Our Motto: Marketing Strategies Over Tactics

Many businesses come to Mid-West Family wanting help with marketing tactics to help grow their businesses. However, our philosophy is that tactics don't work; strategy does. For marketing to be successful in the long term, a clear strategy must be present, as tactics alone will not propel long-term growth.

What Is a Marketing Strategy? 

A company's marketing strategy is a long-term plan to increase sales by attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. The marketing strategy outlines the company's unique selling proposition, central brand messages, and demographic information for its ideal customers. A complete marketing strategy considers the four Ps of marketing: product offerings, pricing, place, and promotional efforts. 

What Are Marketing Tactics? 

Marketing tactics are a company's distinctive steps to promote a product or service to achieve specific marketing goals. Your marketing tactics are what you do to implement your strategy. Your marketing mix can include dozens of tactics but only one strategy. 

What Is the Difference Between a Strategy and Tactics? 

Simply put, strategy is concerned with where you want to go, while tactics are concerned with how you will get there. It would be best if you had a plan to determine where you want to go as an organization and a tactic to outline the specific steps you'll take to get there. Strategy and tactics, of course, go hand in hand. 

Why Should Businesses Choose a Marketing Strategy Over Marketing Tactics?  

Unlike tactics, which are usually short-sighted, a good marketing strategy will help you figure out where you want your marketing to go and what your goals are. Your system will explain how you'll get your products or services to your customers in a way that will make them happy. Here are four reasons businesses focus on their marketing strategy over marketing tactics. 

A well-defined business strategy will serve as a guide to your company's internal performance. The plan will also reveal how you compare to your competitors and what you must do to be relevant in the future. 

Unlike marketing tactics, a marketing strategy allows you to think big picture over minor details. A proper marketing strategy has objectives, targeting, integration, a mix of channels, structure, and performance monitoring. 

Each business has its own resources, budgets, and time to devote to marketing. Spending a little here and there on one-time campaigns is tempting when you don't have a clear strategy. Without a plan, your company will keep using the "let's try it and see what happens" marketing approach, which hardly ever works. 

A clear marketing strategy keeps you from wasting time and ensures that your budget is planned and used well. Each campaign fits in with your overall goals and is made to get results quickly and in the long run. In other words, without a great marketing strategy, your tactics will be a waste of time. 

Developing a marketing strategy includes creating goals, measuring KPIs, and pivoting to improve in a continuous cycle. Strategic planning is essential for your business because it provides a sense of direction and outlines measurable objectives to keep you and your organization on track. 

Without a marketing strategy, you will lack focus. And without focus, you won't be able to achieve any of the goals and objectives that you've established for your business. Tactics without a strategy lack direction. 

Customers are interested in how your products will improve their lives by resolving specific issues. To show customers how your products will solve their problems, you need to know what's going on in their lives — That information will be in your marketing strategy. 

A good marketing strategy defines preferences and behaviors through buyer personas. A marketing strategy's continuity and cyclical nature allow your brand to be consistent. You can appeal to audiences uniformly when all marketing has the same look, feel, and experience. 

You can't manage what you can't measure. Your marketing strategy allows you to determine your business's success and how to measure it. With the right approach, you'll know what worked and what could use improvement moving forward. 

Create the Right Marketing Strategy for Your Business Through Mid-West Family Southwest Michigan 

A marketing strategy shows you every step you need to take to improve and give your business an edge over your competitors. The process lets you know your customers, which can help you determine how to improve your product or service to meet their needs. 

At Mid-West Family, we help Southwest Michigan businesses find their authentic voice. Telling your story through our well-established digital and social channels, radio stations, and apps will help you reach more customers, build stronger connections, and get better advertising outcomes.