What does a successful marketing strategy consist of?

The answer to this question is impossible to give. There is no universal answer valid for all businesses, for all types of companies, products, or services. Ultimately, everyone must choose and combine the most suitable strategies, ideas, concepts, and methods, adjusting and developing along the way.

Nevertheless, there are a few aspects that must be analyzed and integrated into every strategy:

1. Better quality. We all agree that everything starts with quality. A product of poor quality will never attract the desired customers, will not be successful, and with its failure, the failure of the company that launched it will also be recorded. A dissatisfied customer will tell 9 other people about their dissatisfaction. However, when it comes to quality, we must consider 4 components:
- it is not enough to claim you have quality, you must define it. In other words, it is not enough to say we have quality cars, we must somehow delimit quality: lifespan, body durability, reliable engine, does it break down less often?
- people cannot determine the quality of a product just by looking at it. Thus, if we have an appliance, such as a blender or even a television, its mere appearance does not allow us to establish its quality, only the design elements.
- Quality is easy to achieve by competitors if they set out to do so
- Much superior quality is something to boast about, but what costs does producing or distributing such products entail and, more importantly, who will be willing to pay such a price to benefit from that quality.

2. Better services. Whether associated with a product or not, the quality of services has the same characteristics as in the case of products. Defining quality services is very difficult and requires a thorough understanding of customers. For example, fast service in a restaurant may be considered by some customers as a sign of professionalism, and by others as a lack of respect, the waiter wanting to free the table faster.

3. Lower prices. This strategy works very well in certain situations and for a certain period of time. However, caution is needed because competitors with similar or lower prices can appear at any time. Moreover, a lower price may mean poorer quality or a less favorable image.

4. Large market share. A large market share leads to volume economies (savings due to purchasing raw materials in large quantities), and companies also enjoy greater notoriety. However, a large market share does not automatically lead to high profit or continuous development.

5. Adaptation and individualization. If a large market share cannot be obtained from the start, adaptation and individualization can be used. Customers are increasingly demanding and want products or services tailored to their own needs. Thus, a customer may want the rented car to wait for them in a certain place, at home, at work, at a hotel, and not at the airport or the rental company's headquarters. Or a cyclist wants their new purchase to be purple, with their name on it and with 2 headlights instead of one. In some cases, adaptation is possible and recommended; in other cases, it is very difficult to achieve, and the costs involved do not justify the action.

6. Continuous product improvement. Permanent product improvement is desirable and can represent an extraordinary opportunity for large companies that can afford such costs. However, the final impact, the final cost, and especially whether the final product will experience a considerable improvement that justifies a higher price must be analyzed. Some products have already reached an upper limit.

7.  Innovations. Innovation is the engine that moves things forward. Unfortunately, not all innovations succeed, not all research reaches the final point.

8. Rapidly growing markets. Rapidly growing markets – electronics, biotechnology, robotics, and telecommunications – have the greatest advantages. It is very difficult to enter here because costs are very high, and only the strongest succeed. Niche businesses are much more recommended.

9. Exceeding customer expectations. Widely discussed and approved, delighting the consumer is basically a very good thing. However, if you delight the customer from the start by offering much more than expected, then you have to think about what you will do the second time, what else you will offer to delight them. And thus, we end up again satisfying the need, without delight.

Everything must be done very carefully and following an analysis.

Although we might be tempted to believe that a balance between all these 9 points would be ideal, the truth is that, in reality, it would not represent a strategy but a good operational plan. Not a marketing strategy.