Swot Analysis Marketing

SWOT Analysis Marketing Definition

In business, managers conduct a SWOT analysis before starting out or entering a market. It gives them a comprehensive view of their capabilities and limitations. It also helps them identify the internal and external factors that could pose challenges in executing the strategies. Similarly, it holds the same importance in marketing. Marketers conduct the SWOT analysis to identify the potential issues beforehand and to plan for every foreseeable situation in the implementation stage. As a result, we define SWOT analysis in marketing as follows.

There is too much riding on the marketing strategies of a business. With the marketing budget, other resources, product promotion, and marketing communications, a company can not afford to go wrong with its planning. Therefore, conducting a SWOT analysis before executing the strategies is essential. The business could save resources and optimize its marketing campaigns by doing so.

Main Purpose of SWOT Analysis

Marketers conduct a SWOT analysis to ascertain the internal and external factors that could affect the implementation of marketing strategies. The internal factors are strengths and weaknesses, and the external factors are opportunities and threats. Marketers use this analysis to check the viability of a campaign.

Strengths (S) – The first internal factor is strength. It helps businesses identify the operations and processes that are working well. The company could use these strengths to build a competitive advantage in the market. Marketers could use these strengths in their marketing strategies and influence the choices of their target audience.

Weaknesses (W) – The second internal factor is weakness. Managers could identify the areas that are not working optimally and improve them. It helps a business strengthen its position in the market. Marketers can use this factor to enhance marketing campaigns and provide better solutions to their target audience.

Opportunities (O) – The first external factor is opportunity. This factor helps a business to identify market opportunities and seize them effectively. When a company can identify an opportunity before its competitors, it gives it a head-start in taking advantage of the situation. Marketers use these opportunities to improve marketing campaigns and plan better strategies.

Threats (T) – The second external factor is a threat. It helps a business identify the problems and challenges in the market. A business can prepare itself better for these challenges through SWOT analysis. Marketers also use this factor to develop solutions for existing problems and challenges.

Fig. 1 - SWOT analysis is an important part of a marketing plan

Importance of SWOT Analysis in Marketing

The marketing department of a business has limited resources, and it needs to use those finite resources to achieve its marketing objectives. It is pivotal to the success of a brand to execute its marketing strategies effectively; SWOT analysis provides a basis for that. A brand could identify its strong and weak suits in the planning stage through a SWOT analysis. This way, it can help determine which areas of a marketing campaign are working fine and which issues need to be addressed. It helps avoid problems in the later stages; hence, the brand can avoid wasting resources.

Additionally, it helps determine the opportunities and threats in the external environment. The brand could use the opportunity to gain an advantage in the market. For instance, the brand could introduce a new product that fits the recent market trend. As for threats, early identification would help the brand develop solutions in the planning stage.

We can not ignore the importance of SWOT analysis in marketing. In a competitive marketplace, where brands face fierce rivalry, it helps them to optimize their marketing resources and gain a competitive advantage with targeted marketing campaigns.

SWOT Marketing Analysis Example

Here are a couple of examples of SWOT marketing analyses of famous brands. These examples show how these brands clearly identify the paths they want to take for marketing their products.

Coca Cola

Coca-Cola is one of the leading beverage brands in the world. It has a significant market share in the industry in many parts of the world. Its strengths are its strong brand identity, considerable market share, and product variety. However, its one significant weakness is its reputation as a non-healthy beverage. Some famous athletes have publicly gone against brands like Coca-Cola for producing non-healthy drinks.

Fig. 2 - Coca Cola has a strong brand identity

Zara

Zara is one of the biggest clothing brands in the world. Its effective distribution and manufacturing are its strengths. Zara has stores worldwide and sends its products to these stores thanks to its efficient logistics. The brand has global appeal and a client base almost in every part of the world. However, it spends nearly nothing on advertising, which is a weakness. Zara can enter new markets and achieve more through effective promotion.

Fig. 3 - ZARA has efficient logistics