Insights / Marketing Strategy
Better Marketing Starts With Better Questions.
What are you trying to accomplish?
Who are you trying to reach?
Why should they choose you?
Where should you spend your marketing budget?
And how will you know if it's working?
Marketing strategy is the process of answering those questions before deciding what to create, where to advertise or which marketing channel to use. This Marketing Strategy Hub brings together practical answers, ideas and resources to help businesses make smarter marketing decisions. No buzzwords. No magic formulas. Just useful marketing thinking.
What Is Marketing Strategy?
Marketing strategy is the plan that connects your business objectives with the audiences, positioning, messages, channels and activities most likely to help achieve them.
A good strategy answers questions such as:
What are we actually trying to accomplish?
Who are our highest-value audiences?
What problem are we solving for them?
Why should they choose us?
What makes us different?
Where can we reach them?
What should we say?
What should we spend?
What should we measure?
Without those answers, marketing can quickly become a collection of disconnected tactics. Strategy gives those tactics a reason to exist.
Start With the Business Objective.
One of the most common marketing mistakes is starting with the channel.
“We need to be on TikTok.”
“We should run Google Ads.”
“We need more social media.”
“We need a new website.”
Maybe. But the first question should be:
What are we trying to accomplish?
Generate qualified leads?
Increase retail traffic?
Launch a product?
Enter a new market?
Build awareness?
Increase online sales?
Recruit employees?
Retain customers?
Different objectives can require completely different strategies. The channel should follow the objective—not the other way around.
The Marketing Strategy Question Chain
Marketing decisions create more questions. That's why PLAY approaches strategy as a Question Chain rather than a single answer.
01
Objective
What does the business need marketing to accomplish?
02
Audience
Whose behaviour needs to change for that to happen?
03
Motivation
What does that audience need, want or care about?
04
Positioning
Why should they choose your business instead of another option?
05
Message
What do they need to hear?
06
Channel
Where and when should they hear it?
07
Action
What should happen next?
08
Measurement
How will we know whether it worked?
Explore Marketing Strategy
Marketing Planning
How Do You Build a Marketing Plan?
A practical guide to turning business objectives into priorities, campaigns, timelines and measurable marketing activities.
Marketing Budgets
How Much Should a Business Spend on Marketing?
There's no universal percentage that works for every company. Learn how growth objectives, margins, competition, market maturity and customer value should influence the budget.
Target Audiences
Who Is Your Marketing Actually For?
“Everyone” isn't a target audience. Learn how to identify the customers most likely to matter to your business—and what you need to understand about them.
Positioning
Why Should Someone Choose You?
If customers can't understand the difference between you and your competitors, price can become the easiest way to compare. Explore how stronger positioning gives customers another reason to choose.
Channel Strategy
Where Should You Spend Your Marketing Budget?
Google? Meta? LinkedIn? YouTube? Radio? Outdoor? SEO? The answer depends on the audience, objective and customer journey.
Measurement
How Do You Know If Your Marketing Is Working?
Clicks and impressions tell part of the story. The right measurement framework connects marketing activity to the business objective it was supposed to support.
Strategy Before Tactics.
Imagine two companies both decide they need Google Ads. Company A starts buying keywords. Company B first determines:
Who are we trying to reach?
What are they searching for?
What problem are they trying to solve?
Why should they choose us?
What should the landing page say?
What action do we want them to take?
How will we measure success?
They're both using Google Ads. But only one has a marketing strategy. The same principle applies to social media, websites, SEO, video, advertising and virtually every other marketing activity.
Marketing Strategy Isn't a One-Time Document.
Markets change. Competitors change. Technology changes. Customer behaviour changes. And the way people discover information is changing quickly. Marketing strategy should provide direction without becoming rigid.
That means periodically asking:
What's working?
What's changed?
What have we learned?
Where is the next opportunity?
Good strategy creates focus. Great strategy also knows when to adapt.
Search Is Becoming Part of the Strategy.
For years, businesses optimized digital content largely around the words people typed into search engines. Now people increasingly ask complete questions of AI-powered search and answer systems. That changes how we think about content strategy.
Instead of asking only “What keywords should we rank for?” businesses should also ask “What questions should our organization be capable of answering better than anyone else?”
That thinking is behind PLAY's approach to Question Chain Mapping and AI Knowledge Hubs. Build accurate, useful and connected information around the subjects where the organization has genuine expertise.
Marketing Strategy Questions
What's the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan?
A marketing strategy defines the audience, positioning, objectives and overall approach. A marketing plan turns that strategy into specific campaigns, channels, budgets, responsibilities and timelines. Strategy determines where you're going. The plan determines how you'll get there.
Do small businesses need a marketing strategy?
Yes. In fact, limited resources make prioritization even more important. A smaller business usually can't afford to pursue every audience or use every marketing channel. Strategy helps determine where its resources are most likely to matter.
How often should a marketing strategy be reviewed?
The overall strategy shouldn't change every time a campaign performs differently than expected. However, businesses should review performance regularly and revisit the broader strategy when business objectives, customer behaviour, competition or market conditions materially change.
Should marketing strategy come before branding or advertising?
Usually. Branding, advertising, websites and digital campaigns become stronger when the organization has first clarified its audience, positioning and objectives.
Can an agency develop a strategy with an internal marketing team?
Yes. An outside agency can provide research, facilitation, perspective, specialist capabilities or additional strategic resources while the internal team contributes essential business and customer knowledge.
Marketing Strategy Insights From PLAY
Latest articles
How to Build a Marketing Plan
How Much Should You Spend on Marketing?
How to Identify Your Target Audience
Brand Positioning: Why Should Customers Choose You?
Google Ads vs. Social Media Advertising
What Marketing Metrics Actually Matter?
Have a marketing question?
Sometimes the hardest part isn't finding another marketing tactic. It's figuring out what you should be doing in the first place.
PLAY helps businesses turn objectives, audiences and opportunities into practical marketing strategies.