Strategy and Context
Introduction
Learning Objectives
In this chapter, you will learn:
- How to define and distinguish business strategy and marketing strategy
- How to think about digital audiences
- The key building block concepts that are essential to any strategy
- The questions that need to be asked when assembling a digital marketing
A strategy indicates the most advantageous direction for an organisation to take over a defined period of time. It also outlines which tactics and means should be used to execute this direction. Originating as a military term, strategy is about using your strengths, as well as the context in which you are operating, to your advantage.
In marketing, strategy starts with understanding what the business
wants to achieve, or what problem it wants to solve. It then considers
the context in which the business and its competitors operates and
outlines key ways in which the business and brand can gain advantage and
add value.
In the early days of TV, when the medium was new and not yet entirely
understood, there were separate 'TV planners' who created a 'TV
strategy' for the brand. Over time, this was incorporated into the
overall marketing strategy (as it should be). The same has happened with
digital. Digital thinking should be incorporated into marketing
strategy from day one. This chapter considers digital strategy
separately in order to highlight some ways in which digital has affected
our strategic approach to reaching customers and solving marketing
problems.
Key Terms and Concepts
| Term | Definition |
| Cluetrain Manifesto | A set of 95 theses organised as a call to action (CTA) for businesses operating within a newly connected marketplace, published in 1999. While some of the book's claims have failed to materialise, it was an early source of guidelines for social media and obtained a cult- like following. |
| Market share | In
strategic management and marketing, market share is the percentage or
proportion of the total available market or market segment that is being
serviced by a company. Metric A unit of measurement. |
| Pay per click (PPC) | Pay per click is advertising where the advertiser pays only for each click on their advert, not for the opportunity for it to be seen or displayed. |
| Return on investment (ROI) | The ratio of cost to profit. |
| Search engine optimisation (SEO) | SEO is the practice that aims to improve a website's ranking for specific keywords in the search engines. |
| Short Message Service (SMS) | Electronic messages sent on a cellular network. |
| Strategy | A set of ideas that outline how a product or brand will be positioned and achieve its objectives. This guides decisions on how to create, distribute, promote and price the product or service. |
| Tactic | A specific action or method that contributes to achieving a goal. |
Source: Lina Manuel, https://pressbooks.nscc.ca/emarketing/chapter/chapter-1/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.