What’s the Difference Between Marketing Strategy and Marketing Activity?

One of the most common mistakes we see as a marketing agency is the lack of cohesion between marketing strategy and marketing activity. Many businesses use the terms interchangeably or jump headfirst into action without clearly defining their strategic foundations. This often leads to poor performance, wasted budget, and frustration with marketing as a whole.

Marketing Strategy is the long term, high-level plan that defines how you reach you target market and overall goals. This is very much answering the ‘why’ and ‘what’ – the map and compass ensuring all efforts align with business objectives. A defined Marketing Strategy gives a company clarity, focus and unified direction, this leads to less time and money spent on unfocused efforts.

Marketing Activity is the ‘how’ and ‘when’ – the day-to-day tasks that bring the strategy to life. Effective marketing activities generate leads, increase visibility, and keep a business relevant in its market but only if the activities are following a defined strategy. This is where strategy becomes action and results.

Looking to create a more focused marketing approach? Let’s talk strategy, get in touch with our expert team today.

Marketing Strategy – The Foundation of Sales and Growth

Your marketing strategy is the blueprint that guides every marketing campaign, social media post, and piece of content. It’s the critical thinking behind the doing. A strong marketing strategy ensures your messaging is targeted, measurable, and aligned with your overall business objectives. That’s why when you work with Bubble, we start all of our projects with a kick-off meeting where we learn everything we can about your organisation and your current position. We then use this information to build a bespoke strategy what works for your business and target market.

Key characteristics of marketing strategy and how it benefits your business:

• Clearly defined business and marketing goals – ensures ever action is working towards the same measurable goal.
• Audience Research – Deep understanding of target audience and customer personas. This also helps with channel selection based on audience behaviours
• Competitor and Market Analysis – understanding your position in your market and where you want to be.
• Strategic messaging and tone of voice – giving your brand a personality.
• Budget planning and resource allocation – Marketing should always fit into a given budget that works for your business.
• Measurement framework and KPIs – ensures you are always working towards your end goal.

Start with marketing strategy then build in the activities. Book a session today to see how we can help build a roadmap for your marketing success.

Marketing Activity – Focused and Enticing, Sprinkled with Measurable CTAs

Marketing activities are the practical steps and day-to-day actions that bring your strategy to life. They’re what most people think of when they hear “marketing”, but without the strategy behind them, they risk becoming a box-ticking exercise with little ROI.

Examples of marketing activity and the benefits it brings to your business:

• Social media posting and advertising
• Email campaigns and newsletters
• Paid search (Google Ads, etc.)
• Blog writing and SEO optimisation
• Website updates and landing pages
• Graphic design and creative production
• PR and media outreach
• Events, webinars, and sponsorships

Executing marketing activities without a planned strategy? Let us help you align your activity with a clear, results-driven strategy.

The Features and Benefits Your Business Will Reap when You Invest in Marketing Strategy and Activity

A strategy without activity is just theory, it won’t generate leads or sales. Activity without strategy is noise, busywork that may not contribute to growth.

Every effective marketing campaign starts with a solid strategy. Without it, businesses often jump straight into the “doing”, creating social media content, sending emails, running ads but without understanding who they’re targeting, what message they’re communicating, or what success looks like. This reactive approach often leads to disappointing results and a feeling that “marketing just doesn’t work”.

But when you bring the two together you get:

Tactical implementation – Turn strategic ideas into tangible outcomes.

Measurable campaigns – Allows tracking of ROI and customer engagement.

Agility – Enables fast reaction to trends and market changes.

Customer touchpoints – Builds relationships and reinforces brand awareness.

Marketing Strategy Defines Your Marketing Activity

Starting with a strong marketing strategy ensures every marketing activity has a clear purpose and contributes to your overall objectives. It’s the difference between ticking off tasks and building long-term brand growth.

Don’t waste time and money on marketing that doesn’t deliver. Contact Bubble today and let’s build a marketing strategy that drives real results.