Well there are good reasons for having a marketing strategy both internally within the organisation and externally as well but perhaps the most important reason is that it defines the growth aspirations for your company and your brand. Internally, it gives your staff and colleagues a common goal and a sense of purpose, if everybody understands what it is the company is setting out to achieve then there’s every chance they’ll all pull in the same direction. In order to get everybody buying into the objectives it should be communicated clearly with visibility as to how each person and/or department fits into the plan. The most successfully businesses are those where all the employees pull in the same direction and project the brand values of the company.

Externally there are several reasons to communicate the marketing strategy. If you have distributors, resellers or agents then it is as important to communicate your strategy with them as if they were your own staff. You need them on board to ensure its success unless of course you are completely restructuring your channels to market, in which case that part of the strategy would obviously be considered confidential. All the people or organisations that have an interest in the strategy are commonly referred to as “stakeholders”.Perhaps one of the most important external reasons for having a plan is if you are looking to gain additional finance for your business.

Nowadays the banks are not as free with their lending as they once were, I would venture that in almost every case today when approaching a bank for additional funds, if you haven’t got a strategic business plan and a marketing strategy to back it up, then the bank will tell you to come back when you’ve got one. If on the other hand you’re looking towards venture capital for your funding, then I can tell you from experience that without a marketing strategy you can forget it. If an exit plan is your ultimate goal, then before you start dreaming about that beachfront apartment in some far off exotic location consider this, any organisation as part of the due diligence process that takes place when buying a business, looks to have sight of the strategic plan and expects to see growth defined clearly in it. It’s essentially the same as the infamous “Home Information Pack” but for businesses. A well thought out and detailed plan can save a lot of time and awkward questions when it comes to moving on.

So some good reasons for having a marketing strategy, there are some others such as giving confidence to your suppliers and of course your customers which are equally as important, and some other less known ones such as helping in your recruitment process as it will in all likelihood help attract motivated and skilled individuals to your ranks.