39 4.2 Evaluate Alignment of Marketing Strategies

Most of this course will focus on elements of the marketing strategy and the different tactics organizations use to execute the strategy. How do you know if you have the right marketing strategy?

Every organization has a mission. The mission describes the company’s reason for existing. In order to achieve the mission, the company creates broad strategies that define how it can best use its resources to achieve the mission. At the company level, executives create specific, measurable goals to determine whether the company is making progress in executing the strategy. These time-based goals are called objectives.

The marketing function also defines a strategy that supports the corporate-level objectives. Marketing must clearly understand the target customer and identify the right mix of product, promotion, pricing, and distribution strategies that will provide unique value to the customer. Marketing also creates measurable objectives that show whether it is executing the strategy well and hitting the targets that support the corporate-level objectives. Then marketing performs specific tasks (using tactics) to execute the strategy and achieve the objectives.