Strategic Marketing Planning

Marketing is not publicity.

What is Marketing?

According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements efficiently and profitably. In other words, it is a planned approach that lets you make the most of your resources to achieve your aims. 

The core aim of good marketing is identifying and exploiting the links between organisation and customer. This allows the two to effectively trade: the organisation is able to share its products/services to fulfil the customer’s needs/desires. 

Creating or Fulfilling Needs

There are two distinct forms of marketing: marketing to fulfil a need, and marketing that seeks to create need based on an existing product. Typically, commercial marketing is most successful when the product or service is informed by the requirements of a pre-existing need. However, in areas such as the arts, marketing often needs to start from a pre-determined product rather than simply responding to market demands. 

Both of these approaches above need to balance the needs of both the customer and organisation. And, in order to create an effective and long-lasting relationship, both will involve a range of different stakeholders. 

Marketing Events

Marketing an event can be very different to marketing for a product or service. As we discussed at the start of this course, events and other projects are defined by their temporary nature, and so you will find that you are often marketing something that is, partly, unknown. 

When marketing an event, it's worth considering three key questions:

• How do you describe / communicate your work?
• How do you reach new people?
• How will you make the most of your limited resources?
  

Step by Step

There are 6 key steps to strategic marketing:

1. Situational analysis: where are we now and how did we get here
   
2. Setting objectives: where do we want to go
   
3. Deciding the strategy: how will we get there
4. Assessing the resources: what will it take to get there
5. Implementing the plan: product, price, place, promotion, people
6. Monitor the plan: how well are we doing

The key to your marketing plan is a good foundation so the next page will focus in-depth on your situational analysis.