Any marketing strategy of a business organization needs to be cohesive and integrated. Having a cohesive marketing strategy is important because any inappropriate marketing strategy will ultimately fail to achieve the business objectives.
But, what exactly does it mean to integrate a marketing strategy?
1. Integrate a marketing strategy with marketing objectives.
A marketing strategy must aim to help the firm achieve the marketing objectives. If the marketing strategy is not designated for a particular marketing objective, then the business is most likely going to miss the goal.
The Marketing Objective of a soft drink manufacturer is to win 20% of the market segment for fruit drinks for children within 5 years.
The Marketing Strategy is to launch a range of new fruit drinks with colorful packaging sold at USD$1.5 per 500ml bottle through supermarkets and convenience stores while promoting on the TV and in the radio.
2. Integrate all four elements of the Marketing Mix.
A marketing strategy must aim at designing cohesive elements of the Marketing Mix – Product, Price, Place and Promotion. They must be unified with each other and mutually supportive.
Product: A luxury necklace with diamonds.
Price: Very high no less than USD$100,000.
Place: Sold exclusively in carefully selected jewelry stores in the city center.
Promotion: In high-end fashion magazines, during fashion shows, etc.
If some parts of the strategy fail to be integrated with the other Marketing Mix decisions, then the firm needs to review the sales performance of the product.
3. Integrate a marketing strategy with other business functions.
A marketing strategy must be prepared taking into consideration input from all other business departments. A marketing team in the marketing department must communicate its plans and seek feedback from:
Finance Department to obtain the necessary marketing budget.
Operations Department to discuss the possibility of producing the product or adapting current products.
Human Resources (HR) Department to ensure that appropriate workforce is available.
All important strategic decisions taken by the marketing department must be discussed with directors of other departments to ensure cooperation between them.
To come up with a marketing strategy, link the marketing strategy with the marketing objectives of the business, connect all four elements of the Marketing Mix and integrate the different functional departments to collaborate together.
