The role of marketing strategy consulting, how to use it, and points to note

In today's world where marketing methods are becoming more diverse, there is an increasing need for marketing based on a logically planned strategy.

However, marketing strategies require specialized knowledge, and there are many cases where trying to implement them using only a company's own resources does not work.

Therefore, this article will provide an overview of consulting services specializing in marketing strategies, as well as how to choose a consulting firm.Marketing strategy consultingI will explain.

Definition of Marketing

Before we explain marketing strategies, let's first reconsider the definition of marketing.

Here we will introduce the definitions of marketing from the Japan Marketing Association, the Operations Research Society of Japan, and the American Marketing Association.

The first, the Japan Marketing Association, is a public interest incorporated association that was founded in 1, when the economy was about to undergo rapid development in preparation for the period of high economic growth. The Japan Marketing Association defines marketing as follows:

"Marketing is a comprehensive activity for creating markets through fair competition, in which companies and other organizations take a global perspective, gain mutual understanding with customers, and carry out such activities."

Quote:Japan Marketing Association "Overview of the Japan Marketing Association"

In other words, marketing is not limited to private companies, but applies to all organizations that have customers, and is a "comprehensive activity" aimed at creating relationships of mutual understanding.

The second, the Operations Research Society of Japan, is an organization that exchanges and presents information on problem-solving science with a wide range of applications. It defines marketing as follows:

"Marketing is the process by which individuals and organizations create products and satisfy their needs and wants through exchange in the marketplace."

Quote:OR Encyclopedia Wiki "Marketing"

The Japan Operations Research Society believes that all processes, such as market analysis, selecting a target market, developing a strategy to approach the target market, executing that strategy, and building a system to manage and operate the activities, are marketing activities.

The third is the American Marketing Association, an American organization. In 3, they revised their definition of marketing as follows:

"Marketing is the activities, systems, and processes used to create, communicate, deliver, and exchange products that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."

Original: Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. 

Quote:American Marketing Association “Definitions of Marketing”

In other words, the idea is that marketing is a system through which the various people who make up society create, communicate, and supply value.

In this way, marketing is defined in three different ways, but ultimately"To whom?" "What value?" "How will it be provided?"It can be said that this means thinking about the product and creating a system that will sell.

Marketing strategy is the key to marketing

In today's world, where a wide variety of products and services are available, simply providing good products and services is not enough to increase sales.

That is why strategic marketing, or a marketing strategy, becomes so important.

Here, we will explain the importance of a marketing strategy and the process of formulating a strategy.

What is a Marketing Strategy?

What is a marketing strategy?"To whom?" "What value?" "How will it be provided?"The key is to determine:

In this modern world where things are overflowing, each company must change how they sell their products and services, where they sell them, how they provide information, etc. to meet consumer needs. If you proceed based on your own intuition, you will end up wasting management resources such as people, things, and money.

To prevent this, it is important to allocate resources logically and efficiently and maximize the effectiveness of marketing.

In order to compete with your competitors, you need a clear marketing strategy that determines how to make people aware of your product and how to get them to buy it.

Marketing strategy flow

When deciding on a marketing strategy, it is important to first conduct market research and understand your own company's situation. While analyzing the external environment, such as customers, the market, and competitors, you also need to analyze your own company as an internal environment.

Next, you need to segment your target audience and narrow down your targeting. This is an important factor that will affect your marketing results, so you should be fairly specific about your targeting.

In the case of BtoC, it is best to consider factors such as age, gender, occupation, area of ​​residence, and hobbies and preferences, while in the case of BtoB, it is best to consider factors such as industry, business type, and company size.

Once you have decided on your target, use a framework to explore the benefits you can provide to your customers. We will discuss later what kind of framework is best to use.

Finally, you decide how to provide the benefits and the strategy. This is the flow of the marketing strategy.

To get through this process efficiently and effectively, use a framework that fits each step.

We will introduce some representative frameworks step by step in the next chapter.

Step by step | A typical framework for marketing strategies

A typical framework used in marketing strategies is known as "R-STP-MM-IC".

This is the overall picture (flow) of marketing proposed by Philip Kotler, an American management scholar known as a leading authority on marketing. In this framework, marketing is divided into five steps.

• R:
  • Research
• STP:
  • Segmentation
  • Targeting (selecting your target market)
  • Positioning
• MM:
  • Marketing Mix (Combination of marketing elements)
• I:
  • Implementation
• C ：
  • Control

The initials of each word are used to create the name "R-STP-MM-IC" is called "R-STP" is the strategy formulation process, "MM-IC" can be broadly classified as a tactical process.

R: Research

Research is the process of conducting market research and environmental analysis by understanding your company's strengths and weaknesses and the external environment in order to find a business to enter.

Environmental analysis is generally conducted from the external environment surrounding the company to the internal environment of the company. Furthermore, the external environment is analyzed from two perspectives: macro-environmental analysis and micro-environmental analysis.

The most common frameworks used here are C analysis and SWOT analysis.

3C stands for Customer, Competitor, and Company, and is a framework used for environmental analysis.

Of the 3Cs, Customer and Competitor represent the external environment, while Company represents the internal environment, and by analyzing them, we can determine market size and growth potential.

We clarify our strategy by analyzing customer needs, market conditions, competitors' strengths and weaknesses, and our company's position.

On the other hand, SWOT analysis is a framework consisting of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

It is used to consider strategies from multiple perspectives, including internal factors that the company can control, such as strengths and weaknesses, and external factors that it cannot control, such as opportunities and threats, as well as positive factors (strengths and opportunities) and negative factors (weaknesses and threats).

STP: Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning

In this step, you select and classify the market (segmentation) based on the results of the analysis, and select the segment your product will enter (targeting).

Next, we clarify the advantages (positioning) of the products we offer compared to other companies.

There is no particular order to follow. Sometimes you can do segmentation and targeting at the same time, and other times you can adjust targeting after positioning. Proceed according to the nature of your product, your situation, and the volume of your management resources.

The framework used here is called "STP analysis." Its purpose is to identify the changing market, select targets, and focus management resources.

MM: Marketing Mix

In the Marketing Mix step, we concretize the strategies clarified in the Research and STP steps and proceed with actual commercialization.

In order to create and sell a product, several marketing elements are required, and a combination of multiple marketing elements is called the Marketing Mix.

Here, it is common to organize information using a typical framework called "4P".

4P is an acronym for Product, Price, Place, and Promotion, and is also known as analysis for products.

In the Product section, we consider product strategies such as what customers want and what problem they are trying to solve, and in the Price section, we consider pricing strategies such as the balance between the product's value and price, and the balance between costs and revenue.

In Place, we consider distribution strategies such as sales channels, trade areas, inventory, and delivery, while in Promotion, we consider promotional strategies such as means to make customers aware of the product and advertising methods.

We hope you will make use of these frameworks, which can be used in line with your marketing strategy.

What is Marketing Strategy Consulting?

Marketing strategy consulting is a job or business that provides consulting specialized in marketing strategy.

We develop marketing strategies based on client requests and data provided, and use our expert knowledge to put them into action.

Due to major changes in consumer behavior, traditional sales and marketing methods are no longer effective.

Therefore, we need to transform quickly and efficiently, drawing on a wide range of know-how, but our in-house resources have limited expertise and know-how.

As a result, the number of companies seeking support from professional consultants is rapidly increasing.

However, if your company has never requested marketing strategy consulting before, you may be unsure of what you can request.

In the next chapter, we will explain what you can request from a marketing strategy consulting company to help alleviate your concerns.

What you can ask a marketing strategy consulting company to do

In reality, there are three main things you can request from a marketing strategy company:

Collecting and analyzing information necessary for marketing strategies

First, we collect and analyze the information necessary for strategy planning, such as market information, because in order for a company to achieve its goals, it is necessary to understand the issues it faces.

We also dig deep into the challenges our customers face, ask them what information they need, and explore the factors that are preventing them from achieving their goals.

Market research is the foundation of successful marketing. Understanding market needs will help you determine what strategy to adopt, which will help your business achieve results.

Survey methods vary, including analysis of the number of site visitors and surveys, and tend to differ depending on the request.

Marketing strategy planning, implementation and support

After collecting and analyzing information, you can outsource the planning and implementation of a marketing strategy.

Marketing strategy consulting companies can propose marketing research plans, structures, schedules, and more in line with clients' challenges.

Additionally, rather than leaving strategy planning entirely to a consulting firm, you can also use your own company's resources and use consulting services as a supplementary service.

Marketing strategy validation

After implementing a marketing strategy, it is essential to verify its effectiveness, because without verification, it is impossible to make corrections.

For this reason, it is a good idea to outsource the work to a consulting company with know-how in data analysis and verification, so that they can measure the effectiveness and identify issues.

When testing, pay attention to things that don't directly relate to sales, such as acquiring potential customers and increasing awareness.

Cost-effectiveness is also important. Even if a product is effective, if advertising costs balloon, it is not an efficient marketing strategy.

Benefits of hiring a marketing strategy consulting company

By requesting the services of a marketing strategy consulting company, you will gain two benefits: you will be able to develop an efficient and effective marketing strategy, and you will be able to obtain know-how and resources that your company does not have.

Let's take a closer look below.

Ability to develop efficient and effective marketing strategies

Marketing strategies require advanced knowledge and skills, but consultants who are experts in marketing strategies can respond appropriately, taking into account the latest information.

Problems that would take a long time to resolve if handled by in-house members who are unfamiliar with marketing, can be resolved smoothly with the help of a consultant who specializes in marketing strategy.

In addition, for companies that are stuck in conventional wisdom and old customs and are unable to try new measures, they can obtain opinions from a third party and incorporate new ideas. Another advantage is that the opinions of consultants who are marketing experts are more likely to be understood by management.

Obtain know-how and resources that your company does not have

When you try to do your own marketing in-house, you may find yourself lacking the know-how and resources. Furthermore, marketing with limited resources will not be as effective as it could be.

However, by outsourcing to a consulting company that specializes in marketing strategy, it is possible to accumulate that company's know-how in-house.

Advertising management, which can be a particularly challenging issue in digital marketing, can be easily addressed by asking a consulting company with advanced expertise, who can propose and support you with efficient management methods.

Depending on the company's situation, they may be able to introduce you to a production company, which can be a major benefit for companies struggling with a lack of resources.

Points to consider when choosing a marketing strategy consulting company

For companies struggling with a lack of resources, there are many benefits to outsourcing to marketing strategy consulting.

However, since each consulting company has its own characteristics, if you choose the wrong company you may not get the results you expected.

Here are some points to consider when choosing a strategic consulting firm.

Be clear about what you want to entrust

Before hiring a consulting company, first clarify your company's ideal state and the issues it faces. It is important to have a clear understanding of these issues within your company.

Next, to clarify what you want to delegate, organize it according to the 5W1G.

• Why
• What (What kind of problem)
• Where
• When
• Who
• Goal (What state do you want to be in?)

Clarifying what you want to outsource is the first step in choosing a consulting company that suits your company.

Check the contract contents carefully before signing

When deciding on a consulting company, it is common to hold a competition in which proposals are received from multiple companies.

What you want to check at that time is whether the proposed content matches your company's issues and fits your budget. Comparing multiple companies makes it easier to verify the contract contents.

Also, the analysis methods and solutions for problems differ from one consulting company to another. Therefore, you should carefully consider whether the company can identify the more important problems and present the most effective solutions.

Determine whether the proposal will be made neutrally

Consulting companies can become like partners to your company in the long term.

Consulting companies are companies that provide consulting services, but they may also be advertising agencies. Therefore, they may handle their own services or those of other companies and recommend the purchase of these services. Please be aware that consulting services may require you to purchase tools, etc.

The most important thing is whether the company places importance on neutrality and proposes the best service to solve your company's problems.

Consider after-sales service as well

Marketing strategies require long-term planning and execution. Therefore, if you choose a company that offers comprehensive post-consulting support, you can reap the benefits of your marketing strategy for a long time.

If you implement a strategy based on advice, your satisfaction will be increased if you are interviewed after the strategy is completed to find out whether it went smoothly and whether there were any mismatches that you had anticipated.

In addition, after-sales service may lead to the discovery of new issues. In order to develop your company into one with higher market value, we recommend that you look for a consulting company that can provide long-term support.

Summary

Implementing a marketing strategy is important for raising awareness of your company's products and services and leading to their purchase and use.

However, some companies may find themselves struggling because they are unable to make progress as planned using only their own resources due to a lack of knowledge or time.

Another option is to outsource to a marketing strategy consulting firm with specialized knowledge. XICA has over 10 years of experience in statistical analysis and marketing,Problem identificationFrom TESTaMMM (Marketing Mix Modeling)Based on our track record in analyzing the effectiveness of marketing, we can help our clientsMarketing strategy processWe will implement scientific evidence.

Achieving data-driven marketingWe can accompany you towards your goal, so pleaseof the Directions & Parking.

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XICA Co., Ltd. Marketing Team