How to Create a Marketing Strategy That Supports Business Growth
A marketing strategy should do more than provide a list of marketing activities.
For a growing business, it should provide a clear direction for where marketing should focus, why those priorities matter and how marketing will contribute to wider business objectives.
Without a clear strategy, businesses can easily become reactive, trying different channels, campaigns and tactics without knowing whether they are addressing the right priorities.
Creating a marketing strategy provides a framework for making better decisions, allocating resources effectively and keeping marketing aligned with the direction of the business.
What Is a Marketing Strategy?
A marketing strategy is a structured approach to achieving business and marketing objectives through a clear understanding of your customers, market, positioning and available opportunities.
It establishes the strategic direction for marketing before deciding exactly which campaigns or channels to use.
A good marketing strategy should answer questions such as:
- What is the business trying to achieve?
- Who are our priority customers?
- What do those customers need?
- What makes our business different?
- Which markets or opportunities should we focus on?
- What should marketing achieve?
- Which activities are most likely to support those objectives?
- How will we measure progress?
The answers provide the foundation for your marketing plan.
Why Does Your Marketing Strategy Need to Support Business Growth?
Marketing should not operate separately from the rest of the business.
If the business wants to increase revenue, enter a new market, improve customer retention or launch a new service, marketing should have a clear role in supporting those objectives.
For example, a business focused on growth might need marketing to:
- Generate more qualified enquiries
- Increase awareness within a target market
- Support the launch of a new service
- Improve conversion rates
- Strengthen customer retention
- Develop new customer segments
- Build a stronger competitive position
This is why starting with marketing channels is often the wrong approach.
Instead of asking “Should we be doing more social media?”, begin with “What does the business need to achieve, and how can marketing contribute?”
Step 1: Start With Your Business Objectives
The first step in creating a marketing strategy is understanding what the business wants to achieve.
Consider your objectives for the next 12 months and beyond.
These might include:
- Revenue growth
- Entering a new market
- Increasing market share
- Launching a product or service
- Increasing customer value
- Improving retention
- Generating more qualified leads
- Strengthening your market position
Your marketing strategy should support these priorities rather than operate independently of them.
Ask yourself:
What would successful growth look like for the business?
The answer should influence every subsequent marketing decision.
Step 2: Understand Your Target Customers
A marketing strategy is only effective if it is based on a clear understanding of the people you want to reach.
Go beyond basic demographic information and consider:
- Who are your most valuable customers?
- What problems are they trying to solve?
- What motivates them to buy?
- What concerns or objections do they have?
- How do they research potential suppliers?
- Who is involved in the buying decision?
- What factors influence their choice?
Your existing customers can provide valuable insight.
Look for patterns in your best customers. What do they have in common? Why did they choose your business? What problems were they trying to solve?
This information can help you identify where your marketing should be focused.
Step 3: Review Your Current Marketing
Before deciding what to do next, understand what you are already doing.
Review your current marketing activity across areas such as:
- Website
- SEO
- Content
- Email marketing
- Social media
- Paid advertising
- Events
- PR
- Partnerships
- Customer communications
- Sales and marketing processes
For each area, ask:
Is this activity contributing to our objectives?
You don’t necessarily need to stop activities that aren’t producing immediate results. Some marketing delivers longer-term value.
However, understanding performance allows you to make informed decisions about where to invest more, where to improve and where to stop.
Step 4: Assess Your Market and Competitors
Your marketing strategy should reflect the environment in which your business operates.
Review:
- Key competitors
- Competitor positioning
- Customer expectations
- Market trends
- Changes in customer behaviour
- New opportunities
- Potential threats
The objective isn’t simply to copy competitors.
Instead, look for opportunities to differentiate your business and identify areas where customer needs aren’t being fully addressed.
Ask:
Why should a customer choose us rather than another option?
If the answer isn’t clear, your positioning may need further consideration.
Step 5: Define Your Positioning
Positioning is about how you want your business to be perceived by your target customers in comparison with alternatives.
Strong positioning helps customers understand:
- Who you are
- Who you help
- What you offer
- What makes you different
- Why your solution is valuable
Your positioning should then inform your marketing messages across your website, content, campaigns and other communications.
If different parts of your marketing communicate different ideas about your business, customers may struggle to understand your value.
Step 6: Identify Your Marketing Objectives
Once you understand the business objectives, customers, market and positioning, you can define your marketing objectives.
Good marketing objectives should be specific enough to guide decisions and measurable enough to assess progress.
For example:
Business objective: Increase revenue from a particular market.
Marketing objective: Increase the number of qualified enquiries generated from that target market.
Or:
Business objective: Launch a new service.
Marketing objective: Build awareness and generate qualified opportunities among the identified target audience.
The important point is that the marketing objective has a clear relationship with the business objective.
Step 7: Identify Your Strategic Priorities
You cannot do everything. One of the most important functions of a marketing strategy is deciding where to focus.
Depending on your business, priorities might include:
- Increasing visibility within a specific market
- Improving website conversion
- Strengthening positioning
- Generating more qualified leads
- Developing customer retention activity
- Improving content
- Supporting a new product launch
- Building a stronger digital presence
Priorities should be based on potential business impact, available resources and the needs of your customers.
A strategy should also identify activities that are not priorities.
Strategic focus often comes from deciding what not to do.
Step 8: Choose the Right Marketing Channels
Only after establishing your objectives and priorities should you decide which marketing channels to use.
There is no universal combination of channels that works for every business.
Depending on your customers and objectives, your strategy might include:
- Search engine optimisation
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
- Social media
- Paid search
- Digital advertising
- Events
- Public relations
- Partnerships
- Direct marketing
- Customer communications
The question isn’t:
“Which channels are popular?”
It is:
“Which channels are most appropriate for reaching our priority customers and achieving our objectives?”
This distinction helps prevent businesses from investing in channels simply because competitors are using them.
Step 9: Create a Marketing Plan
Once the strategy is clear, turn it into an actionable marketing plan.
The plan should establish:
- Key campaigns
- Marketing activities
- Timescales
- Responsibilities
- Resources
- Budget
- KPIs
- Review dates
The marketing plan should make implementation easier, not replace the strategy.
If circumstances change, the plan can be adjusted while the underlying strategic direction remains clear.
Step 10: Establish KPIs and Measurement
Your strategy should define how success will be measured.
The right KPIs depend on your objectives.
Potential measures include:
- Qualified enquiries
- Leads
- Conversion rates
- Customer acquisition cost
- Revenue
- Customer retention
- Website conversions
- Organic search performance
- Campaign performance
Avoid measuring everything simply because the data is available.
A smaller number of meaningful KPIs is often more useful than a large dashboard of disconnected metrics.
The question should always be:
What do we need to know to understand whether our marketing is contributing to business growth?
Step 11: Review and Adapt Your Strategy
A marketing strategy should provide direction, but it shouldn’t be rigid.
Markets change. Competitors change. Customer expectations change. Business priorities change.
Regular reviews help ensure your strategy remains relevant.
A practical approach might include:
- Regular performance monitoring
- Monthly marketing reviews
- Quarterly strategic reviews
- An annual review of the overall strategy
You should also revisit your strategy when there is a significant change in the business, such as a new product, acquisition, new market opportunity or change in target customers.
Common Marketing Strategy Mistakes
When developing a strategy, businesses often make a few common mistakes.
Starting With Tactics
Jumping straight into social media, advertising or content without establishing objectives can lead to disconnected activity.
Trying to Do Everything
Too many priorities dilute resources and make it difficult to execute effectively.
Copying Competitors
Your competitors’ marketing strategy may be based on completely different customers, objectives and resources.
Focusing on Vanity Metrics
Followers, impressions and website traffic can be useful indicators, but they don’t necessarily demonstrate commercial success.
Creating a Strategy and Not Reviewing It
A strategy that sits in a document and is never revisited won’t provide much value.
The strategy needs to influence ongoing decisions.
How Often Should You Review Your Marketing Strategy?
There isn’t a single answer for every business.
As a minimum, consider a more detailed strategic review at least annually, supported by regular performance and priority reviews throughout the year.
For businesses experiencing rapid growth or significant change, more frequent strategic reviews may be appropriate.
The purpose isn’t to constantly rewrite the strategy.
It’s to make sure marketing remains aligned with the direction of the business.
What Does a Good Marketing Strategy Look Like?
A strong marketing strategy doesn’t need to be complicated.
It should provide clarity around:
Where are we now?
Understand your business, customers, market and current marketing performance.
Where do we want to go?
Define the business and marketing objectives.
Who do we need to reach?
Identify your priority customers and their needs.
How will we compete?
Establish positioning and differentiation.
What should we focus on?
Define marketing priorities and appropriate channels.
How will we know if it is working?
Establish meaningful KPIs and review processes.
This creates a clear connection between strategic thinking and practical marketing activity.
Creating a Marketing Strategy That Drives Growth
A marketing strategy should ultimately make marketing decisions easier.
It should help your business understand where to focus, what to prioritise and how marketing contributes to commercial objectives.
The goal isn’t simply to produce more content, run more campaigns or use more channels.
The goal is to make better marketing decisions based on a clear understanding of your business, customers and growth objectives.
For growing businesses, that strategic clarity can make the difference between marketing that feels busy and marketing that is genuinely focused on growth.
Need Help Developing Your Marketing Strategy?
If you know your business needs a clearer marketing direction but aren’t sure where to start, a Marketing Strategy Review can provide an independent assessment of your current approach.
A strategic review can help identify opportunities, clarify priorities and establish a stronger foundation for future marketing activity.
Find out more about our Marketing Strategy Review →
Need help with your marketing?
PGW Creative Consultancy can provide your business with advice and support.
Get in touch to arrange a free online marketing consultation or email: hello@pgwcreative.co.uk