Developing a marketing strategy requires gathering research and insights to inform your approach. However, the difficulty lies in determining where to begin and how to plan each step of the marketing research process.

It is crucial to conduct research before making decisions on how the company will allocate its resources. Understanding what is happening externally to the company and aligning business capabilities will position the company to address challenges and opportunities, which is essential for planning success.

To help each business succeed, follow these three steps to develop a successful marketing strategy.

1. Review of the Macroenvironmental Forces

Conducting a continuous review of the affecting macro-environmental forces is critical to understanding the potential impacts. Understanding these impacts allows the company to either capitalise on or counteract the effects.

Some of the factors that will spur a strategy review will include exchange rates, interest rates, inflation, consumer pricing trends, employment levels, technology discontinuity and evolution, energy and telecommunications patterns and trends, and GDP, which is probably the most essential benchmark in terms of gaining a regional understanding of the level of human economic activity.

A scenario-based approach provides the business with a deeper understanding of the factors that impact its economic activity. A scenario-based approach will enable proactive decision-making and inform the reallocation of resources (Euromonitor, 2025).

2. Understanding the Competitive and Customer Landscape

The market landscape comprises two key areas that require examination: competitors and customers.

Examining competitors will provide insight into the industry sector and how the market is segmented. Segmentation reveals the categories where key industry players focus their resources to position their unique selling propositions (USPs). Understanding and leveraging these value propositions is crucial for market impact and overall market presence (Euromonitor, 2025).

Evaluating the customer is equally important. Understanding the customer’s needs in the context of a changing economic and societal environment is necessary for effective proposition connection. The areas to investigate include population, household composition, income, and expenditure. A more granular level of analysis will reveal distinct lifestyles and aspirations, facilitating more effective market segmentation. Segmentation allows a target profile to evolve, shaping personas that highlight preferences and desires.

3. Evaluating the Internal Capability

Evaluating the performance of the value chain is crucial. Assessing the business’s internal performance in conjunction with the macroenvironmental forces and the competitive and customer landscape is essential.

Areas examined include skill capability, intelligence gathering, and the internal ecosystem’s flow and performance. The focus needs to be on technology capabilities, capital and cash flows, business model design, cultural values and behaviour, innovation and opportunity exploration, management decision-making, the inflow of research and insights, and adoption curve forecasting and gearing.

“A preoccupied workforce will not deliver peak performance.” (Gior & Hayden, 2025)

Understanding the changing macro environment, competitor and customer landscape, and internal ecosystem will shape how the marketing strategy evolves and drives company growth. Prioritising due diligence will help bridge the gap between external forces and the company’s organisational structure, mitigating against situations involving competitor activity, unplanned events, or a weakening business ecosystem. In return, it will instil agility and enable the ability to adapt, thereby progressing long-term sustainability achievement.

References:

Euromonitor (2025), Opportunity Minded, A series about business growth and marketing opportunities for forward thinkers, 2025 Euromonitor International

Gior D.V. & Hayden M.V. (2025). ‘Trump is Breaking American Intelligence’, Foreign Affairs, July 2, 2025.