Scope of Strategic Marketing Activities and Their Effect on Business: Analytical Essay

Strategic marketing is extremely important to any business and can be considered as the ultimate guide that provides direction to the marketing plan which can be described as the blue print of the marketing strategy (Kirk, 2017). Strategic marketing when used effectively can have a huge baring on a business’s success and the methods used within the strategic marketing can guide the direct of the business. Within this assessment, it will be referred to YMCA Barry Gymnastics club and the effort that has gone into reopening the club after being closed for six months due to COVID-19. Please also see YMCA Barry Gymnastics Marketing Messages Criteria which depicts the organisational objectives and how these would need to be portrayed to our stakeholders.

It is important when considering strategic marketing within a business that it blends in and compliments the wider messages and aims of the organisation. If a company’s strategic marketing has its own agenda and does not fit in and help the company’s objectives, it is questionable as to why they are using strategic marketing at all. Therefore in this respect, the organisational objectives and overriding aims must be communicated and the marketing strategies designed to further the company on this journey to achieve their aims and objectives. According to Roshani (2013) ‘the scope of marketing is determined by the marketing offering of an organisation’. Furthermore, the market can offering a great many things to its target audience which includes the product, the services, people, information etc all designed and communicated in the market activities to satisfy the needs of the consumer.

The first element of strategic marketing that can have a positive effect on the organisation objectives is the way a company can build a relationship up with the target audience. According to Kappel (2017) if an organisation is able to build a relationship with their customer, they can gain some excellent insights into the consumer needs as well as enhance the company’s ability to ensure customers return, recommendations and increase profitability. Kappe (2017) further specified that there are five ways in which the scope of marketing can positively affect the business.

Communicate – As with any relationship, communication is key within its building. Regular communication is paramount and without this the consumer may feel neglected or not be able to gain a clear understanding or build any interest in engaging with the organisation. At YMCA Barry without our reopening, this has been an essential element of our marketing strategy as when we reopened we needed our customers to feel safe and confident in our abilities to return to the club. This regular communication ensured that the members were informed of the new processes and trust could be built as they knew that the club had put in a huge amount of effort to reopen and make it as safe for their children as possible. In this respect, the scope of the marketing strategy was huge and without it, the reopening could have failed and we may have had very little in the way of children returning to gymnastics. Without this clear communication, parents may not have trusted the club in their processes and felt that the club was not performing to the level that they required. Therefore, in this respect, the marketing scope had a very positive and central role in the organisation aims and objectives. This has been such an uncertain time and parents needed that reassurance that their concerns were being addressed and the club was doing everything they could to adjust to the new circumstances.

Exceed Expectations – Again without marketing the fact that a company’s service or product is superior to others, how would the consumer actually know that this is the case? Marketing has a huge amount of scope in regards to selling the fact that the company will be of a higher level than other similar companies. In respect to YMCA Barry, throughout our marketing prior to reopening, we sold the club on the fact that we were doing more than other clubs to ensure their children were safe. This included informing parents of new processes, what changes they would expect to see when they come to YMCA Barry and what exactly has been implemented in YMCA Barry, even if these were very small details, as collectively it did look extremely impressive. Although marketing has a large amount of scope and can impact hugely on the success of a business, marketing alone cannot continue to impress potential or existing customers. The company must deliver on these expectations otherwise the consumers will soon see through false or exaggerated marketing and go elsewhere if the company does not meet their expectations.

Ask for Feedback – Feedback to a company is sometimes difficult as it can be hard to not take the comments personally if they are negative. Furthermore, as with most things, those who feel strongly negatively about a product or service are the ones who tend to give feedback, sometimes constructively and sometimes not so much. However, in terms of marketing if a company has asked for feedback, positive feedback can be used in their marketing in order to show potential customers what to expect. Nevertheless, in order to gain positive feedback you must also receive neutral or negative feedback, both of which if engaged with the correct way can help improve the company. In this respect when communicating with our members and throughout our marketing, we did not ask for feedback from the parents, therefore perhaps this is an elements to take away and improve upon.

Connect – Strategic marketing again has a lot of scope to help customers connect with a company and this has become a lot easier with modern technology. Marketing strategy can make is easier for customers for feel they have a voice and help them be able to reach the organisation by being able to ask questions etc. At YMCA Barry we have had hundreds of enquiries from parents wanting their children to re-join, however, we were having to deal with these with a much reduced workforce. Therefore, our marketing that was being communicated to the parents was advising them as to where to send their enquiries, answering questions that many people had and letting them know that they would be answered but with the current circumstances this may take time. This ensured that the customers knew the circumstances but also knew how to connect with the club and to not expect an immediate response. Without the communication through the marketing, the parents may have felt they were being ignored.

Show Appreciation – This involved showing those who have been loyal customers that you appreciate their business and they are important to the company. Strategic marketing again has a lot of scope to send these important messages out to customers and market what they will get as an incentive to remain loyal. In this respect, before reopening we made it clear to those parents who were loyal and supported us throughout our closure that they would have priority over others. Therefore making the customers feel appreciated.

In conclusion, in this respect, it is clear that strategic marketing has a huge amount of scope and one of the main ways that this can be beneficial to the organisation is by helping to build that relationship with the customers. It further can communicate the messages that the company want to portray to their customer base, such as there are superior to others in order to gain a competitive advantage. However, it is clear that a strategic marketing that is used to help the organisational objectives can be hugely beneficial and can bring in and hold onto customers who are receiving the messages that the company feels is important for them to see or hear. If the marketing can help to build this relationship and sell the image that the company desires, their success if going to be heighted. However, the marketing cannot be the only thing that is relied on, the company must deliver on those messages they are sending out otherwise customers will quickly realise that this is not necessarily the case. For example, in YMCA Barry we have informed the parents of our new procedures, but if they witnessed them not being taken seriously at the club, the marketing would have been a waste of time. Therefore, it is important that the strategic marketing is realistic and does not sell an image that is beyond the capabilities of the organisation. Nevertheless, when used correctly, the scope of the marketing is hugely beneficial to the organisation.