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Marketing Strategy Is Not A Collection Of Tactics

By Candyce Edelen

PropelGrowth Blog
marketing strategy and marketing tactics are often confusedThe other day we met with a financial technology vendor who shared their 2013 marketing strategy. The strategy included a vague set of objectives around increasing awareness and decreasing average cost per lead and a positioning statement that could have been produced by the B.S. Generator (if you’ve never heard of this, check it out. It’s hilarious!). Then it listed plans for targeted email campaigns, social media, search engine optimization, videos, events, blogs, mobile apps, and online advertising. As I glanced at it, my immediate reaction was “this is not a strategy; it’s a collection of tactics.”

Tactics Are About How You Execute on Strategy

I see this over and over again in the financial technology space. Marketing teams come up with tactical plans for how to spend the marketing budget to increase the level of market awareness (a.k.a. marketing noise), but there is no cohesive strategy behind any of these tactical activities.

A strategy needs to include things like:

  • Sales objectives for the year and Marketing’s expected contribution (e.g., leads, awareness)
  • An analysis of your target market – what are the key targets you’re going after this year?
  • Buyer personas for all the key stakeholders involved in the buying process
  • Details on what each buyer persona is trying to achieve and what drives them to change
  • Your positioning relative to persona-specific business needs and drivers
  • Messaging that will resonate with those key personas
  • Industry issues that are driving change and influencing the buying process

Then, once you have the foundational elements of your strategy, you can put together a plan. The plan should detail who you’re targeting, what message you want to deliver, and how you’ll reach the target audience. Then you can think through campaigns that will deliver those messages. Once you have that, it’s time to figure out which marketing vehicles are best for promoting the campaigns. Now you’re ready to build the tactical plan and identify where to dedicate your budget.

As the year progresses, event planners, media companies, reporters and prospective partners will constantly approach you with the latest way to spend your marketing dollars. As these opportunities arise, each should be considered relative to the marketing strategy. Is this approach going to support your messaging? Is it an effective vehicle to deliver your content to your target audience? Will your message get through, or will it just be adding to the noise?

Marketing tactics are important, but the tactical plan is really your execution plan for the strategy.

As you develop your strategy and plan, here are some helpful resources:

Content And Thought Leadership To Support The Buying Cycle
The 4 Stages of the Financial Technology Buying Process
How to Create a Marketing Strategy

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Candyce Edelen
CEO at PropelGrowth
Candyce is the founder and CEO of PropelGrowth. She brings more than twenty years of experience in managing technology companies and has founded four companies prior to PropelGrowth. For the past ten years, Candyce has focused exclusively in the capital markets industry, launching two financial technology companies. Now, she helps financial technology vendors improve their marketing strategy, publish compelling content, and drive revenue through marketing and sales enablement. Contact Candyce at +1 970-300-2280.
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Latest posts by Candyce Edelen (see all)
  • 4 Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Prospecting
  • The Reality of Cold Calling for B2B Sales
  • Can Inbound Marketing Generate Enough Leads?

Filed Under: Marketing Strategy, PropelGrowth Blog Tagged With: marketing strategy

About Candyce Edelen

Candyce is the founder and CEO of PropelGrowth. She brings more than twenty years of experience in managing technology companies and has founded four companies prior to PropelGrowth. For the past ten years, Candyce has focused exclusively in the capital markets industry, launching two financial technology companies. Now, she helps financial technology vendors improve their marketing strategy, publish compelling content, and drive revenue through marketing and sales enablement. Contact Candyce at +1 970-300-2280.

Company Profile

PropelGrowth helps companies improve their marketing and sales. We start with in-depth buyer research. Then we develop a marketing and sales strategy and customer-centric messaging. Then we coach your team and help you execute on the strategy by developing thought leadership programs, content for every stage in the buying process, sales collateral, and tools to help buyers buy.

Figure out why and how your buyers buy

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Recent Posts

  • 4 Steps to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Sales Prospecting
  • The Reality of Cold Calling for B2B Sales
  • Can Inbound Marketing Generate Enough Leads?
  • How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Using LinkedIn for Prospecting
  • Tips from 8 ERP Resellers on How to Leapfrog Your Competition​
  • How to Win 74% of Your ERP Deals
  • Buyer Persona Research, the Key to Niche Marketing
  • 8 Ways a Niche Strategy Improves the Value of Your Practice

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+1 970.300.2280

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  • Home
  • Who We Are
    • Why PropelGrowth?
    • Management Team
    • Acumatica Marketing Team
    • Privacy Policy
    • Back
  • What We Do
    • Marketing Strategy
      • Buyer Personas
      • Strategy Development
      • Acumatica Partner Marketing
      • Integrating PR
      • Creative Design
      • Back
    • Marketing Programs
      • Content Marketing for the Buying Process
      • Content Marketing Programs
      • Thought Leadership In The Buying Process
      • Thought Leadership Programs
      • Lead Generation and Lead Nurturing
      • LinkedIn Sales Prospecting
      • Marketing Coaching Program
      • Back
    • Marketing Content
      • Marketing Automation
      • Email Marketing
      • Website Content
      • Blogging and Article Marketing
      • Case Studies
      • White Papers and E-books
      • Research Studies
      • Live and Online Events
      • Back
    • LinkedIn LeadGen Master Class
    • Back
  • Who We Do It For
    • Who We Serve
    • Client Case Studies
      • What This CEO Learned From Buyer Persona Research Transformed Her Company
      • Back
    • Back
  • Resources
    • Sales Resources
      • Solving the No Decision Problem
      • Back
    • Marketing Resources
      • B2B Lead Conversion Rates
      • Back
    • The TrendSpotters Podcast Series
    • Back
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Search
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