The Difference Between a Marketing Strategy and Marketing Plan
The terms marketing strategy and marketing plan are often used synonymously but there is actually quite a big difference between the two. It might not necessarily be a big deal to use the wrong term in your everyday business but if you are looking to work with a marketing professional, knowing the difference will help you understand which you actually need and allow you to more effectively communicate those needs to the professional you’re hoping to hire.
What is a Marketing Strategy?
This is your overarching guide to the rest of your marketing. Your marketing strategy directly aligns your marketing efforts with your company’s mission and strategic goals. It not only helps you develop and refine your offering(s) but it helps you define your marketing mix (aka the marketing avenues you’ll use to get your product/service in front of the right people) and how you’ll position yourself in the market.
Think of this as your bigger picture of how you'll market your brand.
What’s Included in a Marketing Strategy?
Market Analysis
Target Market
Competitive Analysis
Offering
Market Positioning
Key Messaging
Sales and Marketing Channels
What is a Marketing Plan?
Your marketing plan is driven by your marketing strategy. It is the roadmap for implementation with a detailed plan of the individual tactics you'll use, where you will do it, when you’ll implement them, the budget to support each tactic, and how you’ll track success.
If your marketing strategy is your bigger picture of how you'll market, your marketing plan is the detailed directions on how you’ll reach that destination.
What’s Included in a Marketing Plan?
Website and Branding
Content Strategy and Plan
Social Media Plan
Email Marketing Plan
Public Relations Plan
Advertising
Any Other Marketing Avenues
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Timeline & Budget
Essentially, your strategy is the why behind your efforts, while your plan is when and how you’re going to execute your strategy.
What’s the Biggest Mistake People Make When It Comes to a Marketing Strategy vs. a Marketing Plan?
Throughout my career, I’ve noticed that the majority of small businesses focus on the plan and not the strategy. This means there is often a disconnect which leads to poor marketing results. That’s because they are focused on the how and not the why so the actions they are taking aren’t aligned with their overall business goals and objectives.
If you’re not seeing the results you want, you likely need to pull back and get focused on your strategy so then you can make sure you’re actually taking the right actions in your marketing.
My Approach to Marketing Strategies and Plans
Your marketing strategy and marketing plan really work hand-in-hand so you need both to be effective in your marketing. And because I’ve realized that most people focus more on the plan than the strategy, I focus a lot on helping small businesses zoom out to develop their strategy first. However, within the strategy, I include pieces of their marketing plan too. That way there is more of the context they are used to with implementation but it is all backed up by the strategy. So long story short, I mix the two together in my Strategy Intensives to help clients be more effective with their marketing efforts.
Want help with your marketing?
My Strategy Intensives provide you with a complete brand and marketing strategy based on market research and analysis and your own business metrics.
The CMO Partnership is perfect if you need ongoing support whether that’s my team managing your marketing efforts or you need someone to lead your marketing team to success.
Not sure what you need but know you could use some support? Reach out and I’ll help guide you in the right direction (whether that’s working with me or not!)
