Why All Organizations Need a Marketing Strategy
If your daily life is anything like mine, you’ve got content overload. From the moment I first pick up my smartphone until I return it to my nightstand at night, I’m inundated with articles, e-blasts, social posts, and ads (to name just a few), all vying for my attention. The sheer volume is staggering - in the fifteen seconds you’ve been reading this post, 62.78M emails were transmitted, 34.7M reels were played on Facebook & Instagram, 825,000 snaps were sent, 4,000 videos were uploaded to TikTok, and Siri answered over 260,400 questions (DOMO, 2024).
In an effort to stand out, many brands feel the pressure to create as much content for as many channels as they can manage. I’ve come to learn that no matter how much time and resources you spend, you’ll never be able to keep up with the largest brands out there. And nor should you. Creating a meaningful impact with your customers isn’t about the volume of content – it’s about delivering the right message, at the right time, to the right people. To do that effectively, you need a marketing strategy.
The Value of a Marketing Strategy
In a world of uncertainty, a solid marketing strategy is your business’s GPS.
When the landscape shifts—whether it’s economic turbulence, evolving customer behavior or confidence, new competition, or emerging technology or supply chains—businesses without a strategy are the first to get lost. Without a clear path, it's easy to waste time, budget, and brand equity chasing trends or reacting to change, instead of leading through it.
A strong marketing strategy isn’t just about promotion. It’s about positioning, prioritizing, and predicting. It ensures that every dollar spent, every message delivered, and every product launched is rooted in clear goals, real customer insight, and measurable outcomes.
Why it matters now more than ever:
Uncertainty demands clarity. A strategy gives you focus and direction when instincts are clouded by fear or fatigue.
Budgets are tighter. You can’t afford to guess. A strategy helps you make smarter, leaner, more impactful marketing choices.
Customers know what they want. People want to buy from brands that speak to their needs and values—consistently and authentically.
Your competitors are evolving. A strategy helps you stay relevant and differentiated, not just visible.
Strategy Starts with Three Key Questions
The foundation of your marketing strategy starts with understanding your business’ unique value and the needs of your ideal customers. Here are a few fundamental questions we use to do that:
Our Value & Values: why does our business exist? What makes us unique? What do we stand for? What values guide our decisions?
Our Ideal Customers: what are our ideal customers’ needs? How does our unique value fulfill their needs? You want to go beyond typical demographics of age or income and dig into their desires, motivations, and behaviours.
Our Industry Context: what’s unique about the industry we operate in? Is there anything in our environment that will impact our marketing? It could be regulatory, cultural, or technological.
These questions aren’t easy, but investing the time will pay dividends for your entire business. You’ll see the intersection between what you uniquely offer, and why that fulfills the needs of your ideal customers. These insights will give clarity and direction to your tactical decisions (e.g. how will we position our product or service/tell our authentic story? where will we reach our customers/what channels should we invest in? what will we say?). Honing in on the why and the who makes the what, when, where, and how much easier, saving you time and money in the execution of your plan.
Getting Started
Whether you're a local shop or a growing enterprise, strategy isn't a luxury—it’s a multiplier. It’s how you do more with less, stand out in the noise, and turn uncertainty into opportunity. The best time to start on your marketing strategy is now, regardless of where you are in your journey. Begin by having those tough conversations about what your business stands for, who you’re serving, and how you’re different.
Marketing may seem like a daunting task, but when approached with intention and clarity, it’s one of the best investments you can make for the growth and success of your business.
Need some help figuring it all out? Reach out to us to chat about how we can help.
DOMO. (2024). Data Never Sleeps 12.0. Retrieved April 23, 2025, from https://www.domo.com/learn/infographic/data-never-sleeps-1
Authored by: Heather Szpecht
