Strategic marketing analysis. Sounds complex, doesn’t it?

Don’t be put off by the term. Strategic marketing analysis isn’t complex, but it does take work, attention to detail, and consistent measurement.

Strategic marketing is at the centre of everything we do at Stratos. From a brand creation to a colour palette to an online presence. Every step we take is informed by strategy and analysis. 

We will delve deep to understand your business objectives, take an in-depth look at how your company measures up to your competitors, the industry you are in, your customers, your campaigns and ultimately your targets. We also assess a variety of metrics before developing or implementing any strategic plans.

In this blog, we’ll explore the topic in more detail.

What Should Strategic Marketing Analysis Look at?

There are 4 main areas a strategic marketing analysis should focus on: market, competitors, audience, and your own brand’s performance.

Market Analysis

Market research is essential in understanding the industry you are in and the future direction you should be taking. Market research should analyse: 

  • Current trends 
  • Future trends
  • Market share
  • Market growth
  • Technological developments
  • Environmental factors
  • Social factors

Competitor Analysis

An in-depth competitor analysis can help you understand your place in the market and any big opportunities for you. You should also understand your competitors’ USP and how your own USP compares. A good starting point is to identify how your competitors implement the 4 P’s. It sounds basic, but you can build from here and identify where you can make a greater impact.  

  • Product
  • Price
  • Place
  • Promotion  

Target Audience

Understanding your audience is vital. And it’s not just a case of simple demographics. You need to know what drives them, and what are their needs and desires. Do your brand values align with their own values? What is their pain point in your industry, and can you solve it?  

Building a buyer persona will ensure your marketing will target the right customers effectively and tailor your message.

Persona Collage

Brand Analysis

Strategic marketing analysis should look at your own brand and its performance. You should always assess your brand awareness among your target audience, allowing you to gauge brand perception, and measure against your KPIs.  

For every marketing campaign you need to assess what has worked in terms of leads, conversions and sales. 

Are your customers satisfied?  

Are you retaining customers and building brand loyalty? 

Is your marketing strategy aiding your profit and market growth?

What Metrics Should You Use For Strategic Marketing Analysis?

When it comes to measuring your brand performance and campaign analysis there are many metrics available. Some free and some that will require investment.

Benchmarks should be set for every campaign to enable you to track performance and analyse data.

It’s easy to get caught up in sales metrics, but remember that sales are not the only measure of the success of a campaign. Metrics should be able to give you an insight into awareness and engagement too.

Surveys

Thanks to digital innovations, it’s so much simpler to engage customers in surveys now – we have QR codes, virtual forms and incentivisation. Standing on the street with a clipboard is a thing of the past! 

The benefit of a survey is that you can ask the specific questions you want answered. You can also conduct surveys through social media and engage with your audience’s responses to gain even deeper insights.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are a great way to dig deep and get in-depth information from your customers. You can observe, collect data, eavesdrop… 

Sometimes they are a more costly metric since you might have to pay upfront for logistical costs, but they can lead to incredibly valuable insight, so are worth the investment. 

Website Data

Your website data includes a tonne of useful information such as traffic, where it’s come from, and your users’ behaviour. Where do they go after arriving at your landing page? Are they subscribing to your email database? How long are they sticking around and being engaged? What’s your engagement rate? Did your campaign drive traffic to a particular page? Website data analysis can help you optimise your online presence and get more customers making conversions.

Social Media Engagement

You can find answers to so many questions by simply analysing your basic social media metrics.

  • When is your audience most active?
  • What content are they responding to and engaging with? 
  • What are the conversations being had about your brand? 
  • Are influencers having an effect on sales?
  • Can you track discount codes to measure conversion? 
  • Is paying to promote your promotions on social media leading to increased reach and engagement? 
  • What kind of content that you put out there performs the best?

Most platforms offer analytics for free or as part of a business subscription service, but the results could potentially propel your presence ahead of competitors!

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How Often Should You Conduct a Strategic Marketing Analysis?

For an emerging market or brand, the analysis should be conducted AT LEAST every six months. In a more mature market, the analysis should take place every 1-2 years.

Strategic marketing analysis should always be conducted before any new product launch or refresh. And brand analysis should happen every time you run a campaign so you can measure its effectiveness and whether your KPIs are being met.

Marketing should never be done for the sake of marketing. Any strategy needs to be rationalised with raw data, analytics and KPIs. Strategic marketing analysis is essential for showing you how to spend your marketing budget in a targeted and effective way. Done right you can directly improve your ROI.

Ultimately strategic marketing analysis will affect every future strategy and decision in your business.

Need help to devise a strategic marketing analysis? Feel free to speak to a member of the team about your initial goals or concerns.