profitable activities.

Strategic Marketing Vs. Operational Marketing

Strategic marketing and operational marketing, although complementary, fulfill fundamentally different functions in business management, as the former focuses on “what to do” and “why,” while the latter deals with “how to do it” and “when.”

To illustrate these differences, let’s consider the case of a technology company.

From a strategic standpoint, the opportunity to develop devices for older adults could be identified, based on demographic trends and market analysis.

Operational marketing would then be responsible for executing this strategy through specific advertising campaigns, promotions, and distribution channels adapted to this segment.

Strategic marketing involves decisions such as target market selection or new product development, while operational marketing handles the management of the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) on a day-to-day basis.

For example, the decision to enter the organic products market would be strategic, while determining specific prices or designing a promotional campaign would be operational.

How is strategic marketing applied?

The application of strategic marketing includes conducting detailed market research, as we have repeatedly mentioned before, realistic competitive analysis with updated data, evaluation of the company’s internal capabilities, and identification of market opportunities.

The process continues with market segmentation, target market selection, and brand positioning.

Each of these steps must be based on concrete data and rigorous analysis.

For example, a company must identify specific consumer groups with similar needs, evaluate the attractiveness of each segment according to predefined criteria, and develop a unique value proposition for the selected segments.

Examples of strategic marketing tools and actions

There are many tools that can fit within strategic marketing, among them:

1. PESTEL Analysis for international expansion

The implementation of PESTEL analysis as a basis for international expansion demonstrates strategic marketing in action.

For example, a pharmaceutical company uses this analysis to identify that legal and political factors in certain Asian countries favor the entry of new medicines, allowing it to develop a successful entry strategy adapted to each market.

2. BCG Matrix for portfolio optimization

The application of the BCG Matrix to optimize the product portfolio illustrates how strategic marketing guides crucial decisions.

For example, a technology company identifies that its tablet line has become a “low-performance product,” while its cloud services are a “star.”

This leads it to disinvest in tablets and redirect resources toward developing new cloud solutions, maximizing its profitability.

3. Positioning map to identify opportunities

The strategic use of positioning maps allows identifying unserved market opportunities.

A brand that performs this analysis may discover an empty space in the market between natural and luxury products, for example, developing a new line that combines premium organic ingredients with sophisticated packaging, capturing an underserved segment. To name one.

5. Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis for competitive advantage

The implementation of Porter’s 5 Forces analysis reveals key strategic opportunities.

Again with an example. A software company identifies a high threat of new entrants in its main market, which leads it to develop a loyalty program based on deep integration of its solutions with its clients’ systems, significantly increasing switching costs and strengthening its competitive position.

The strategic marketing plan

The marketing plan is a key point within strategic marketing as it represents the documented materialization of a company’s marketing strategy.

This vital document acts as a roadmap that guides all marketing decisions and actions, ensuring they are aligned with the organization’s general objectives.

The fundamental elements of the plan include situation analysis, objective definition, segmentation and positioning strategy, marketing mix, budget, and control and evaluation mechanisms. Each component must be carefully developed and documented to guarantee effective implementation.

The plan’s objectives must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound), providing clear direction for all marketing activities. These objectives may include market share goals, sales growth, penetration into new markets, or customer satisfaction improvement.

How to create and implement a strategic marketing plan?

Before beginning plan development, it’s crucial to understand that this document must be flexible and adaptable to environmental changes. It’s also important to ensure the commitment of the entire organization and have the necessary resources for its effective implementation.

1. Situation analysis

The first step involves conducting an exhaustive analysis of the company’s internal and external environment.

This includes a PESTEL analysis to understand the macro-environment, a Porter’s five forces analysis to evaluate the industry, and a SWOT analysis to identify the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

2. Definition of strategic objectives

This crucial step involves establishing clear and measurable objectives that the company wishes to achieve.

The objectives must be aligned with the organization’s mission and vision, and must consider available resources and the company’s capabilities.

3. Segmentation and targeting

In this phase, the most attractive market segments for the company are identified and selected.

The process includes defining segmentation criteria, evaluating the attractiveness of each segment, selecting target markets, creating buyer personas for each segment, and establishing the target market.

4. Value proposition development

This step involves creating a unique and differentiated value proposition for each target segment.

The proposition must be based on the segment’s specific needs and the company’s distinctive capabilities; in other words, the plan must detail from what perspective value will be offered to customers.

5. Marketing mix design

In this stage, specific strategies are developed for each element of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion). Each decision must align with the value proposition and strategic objectives defined previously.

6. Implementation and control

The final step involves launching the plan and establishing control and monitoring mechanisms.

It’s essential to maintain a flexible approach that allows making adjustments according to obtained results and environmental changes. Additionally, implementation must include a system of clear metrics and KPIs to evaluate strategy success and make necessary adjustments in a timely manner.

Continuous feedback and plan adjustment are crucial for its success within strategic marketing, which implies establishing regular control points, analyzing deviations from stated objectives, and taking corrective measures when necessary. The plan should be viewed as a living document that evolves with the company and its environment.