The Purpose of a Marketing Strategy

Bridging the gap between your product and your consumer is an essential part of your marketing strategy. Siphiwe Dlamini, Convenor on the Product Management online short course from the University of Cape Town, discusses a South African fast-food outlet’s unique online marketing strategy and the secret to their success on digital marketing platforms.

Transcript

Imagine you’re organising a dinner party. You have to decide what’s on the menu. Before deciding, you have to consider who you’re inviting, and if they have any dietary requirements. Is anyone allergic to nuts? What if there are vegetarians? 

The same process happens before marketing a product. The customer needs to be considered first.

Think about your target market when planning your marketing strategy. Part of marketing is the process of promoting and selling your product to a customer. Having an exciting marketing campaign is essential for success in the marketplace.

Nando’s is a proudly South African food chain that has a very unique marketing strategy. They have achieved global success and are growing every year. Nando’s target customers are people between the ages of 18 and 35 who enjoy casual dining experience. They offer good service, and delicious and affordable food. 

Nando’s set themself apart from their competitors by using a unique online marketing strategy. They use direct marketing on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to make frequent contact with their customers. They also use platforms to offer seasonal promotions and deals which increases awareness and value to customers.

Due to its South African heritage, Nando’s focuses on current affairs and politics in a creative way. This promotes interest and humour in their marketing, and they’re always quick to respond to recent events. This is a powerful tool to create memorable, conversation-starting advertisements. 

A lot can be learned from Nando’s marketing strategy. They’ve closed the gap between their brand and their customers by showing that they can relate to their problems or frustrations. This brings people together through humour and understanding, which promotes their brand image and company goals.

It is important to understand how this forms a significant part of your overall marketing strategy. A marketing strategy is ongoing and focuses on how the brand can reach its market potential over time. A go-to-market strategy focuses on bringing new products or services into the market. This is a product-driven approach – the components that guide this will be unique to the product being developed.

The purpose of a go-to-market strategy is to make sure that the product successfully reaches the target market and provides value.