How to Build a Successful Marketing Strategy
the EFF-E METHOD
Effective marketing starts with a clear marketing strategy: you need to make sure you have clear long-term corporate objectives (a “Strategic Plan” ) which will drive annual marketing strategy (annual “Budgets”) and short-term marketing programs and operations (Quarterly “Drive Cycles” and “Monthly Implementations Plans”).
Your strategic plan must provide a clear, long term direction. It has to identify and prioritise the key inflection points that can accelerate your topline and bottom line growth.
Marketing leaders can use this guide to create robust strategic marketing plans that deliver SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Relevant, and Time-bound).
Step 1 : Long term Vision and Ambition
WHAT
Articulate your Vision and Ambition for your company and for your brands and business units, and identify any possible Inflection points that will help you achieve them
OUTPUT
- Market prioritization and resource allocation, by market and brand
- Category growth opportunities that provide a possibility for accelerated growth
- Geographic expansion, Innovation or New Business Opportunities
- Initiatives related to Brand equity (ex: rejuvenations, brand extensions, brand architecture)
- Pricing strategies and Premiumization.
ESSENTIALS
All the outputs above have to be supported by a clear rationale, have to be quantified and prioritized, have to include investments needed to get there, as well as KPIs and deadlines
EFF-E ADDED VALUE
EFF-E Marketing has developed innovative proprietary tools to asses relative performance that can bring extra value to your organisation
Step 2 : Context
WHAT
General industry/market/brands context
OUTPUT
- “Explaining the Past”: Financial performance and Market shares by region, market, category and brand and their evolution, as well as “Key learnings from the past” – what objectives were achieved, what were not, and why
- “Prepare for the future”: Key macroeconomic indicators, Geopolitics and Regulations, Competition, Trade and Consumer
ESSENTIALS
Objective assessments based both on internal and external sources. Key inputs and techniques include marketing and financial analysis, SWOT and other consultant-type analysis
EFF-E ADDED VALUE
Use tools like EFF-E ‘s Marketing Performance Benchmarks to compare key investment and performance indicators
Step 3 : Strategy Formulation
WHAT
OUTPUT
Key drivers for the plan, by region, market and brand
Presents in detail how you will get from current status to the desired one:
- Route to Market
- Route to Consumer
- De-prioritizations
- Human Resources and Organisation changes
ESSENTIALS
EFF-E ADDED VALUE
Marketing objectives and strategies are accompanied by goal setting, key success factors and KPIs. Targets and metrics should use SMART format
Extensive experience in different industries, geographies, both B2B and B2C
Step 4 : Ressource Requirements and Allocations
WHAT
OUTPUT
Resource allocation rationale by market, brand and key business drivers
Budgets and resource plans (Marketing, Operations, Technology, People, Trainings) supporting the delivery of strategy described in Step 3. This should reflect the capability of the company to invest, as well as the current organisation maturity to support the strategy
ESSENTIALS
EFF-E ADDED VALUE
Allocations informed by the near-term, midterm and long-term projected benefits that strategies will deliver to the business. Informed by a review of current-state and desired marketing maturity
EFF-E Marketing has developed innovative proprietary tools to asses resource allocation that can bring extra value to your organisation. Our collaboration with a global leading data and research provider gives you the confidence and the necessary experience to proceed
Solid Marketing strategies set a clear direction for one to three years, but should be able to be understood by the whole organisation and not only by the top management. The changing nature of the envirenmment, which is increasingly volatile lately, have challenged the long planning cycles.
Consider the following factors that can have an influence on your Marketing strategy:
INTERNAL FACTORS
Factors inside the organization can impact as well the performance .
For exemple: first semester performance requires cut in marketing budget to protect profitability, new investor joins the business and wants a further increase in profitability, a new business opportunity requires extra investment and resource reallocation, key talent leaves the business, etc
EXTERNAL FACTORS
External factors that are outside the control of the organization
For example: economic changes (exchange rates, interest rates, duties and taxes, laws and regulations), social and cultural changes (need for more eco-friendly, sustainable products) or technological shifts (“uberisation” of the industry).
External factors that are within the control of the organization
For Example: changes in competition set and offer, shifts in customer behavior (buying less but more premium), or changes in the distribution channel (increase of discounters and private labels, ecommerce).
If you have a question send me an email to [email protected] to find out how you can benefit from EFF-E 20 years experience in building successful Marketing strategies on over 50 countries , both B2B and B2C:
- Workshops
- Seminars
- Marketing effectiveness tool implementation with the help of global leader in data and research, Pointlogic, a Nielsen company
Book a free call, take the Marketing Effectiveness Test or download the white paper and get inspired!