Marketing strategy: what it is, how to create one and marketing techniques to apply
A marketing strategy defines who, where and how you promote what you sell. Learn the types, how to create yours and 20 marketing techniques to apply.
What will we see in this post
A marketing strategy is the set of decisions that guides how a company will promote and sell what it offers: to whom, with what message, through which channels and with what goal. It isn’t a one-off action, like a post or an ad: those actions are marketing techniques, which only work well when they follow a clear strategy.
That clarity matters because there are so many channels. According to the RD Station Panoramas 2026, a survey of about 3,000 Brazilian professionals, 85% of companies regularly use social media in their marketing, 7 in 10 use WhatsApp and 6 in 10 invest in paid media. Without a strategy, it’s easy to spread your effort across all of them and see results in none.
Below, we explain what a marketing strategy is, the difference between strategy, technique and plan, the main types, the steps to create yours and 20 marketing techniques to put it all into practice.
What is a marketing strategy?
In practice, a marketing strategy answers three questions before any action: what role marketing plays in helping the business grow, which campaigns and projects it needs to run and for which audience. The answers become the choices that guide your day-to-day work, such as which channels to be on, what tone to use and what to measure.
The concept is tied to the act of planning. Gone are the days when marketing was just support for the sales team: today it’s on radio and TV and, with digital marketing, also on social media and search engines. Each of those fronts needs direction.
For example, if a company wants to win a leading position in a new segment, the strategy might include launch campaigns, market research and reseller training.
Good strategies bring together goals, policies and a sequence of actions to support the planning of the business as a whole, not just the marketing department.
Marketing strategy, technique and plan: what’s the difference?
The strategy defines what to do and why; techniques (or tactics) are the actions that carry out that choice; and the marketing plan organizes everything over time, with deadlines, budget and owners. The terms are often mixed up, but they work in sequence: first the strategy, then the plan, and techniques in the day-to-day.
| Criteria | Marketing strategy | Marketing technique | Marketing plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question it answers | What to do and why? | How to do it? | When, how much and who? |
| Horizon | Medium and long term | Short term | The plan’s period (quarter, year) |
| Example | Increase sales by entering a new market segment | Ads, email marketing and content aimed at that new audience | Campaign schedule, budget per channel and monthly goals |
Every plan needs to start from a goal. Without a strategy, the plan becomes a to-do list, and techniques turn into scattered attempts. If you work as an affiliate, for example, you can learn how to make money as an affiliate with a clear plan.
Why have a marketing strategy?
A marketing strategy reduces waste, improves decisions and aligns the team around the same goals. The main benefits are:
- lower costs, because planned decisions avoid bad investments, which cost everyone money, time and energy, and help increase the profitability of the business;
- the right decisions at the right time, since following the market, trends and consumer behavior helps you direct your efforts;
- less improvisation, with a way of working that has a beginning, middle and end, leaving the business better prepared for the unexpected;
- a more motivated team, because clear, shared goals give everyone the same focus.
What are the types of marketing strategy?
The main types of marketing strategy are inbound, outbound, content marketing, relationship marketing, influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, guerrilla marketing and internal marketing. They aren’t mutually exclusive: most businesses combine two or more, depending on their audience and goals.
| Type | What it is | When it makes the most sense |
|---|---|---|
| Inbound marketing | Attracts people with useful content, turns them into contacts and guides them to purchase through the sales funnel | When your audience researches before buying |
| Outbound marketing | Actively reaches out to the audience with ads, calls, traditional media and events | When you need fast reach or direct sales |
| Content marketing | Produces relevant content to educate and build authority, without focusing only on the sale | In medium- and long-term strategies |
| Relationship marketing | Focuses on keeping customers, generating repeat purchases and referrals | When you have a customer base to retain |
| Influencer marketing | Uses the credibility of content creators to promote the brand | To reach new audiences with borrowed trust |
| Affiliate marketing | Partners promote the product and earn a commission per sale | To scale sales without growing the team |
| Guerrilla marketing | Creative, unexpected actions on a small budget | To generate attention and buzz around the brand |
| Internal marketing | Marketing aimed at a company’s own employees | To align the team with the brand and customer service |
In the digital environment, these types are combined across different channels. To go deeper into the online options, see how to promote a product online.
How to create a marketing strategy: step by step
To create a marketing strategy, analyze the landscape, define goals, audience and positioning, plan the mix and channels, and turn it all into a plan with targets and metrics. The first steps define the strategy; the last ones turn it into execution.
1. Analyze the business landscape
Before deciding anything, understand where the business stands: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This review, known as SWOT analysis, includes looking at competitors, market trends and the results you already have.
2. Set clear goals
Choosing the top-priority goal for now is what guides every following step. It’s normal to have several possible goals, but shooting in every direction rarely produces results. A widely used method is SMART, proposed by George Doran in 1981: goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Instead of “sell more”, for example, set “increase sales by 20% over the next six months”. That way, you can focus the team on the right actions and estimate how long it will take to get there.
3. Segment your audience and define your persona
Knowing who you sell to guides every other decision. First, define the target audience, the group with shared traits and interests. Then create the persona, a representation of your ideal customer that goes beyond demographics and includes goals, pain points, habits and interests.
4. Define your positioning and value proposition
Positioning is the place you want to occupy in your customer’s mind, and the value proposition explains why they should choose you. Answer in one sentence: what you offer, for whom and what makes it different from the alternatives.
5. Plan your marketing mix (4Ps)
The marketing mix organizes the strategy into four decisions: product, price, place (where and how the customer buys) and promotion (how you advertise). The model was proposed by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960 and popularized by Philip Kotler, and it’s still useful to check that no front was left out.
6. Choose your channels and techniques
With your goal, audience and positioning defined, choose where to be and which techniques to use. Start with a few channels where your audience really is, and only expand once you’ve mastered the first ones. The 20 techniques below help with that choice.
7. Build the action plan
Turn the strategy into a plan with a schedule, budget, owners and targets per period. Tracking progress throughout the project’s execution is what keeps the strategy on course.
8. Measure results and adjust
Define the metrics that show whether the strategy is working, such as number of new customers, cost per customer, conversion rate and return on investment (ROI). Review these marketing metrics regularly and adjust whatever isn’t delivering results.
20 marketing techniques to put your strategy into practice
Marketing techniques are the actions that carry out the strategy, such as SEO, email marketing, social media, ads and landing pages. They help you win more customers and sales, but only when chosen according to your goal and audience. We’ve organized the 20 techniques by what each one helps you achieve.
Techniques to get to know your audience
- Segment your target audience. Serving a group with similar interests and goals is easier than talking to everyone at once, and understanding that group’s motivations and pain points guides your other decisions.
- Define your persona. The buyer persona starts from research on the customer’s behavior, goals and habits, and helps align tone of voice, content and offer.
Techniques to be found
- Invest in SEO. SEO practices increase the chances of your brand showing up for people looking for what you offer. Since Google’s algorithm changes often, it’s worth reviewing your content at least once a quarter.
- Keep a blog. Publishing useful content on a blog increases organic traffic, creates more pages to be found and gives the brand a voice.
- Use sponsored links. Sponsored links, like those on Google Ads, put the brand at the top of search results for a fee. Plan your budget carefully: at Hotmart FIRE 2026, Hotmart, the all-in-one platform for creators who want to create, sell and scale digital products, pointed to a 143% rise in cost per click, according to a report by Propmark. To learn more, see how to invest in paid advertising.
- Create a YouTube channel. YouTube is the internet’s main video platform and lets you offer quality content in an easy-to-consume format. Here’s how to create a YouTube channel.
- Go mobile first. Campaigns, pages and emails need to work well on phones. A site that’s hard to navigate or slow on mobile tends to be abandoned and hurts the purchase decision.
Techniques to build relationships and nurture contacts
- Do email marketing. Email marketing keeps direct communication with leads and customers and is used to nurture contacts, promote events, offer exclusive conditions and handle post-sale follow-up. Since it doesn’t depend on a social network’s algorithm and can be read on any device, it’s a low-cost channel for staying in touch between one purchase and the next.
- Be on social media. Choose the social networks where your audience is, post consistently and use the space to talk with people and respond to compliments and complaints. Once you find out which networks your audience uses most, you can adjust formats, days and posting times and track, through each network’s metrics, what generates the most engagement.
- Create ebooks. An ebook goes deeper into a topic your audience cares about and works as a lead magnet: in exchange for the download, people leave their contact details.
- Produce podcasts. Audio is easy to consume and allows for interviews, debates and answers to customers’ questions.
- Host webinars. A webinar is a video broadcast with live interaction, which sets it apart from a podcast. Prepare a script, set aside time to answer the audience’s questions and leave the recording available for those who missed it.
Techniques to expand your reach
- Form strategic partnerships. Partnerships with content creators or brands that speak to the same audience, without competing directly, help you reach new people. Common examples are promoting the brand on a creator’s profile and co-producing videos, livestreams or courses between two experts.
- Consider radio, TV, magazines and newspapers. Traditional media still reach a lot of people but require a bigger investment; assess the payback and whether your audience is on those channels.
- Hold in-person events. Events bring your audience together in one place, raise brand awareness and encourage networking, and they aren’t only for big companies. For small businesses, a workshop, a student meetup or a coffee with customers already does the job; larger companies can bet on trade shows and talks.
- Use press relations. Press relations cost less than traditional media and help win local, regional or national visibility and credibility.
Techniques to convert and retain customers
- Create promotions and complementary offers. Besides promotions on social media, techniques such as upselling (offering a higher-tier version) and cross-selling (offering related items) increase the value of each purchase.
- Take advantage of seasonality. Build a calendar with holidays and your business’s peak-demand periods to plan campaigns and events.
- Create landing pages. A landing page is a page focused on a single action and plays a central role in conversion. Explain clearly what people get by signing up or buying. Show the benefits right at the top, include testimonials and, if there’s a genuine deadline or limited spots, make that clear.
- Deliver the “wow” factor. Surprise your customer from the first contact through post-sale, with good service and support. Surprised customers tend to come back and recommend the brand. A follow-up after the purchase to check that everything is fine, or a bonus the customer didn’t expect, shows that the relationship didn’t end with the sale.
Marketing strategy examples
A marketing strategy combines a goal, an audience, a type of strategy, techniques and metrics. Here’s how that works in three different scenarios.
A creator launching an online course
Goal of selling 200 spots in the first class in 60 days, to beginners in the subject. The strategy combines content marketing and inbound: free content on social media and the blog attracts interested people, an ebook captures contacts, an email sequence and a webinar warm up the list, and the landing page concentrates the sale. The metrics are webinar sign-ups, page conversion rate and cost per sale.
A neighborhood bakery that wants to sell online
Goal of doubling online orders in six months in its own city. The strategy joins relationship marketing and local reach techniques: an active Instagram profile with product photos, customer service via WhatsApp, campaigns on holidays and partnerships with local influencers. The metrics are orders per week, repeat purchases and average ticket.
A beginner affiliate
Goal of making the first sales as an affiliate in a niche they know. The strategy is one of content and trust: a profile focused on the niche, short videos with practical tips, an honest testimonial about the product and an affiliate link in the bio. The metrics are link clicks, conversion and commission per month.
Marketing strategy for selling digital products
For those who sell courses, ebooks and mentorships, the marketing strategy defines how to attract the right audience, turn interested people into buyers and scale sales without losing control of costs. Many techniques on the list above, such as landing pages, email marketing and affiliates, are carried out in the same place where the sale happens.
On Hotmart, you can create capture and sales pages with Hotmart Pages, send emails and automations with Hotmart Send and open your product to affiliates, who promote it and earn a commission only when they sell. To go further, read about how to sell digital products.
AI has also entered the routine: 74% of marketing teams in Brazil already use it, mainly to create content, according to the RD Station Panoramas 2026. When your business grows, explore how to scale a digital business.
Put your marketing strategy into practice
A good marketing strategy starts with a clear goal and a well-defined audience, and only then chooses the techniques. Test a few actions at a time, measure the results and keep what works with your audience.
On Hotmart, you create your free account and get a sales page, email marketing and an affiliate program to put your strategy into practice. Create my free account
Frequently asked questions about marketing strategy
What is the best marketing strategy?
There isn't one best strategy for every business. The best strategy is the one that fits your goal, your audience and your budget. That's why it's worth testing, measuring and adjusting, rather than copying what works for another company.
How much does it cost to build a marketing strategy?
Building the strategy itself mostly costs time for analysis and planning. The investment shows up in execution: ads, tools, content production and, if needed, professionals or agencies. You can start with low-cost techniques, such as content, social media and email.
How often should I review my strategy?
Metrics should be tracked every month, and the strategy reviewed at least once a year or whenever there's an important change, such as a new product, a new competitor or a shift in your audience's behavior.
Are marketing strategy and sales strategy the same thing?
No, but they should go hand in hand. The marketing strategy attracts and prepares the audience to buy; the sales strategy handles the approach, negotiation and closing. The more aligned they are, the fewer interested people get lost along the way.
