Significant Marketing Strategy Differences

by Jim Tischler
Picking a marketing strategy requires skills in reading your company's competitive landscape.


Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images

Many factors affect which marketing strategy a company chooses. Products go through four product life cycle stages and you would use a different strategy for each stage. If you are new to a market, you would use a totally different strategy than the market leader. The lifestyles of your target market might dictate a particular strategy. And there is no one perfect approach. What’s important is to use the right strategy at the right time.

Traditional vs. Modern

A traditional marketing strategy would use television, radio, and print media, as well as word of mouth campaigns. A modern marketing strategy would use search engine optimization, social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and an email or text message campaign. As part of the marketing process, you’ve already identified your target market and know their demographics and lifestyles. The decision a company must make is whether a traditional or modern strategy would be most effective in reaching that target market.

Leader vs. Challenger

The most common strategy for market leaders is to expand the total market. Look for new users, find new product uses and increase the frequency of use of its product. A second market leader strategy is to defend your market. Keep positioning your brand name as the best. Introduce a new product to compete directly with the competitor’s new product, leaving your established, premier brand above the fray. A challenger, however, might choose a strategy of directly attacking the market leader, or it might choose to attack all the smaller companies in the industry. Instead of attacking the leader head on, it might find niche areas where the leader is vulnerable and focus efforts there.

International Options

Businesses can pick from a number of different international marketing strategies, built around risk vs. reward. The least risky strategy is to sell your products directly to another domestic company, which will export your product. Unfortunately, that reduces the profit margin. The most risky strategy is to become a multinational company. You go into a foreign country, set up a distribution system, create a sales team to find customers, import your products and execute a marketing program to create demand. This increases the potential payoff, but risks considerable resources. In between those two approaches, you might consider approaches like direct exporting, franchising or joint ventures.

Niche Marketing

Some of these approaches might be used as a stand-alone effort or in conjunction with a larger strategy. A relationship strategy might be used to retain current customers and increase their rate of purchases. A cause strategy might be used where you tie your product to a cause like curing breast cancer. An undercover strategy involves marketing to customers in ways they are not even aware you are marketing to them. For example, you might arrange to have your product used in movies or TV shows without any direct reference, but the product placement still encourages viewers to see it in a good light.

Resources (1)

  • Marketing Management, 11th Ed: Kotler

About the Author


Photo Credits

  • Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images
Suggest an Article Correction