We live in times of constant change. At least that’s what is commonly said. A marketing strategy is a long-term plan with clear goals to be achieved within a company. But are marketing strategies still effective in uncertain times? Especially those written to order, editions of dozens of pages that no one can reach or summarize.
Some real life examples
Brands are no longer just based on big ideas and concepts. Also, they are no longer based on long-term strategies written down years ago. They are based on an interconnected network of content and experiences in an ever-evolving digital world. In this new landscape, marketers are faced with the following challenges: How do you translate quantifiable business objectives into effective “proof-of-proof” activities? If there’s a mention of it in your strategy, you know it doesn’t need to be thrown in the trash. It’s even worse if the strategy you wrote a while ago is never implemented in reality. But how do you “prove” it?
Brands now need to expand their creativity reactively.
Strategy, microstrategy and tactics
Without a strategy, content is just a stuff, and the world has enought stuff.
At the highest level, brands still need a clear purpose, a unique point of view, meaningful differentiation, the right messaging, an interesting personality, a well-understood value proposition, and a memorable identity. Brands now also need to develop a number of tactics and micro-strategies with value propositions for precisely defined target groups. The key to connecting microstrategy to core strategy is the use of audience data. How to use them to provide unique, personalized experiences for your customers.
Brands need a system of sub-strategies (micro-strategies) that can scale across multiple platforms and formats. And you have to get it in front of the right audience at the perfect time. Such an overall system requires the implementation of various automations, processes, and features of marketing tools. If you have a large and diverse audience, you also need a modular and scalable way to create content tailored to your brand and target audience. Advertising also becomes part of the experience (brand UX).
So your strategy needs to go deeper. It needs to be more flexible, but also more detailed and manageable.
This means that brand strategies must take specific target groups into account and allow for serious personalization.
Does the customer want to know what problem the brand solves? What value does it have in his life? He also wants to “feel comfortable” and have a great experience with her. To ensure better and more personalized communication, these issues need to be addressed with micro-strategies.
How does this apply to your business?If you are a medium-sized business owner, be mindful of your basic marketing strategies, but be flexible in your micro-strategy and tactical choices. Allow them to adapt to the situation. The risk of making mistakes is low and you can take advantage of chances and opportunities.
