What is Strategic Marketing for a Not for Profit Organisation?
And what are the benefits?
Strategy can be defined as: “A plan or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.”
Strategic Marketing is about defining what an organisation needs to ‘be and become’ to provide the best possible service for its client.
It is an avenue to allow the organisation to effectively differentiate itself from other organisations by capitalising on its strengths, both current and potential, and successfully marketing that strength to clients and the wider community. It provides an opportunity for an organisation to discover the client’s expectations of the service and if necessary adjust those expectations to match its ability to deliver the service.
Benefits for an NFP
Strategic Marketing begins with the development of a plan for the organisation; this occurs by researching and assessing its goals and laying a framework for any future development or changes. It provides an overview of the way an organisation currently works and how it engages its clients. It allows an organisation to move forward in a succinct and timely manner and to offer superior service.
Armed with a thorough understanding of an organisation’s capabilities and aspirations, the Goal of Strategic Marketing (and the job of the strategic marketer) is to maximise an organisation’s positive attributes in the eyes of its target group.
Strategic Marketing has great potential for NFPs. It provides an avenue that will inform the client /stakeholders, and indeed the wider community, of the organisation’s existence and the services it offers. It allows an organisation to effectively measure their service and how much they are valued within the community. Strategic Marketing becomes a vital part of the organisation’s business plan and provides an overall plan for it to progress in a concise and consistent manner.
In conclusion, Strategic Marketing is a perfect tool for NFPs, an excellent opportunity for an organisation to show its professionalism, quality service and achievements. It would seem that marketing can play a very important role in the future development of an organisation and embracing this traditional business concept would prove to be of great benefit to a NFP.