Creating a Marketing Strategy: From Goals to Execution

Strategy vs. Tactics (Understanding the Difference)

Why this matters:

Strategy (The Plan):

• What: The overall approach to achieving goals
• Timeframe: Long-term (6-12 months+)
• Question: "How will we win?"
• Example: "Become the go-to brand for eco-conscious millennials through content marketing and influencer partnerships"

Tactics (The Actions):

• What: Specific activities executing strategy
• Timeframe: Short-term (daily, weekly, monthly)
• Question: "What do we do?"
• Example: "Post 3x weekly on Instagram, partner with 5 micro-influencers, publish 2 blog posts monthly"

Mistake: Jumping to tactics without strategy (random activities, no cohesion)

Correct order: Strategy first, then tactics that support it

Step 1: Set SMART Marketing Goals

Start with clear objectives:

SMART Framework:

Specific: Clear, unambiguous Measurable: Quantifiable Achievable: Realistic given resources Relevant: Aligned with business goals Time-bound: Deadline specified

Examples:

Bad goal: "Get more customers" (vague, unmeasurable, no deadline)

SMART goal: "Acquire 100 new email subscribers by end of Q2 through content marketing and Facebook ads"

Why it's SMART:

• Specific: Email subscribers (not just "customers")
• Measurable: 100 (can track)
• Achievable: Depends on budget/resources (should be realistic)
• Relevant: Email list = future sales
• Time-bound: End of Q2 (clear deadline)

Common marketing goals:

Awareness goals:

• Increase website traffic by 50% (10,000 → 15,000 monthly visitors)
• Grow Instagram following to 5,000
• Achieve 1M impressions on ads

Engagement goals:

• Increase email open rate from 18% to 25%
• Double blog comment rate
• Achieve 5% engagement rate on social posts

Conversion goals:

• Generate 200 qualified leads monthly
• Achieve 3% conversion rate on landing page
• Acquire 50 new customers

Revenue goals:

• Increase monthly revenue by $10,000
• Achieve $50,000 in sales from email marketing
• Grow average order value from $75 to $100

Retention goals:

• Reduce churn rate from 10% to 5%
• Increase repeat purchase rate to 30%
• Achieve 40 Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Pick 3-5 goals maximum (focus, not overwhelm)

Step 2: Understand Your Audience Deeply

Who are you marketing to?

Create detailed buyer personas (see previous article):

Essential elements:

• Demographics (age, location, income, job)
• Psychographics (values, interests, lifestyle)
• Pain points (what frustrates them?)
• Goals (what do they want to achieve?)
• Shopping behavior (where, how, when they buy)
• Media consumption (where they spend time)

Example condensed persona:

"Eco-conscious Emma"

• 28-35, urban professional, $65K income
• Values sustainability, wellness, quality
• Pain: Hard to find affordable eco-friendly products
• Goal: Reduce environmental impact without overspending
• Shops: Instagram, Amazon, local boutiques
• Media: Instagram, podcasts, blogs

Your strategy must speak directly to this person

Step 3: Conduct Situation Analysis

Understand where you stand:

Internal analysis (your business):

Strengths:

• What do you do well?
• Unique capabilities, resources?
• Competitive advantages?

Weaknesses:

• What do you lack?
• Where do competitors beat you?
• Resource constraints?

Example:

• Strength: High-quality product, strong customer reviews
• Weakness: Small budget, limited brand awareness

External analysis (market):

Opportunities:

• Market trends favoring you?
• Underserved customer segments?
• Gaps in competition?

Threats:

• New competitors?
• Market saturation?
• Economic changes?

Example:

• Opportunity: Growing demand for sustainable products
• Threat: Large competitors entering eco-friendly space

Competitive analysis:

Identify 3-5 direct competitors:

For each, research:

• Positioning (how do they position themselves?)
• Pricing (what do they charge?)
• Marketing channels (where do they advertise?)
• Messaging (what do they say?)
• Strengths/weaknesses (what works, what doesn't?)

Create comparison matrix:

Find gaps: Where can you win?

Step 4: Define Your Marketing Mix (4 Ps Review)

Strategic decisions:

Product:

• What are you selling? (features + benefits)
• How does it solve audience's problem?
• What makes it different?

Price:

• What will you charge?
• Positioning (budget, mid-tier, premium)?
• Promotions, discounts?

Place:

• Where will you sell? (e-commerce, retail, marketplaces?)
• Distribution channels?

Promotion:

• How will you communicate value?
• Which marketing channels?
• What messaging?

These must align with goals and audience

Step 5: Choose Your Marketing Channels

Where will you reach your audience?

Channel selection criteria:

✅ Where is your audience? (If they're not on TikTok, don't use TikTok) ✅ What's your budget? (Paid ads need money, SEO needs time) ✅ What are your resources? (Video requires production skills/equipment) ✅ What are competitors doing? (Gaps or proven channels?)

Channel options:

Owned media (you control):

Website/Blog:

• Pro: Full control, SEO benefits, evergreen content
• Con: Takes time to build traffic
• Best for: Long-term brand building, SEO

Email marketing:

• Pro: High ROI ($42 per $1), direct access to audience
• Con: Need to build list first
• Best for: Nurturing leads, repeat customers

Social media (organic):

• Pro: Free, build community
• Con: Time-intensive, algorithm changes
• Best for: Engagement, brand personality

Paid media (you pay):

Facebook/Instagram Ads:

• Pro: Precise targeting, scalable
• Con: Costs add up, ad fatigue
• Best for: Awareness, conversions, broad reach

Google Ads:

• Pro: High purchase intent (people searching actively)
• Con: Expensive, competitive
• Best for: Capturing demand, bottom-of-funnel

Influencer marketing:

• Pro: Trusted recommendations, targeted reach
• Con: Expensive (macro), variable quality
• Best for: Brand awareness, social proof

Earned media (others talk about you):

PR/Media coverage:

• Pro: Credible, free exposure
• Con: Hard to control, no guarantee
• Best for: Credibility, brand awareness

Reviews/testimonials:

• Pro: Social proof, trusted
• Con: Can't control what people say
• Best for: Building trust, conversions

Word-of-mouth:

• Pro: Most trusted, free
• Con: Slow, hard to scale
• Best for: Long-term growth

Channel mix strategy:

Don't spread too thin—focus on 2-4 primary channels

Example:

Goal: Acquire 100 customers in 6 months Audience: Eco-conscious Emma (Instagram-active) Budget: $3,000

Channel mix:

• Primary: Instagram Ads (60% budget, $1,800)
• Secondary: Email marketing (20% budget, $600 for list building)
• Supporting: Instagram organic content (20% budget, $600 for content creation)
• Earned: Customer reviews (free, incentivize with discount codes)

Rationale: Audience is on Instagram, ads + organic reinforces, email nurtures

Step 6: Develop Your Messaging Strategy

What will you say?

Core messaging framework:

Value proposition (one sentence): "What you offer + who for + unique benefit"

Example: "Affordable, eco-friendly home goods for conscious consumers who refuse to compromise on style"

Key messages (3-5 supporting points):

1. "100% sustainable materials"
2. "Under $50 (affordable luxury)"
3. "Modern, minimalist design"
4. "1% of profits to environmental causes"
5. "Carbon-neutral shipping"

Proof points (why believe you?):

• Customer testimonials
• Third-party certifications (B Corp, FSC)
• Media mentions
• Before/after comparisons

Tone and voice:

Matches brand positioning + audience preference

Example for Eco-conscious Emma:

• Warm, friendly (not corporate)
• Educational, not preachy
• Optimistic, empowering
• Transparent, honest

Message testing:

Create 2-3 variations, test via:

• A/B testing ads
• Email subject lines
• Social media posts

Use data to refine messaging

Step 7: Set Your Budget

How much will you spend?

Budget approaches:

Percentage of revenue:

• Established businesses: 5-10% of gross revenue
• Startups: 12-20% (investing in growth)

Goal-based:

• Work backward from goals
• Example: Need 100 customers, $50 CAC = $5,000 budget

Competitive parity:

• Match competitor spending (if known)

Affordable method:

• "What can we afford?" (common for small businesses)

Budget allocation:

By channel (example):

• Paid ads: 50% ($2,500)
• Content creation: 20% ($1,000)
• Tools/software: 15% ($750)
• Email marketing: 10% ($500)
• Contingency: 5% ($250)

By stage (funnel):

• Awareness: 40% (reaching new people)
• Consideration: 30% (nurturing leads)
• Conversion: 30% (closing sales)

Track spending monthly, adjust as needed

Step 8: Create Tactical Action Plan

Turn strategy into specific actions:

Monthly calendar:

January:

• Week 1: Launch Instagram ad campaign ($600)
• Week 2: Publish 2 blog posts (SEO)
• Week 3: Email campaign to existing list
• Week 4: Partner with 2 micro-influencers

Repeat for each month, with variation

Content calendar:

Plan 4-6 weeks ahead:

Tools: Google Sheets, Trello, Asana, CoSchedule

Task assignments:

Who does what:

• Content creation: [Name]
• Ad management: [Name]
• Email marketing: [Name]
• Analytics: [Name]

Clarity prevents dropped balls

Step 9: Establish KPIs and Metrics

How will you measure success?

KPIs by goal type:

Awareness goals:

• Website traffic (sessions, unique visitors)
• Social media reach, impressions
• Brand search volume

Engagement goals:

• Time on site, pages per session
• Email open rate, click-through rate
• Social engagement rate (likes, comments, shares / followers)

Conversion goals:

• Conversion rate (conversions / visitors)
• Cost per lead (CPL)
• Cost per acquisition (CPA)

Revenue goals:

• Sales revenue
• Average order value (AOV)
• Customer lifetime value (CLV)

Retention goals:

• Churn rate
• Repeat purchase rate
• Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Tracking tools:

Free:

• Google Analytics (website traffic, conversions)
• Social media native analytics (Facebook Insights, Instagram Insights)
• Email platform analytics (Mailchimp, ConvertKit)

Paid:

• Google Ads (ad performance)
• Facebook Ads Manager
• CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce)

Create dashboard: Centralize key metrics (Google Data Studio, Excel)

Step 10: Review and Optimize

Strategy isn't set-it-and-forget-it:

Review schedule:

Weekly:

• Check campaign performance
• Adjust ad budgets, pause underperforming ads
• Quick wins and fixes

Monthly:

• Full performance review
• Compare to goals
• Analyze what worked, what didn't
• Adjust tactics

Quarterly:

• Strategic review
• Assess if goals still relevant
• Major pivots if needed
• Budget reallocation

Annually:

• Comprehensive strategy refresh
• New goals for coming year
• Market analysis update

Optimization questions:

What's working?

• Double down (allocate more budget/resources)

What's not working?

• Fix (change messaging, targeting?) or kill (stop wasting resources)

What's surprising?

• Unexpected successes (capitalize)
• Unexpected failures (understand why)

What's missing?

• Gaps in funnel?
• Underutilized channels?

Common Strategy Mistakes

Mistake 1: No clear goals

Problem: Marketing without knowing what success looks like Fix: Set 3-5 SMART goals before any tactics

Mistake 2: Ignoring audience

Problem: Talking about what you want to say, not what they need to hear Fix: Build strategy around buyer personas

Mistake 3: Copycat strategy

Problem: "Do what competitors do" Fix: Learn from competitors, but find your unique angle

Mistake 4: Too many channels

Problem: Spreading resources too thin, excelling at nothing Fix: Focus on 2-4 channels, do them well

Mistake 5: Tactics before strategy

Problem: Random activities without cohesion Fix: Strategy first, tactics second

Mistake 6: Not measuring

Problem: Can't improve what you don't measure Fix: Track KPIs religiously, review regularly

Create marketing strategies through systematic process: Set 3-5 SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound), develop detailed buyer personas, conduct SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats), define marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion), choose 2-4 focused channels based on audience presence and budget, develop messaging framework (value proposition, key messages, proof points, tone), allocate budget by channel or funnel stage, create monthly tactical action plan with content calendar, establish KPIs matching goals (awareness, engagement, conversion, revenue, retention metrics), and review weekly for adjustments, monthly for performance analysis, quarterly for strategic pivots, and annually for comprehensive refresh.