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Strategic marketing process refers to the entire sequence of managerial and operational activities required to create and sustain effective and efficient marketing strategies, which includes a strategic marketing plan and an operational marketing plan. There’re six main stages in the strategic marketing process: 1) Identifying and evaluating opportunities Situation analysis involves interpreting environmental conditions and changes in light of the organisation’s ability to capitalise on potential opportunities and ward off problems.
It requires environmental scanning (all information gathering that is designed to detect indications of changes that may be in their initial stages of development) and environmental monitoring (tracking certain variables, such as sales data and population statistics, to observe whether any meaningful trends are emerging). 2) Analysing market segments and selecting target markets A market is a group of organisations or individuals that are potential customers for the product being offered.
There’re many types of markets, but the most fundamental distinction among them involves the buyer’s use of the good or service being purchased (individual or organisation). Identifying and choosing targets allows the marketer to tailor marketing mixes to a group’s specific needs. 3) Planning a market position and developing a marketing mix strategy A market position represents how consumers perceive a brand relative to its competition. The object of positioning is to determine what distinct position is appropriate for the product.
The marketing mix an organisation selects depends on the organisation’s strategy for positioning its product relative to the competition. 4) Preparing a formal marketing plan A formal marketing plan is a written statement of the marketing objectives and strategies to be followed and the specific courses of action to be taken when certain future events occur. 5) Executing the plan Execution or implementation requires organising and co-ordinating people, resources and activities. ) Controlling efforts and evaluating results The purpose of managerial control is to ensure that planned activities are completely and properly executed. Control activities provide feedback to alert managers because they indicate whether to continue with plans and activities or to change them and take corrective action. The duration of marketing plans can vary: short-range plans (5 years). Bibliography: Make that grade. Marketing, M. Linehan and T. Cadogan, Gill and Macmillan, 2007