Creating a successful business strategy is critical for a company aiming to achieve sustainable growth. This is especially important for businesses operating online, where the majority of revenue and customer interactions take place without physical presence.

No matter what sector you’re in, a solid business strategy will form the backbone of your growth efforts. In addition to this, it’s important to regularly review and evaluate your strategy in light of changing market conditions and consumer habits. To do this, you’ll need to develop a clear and concise marketing strategy that will serve as a guide for all of your marketing initiatives.

In this article, we’ll discuss how to develop a strategic marketing plan for your online business.

What is a Marketing Strategy?

A marketing strategy is a plan of action designed to promote your product or service to consumers. It sets out the objectives you’ll focus on over a defined period of time, such as a quarter, a year, or more. Many businesses develop a five-year strategic marketing plan to map out their promotional activities.

This plan should spell out the kinds of activities you’ll undertake to attract, engage, and retain customers. It should also include key goals and metrics you’ll use to measure the success of these activities.

If you’re just starting out, consider developing a short-term strategy, perhaps using an online marketing campaign to gain invaluable experience and identify best practice. Regardless of your plan’s scope, be sure to focus on marketing activities that will generate enough revenue to cover your business’s costs.

How to develop a strategic marketing plan for your online business

The following steps will guide you in developing a solid marketing plan for your online business.

Step one: Set a benchmark for your market size

The first step in developing a marketing strategy is to set a benchmark for your market size. Your market benchmark is the population of individuals or groups of people who have an interest in or need for your product or service. It’s important to clarify that your market benchmark does not represent everyone in the world; it’s just those you’re focused on at this point.

To set your market benchmark, it’s important to consider factors such as your product’s demand in your market, current and potential future purchasing behaviour, as well as the size of your market opportunity. For example, if you’re launching a new product line, consult with industry experts to establish what proportion of the market you’ll be able to capture.

Step two: Create key target audiences and buyer personas

The next step in developing a strategic marketing plan is to create key target audiences and buyer personas. Your target audiences are the groups of people you’ll aim to attract with your marketing efforts. These are the individuals or groups of people that you’ll need to focus on if you want to execute a successful marketing campaign.

To create these key target audiences and buyer personas, consider the individuals or groups of people you’re planning to engage with via your marketing efforts. Once you’ve established this, you can map out the details of your target audiences’ buying behaviours, as well as their needs. This will form the basis of your marketing messaging and communication methods.

For example, if you’re targeting women aged between 18 and 24 for your next marketing campaign, you can develop key themes and language to engage this audience. Once again, it’s important to bear in mind that your target audience is not necessarily your customer – it can be a combination of the two.

Step three: Select the relevant metrics to track

The third step in developing a marketing strategy is to select the relevant metrics to track. Metrics can be used to track the success of your strategy and monitor its execution. The metrics you’ll select should map to the goals and objectives you’ve set out in your plan.

This step is critical, as you’ll need to track the results of your strategy to see if it’s effective or not. The metrics you select should be able to provide you with detailed information on the performance of your campaign.

Step four: Create key performance indicators

The fourth step in developing a strategic marketing plan is to create key performance indicators. Key performance indicators are measurable metrics that will allow you to track the results of your strategy. They’ll also guide your decision-making processes and allow you to measure the success of your marketing efforts.

To create these indicators, it’s important to consider the benchmarks you’ve set out in step one. Once you’ve established these, you can set out the metrics that will allow you to track your progress against them. Additionally, you can identify key milestones that will serve as a guide for future planning.

Step five: Create key assumptions

The final step in developing a marketing strategy is to create key assumptions. Key assumptions are the assumptions you’ll make about the markets you’re targeting and the prospects you’ll engage with. These are the beliefs you’ll need to hold true in order to execute a successful marketing campaign.

For example, if you’re developing a strategy for the UK market, be sure to consider current purchasing behaviour, as well as the possibility of large scale industry acquisitions or mergers. The changes that can occur in the future as a result of technological advancement and evolving consumer preferences need to be considered as well.

To develop these key assumptions, it’s important to map out the key circumstances or situations that can influence the behaviour of your target audiences. Once you’ve established these, you can consider implications for your marketing plan. For example, if you’re developing a plan for an online business, the conditions and circumstances that can influence consumer behaviour are endless – from the weather to the state of the economy.

By developing these key assumptions, you can ensure your marketing strategy is as effective as possible and will serve as a guide for all your future marketing activity. This way, you’ll be able to consistently hit the ground running each time you develop a new plan.

To learn more, visit www.marketingcharts.com.au.

As you can see, the process of creating a marketing plan is fairly straightforward. However, to make sure you develop a sound strategy that’ll serve your business for the long term, it’s important to follow these steps carefully and systematically. If you keep all these in mind, the process will be much easier to follow and will form the basis for sound marketing decision-making throughout your business’ existence.