A SIMPLE CHECKLIST TO SEE IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE A MARKETING STRATEGY
and HOW TO KEEP STRATEGY WORKING OVER TIME
They struggle because their marketing lacks structure.
A proper marketing strategy isn’t something you create once and forget. It’s a system you revisit, review, and optimise as your market shifts, your insights deepen, and your team grows.
If you feel busy, stressed about KPIs, and constantly jumping between channels, this checklist will quickly show where the gaps are and what becomes possible with a proper marketing strategy.
Use this checklist not only to assess your current strategy, but also as a structure to regularly review and improve it.
FOUR CORE PARTS OF MARKETING STRATEGY
A proper marketing strategy always consists of four core parts.
If one is missing, everything else becomes harder than it needs to be.
1. Customer Research & Insights
Do you truly understand who you’re marketing to and why they buy?
This part answers the most important question in marketing: “Who is this for, and what problems are we actually solving right now?”
A proper strategy clearly defines:
A specific target customer and ideal persona (not “everyone”)
Their current problems, fears, motivations and goals
What triggers them to start searching for a solution
Their problem-solving journey and main phases
Why they would choose one solution over another
What has changed in their situation since your last review
Checklist questions – revisit & optimise regularly:
Can you clearly describe your ideal customer?
Do you know what problem made them start looking?
Do you know what success looks like from their point of view?
When was the last time we updated our customer insights?
Are we still targeting the same ideal customer?
Do we understand new objections or decision triggers?
Signs you need to review this part of your strategy:
You think you know the customer, but it’s mostly assumptions
Personas exist only in you head (or a dusty doc no one uses)
Sales feedback is inconsistent or anecdotal
You react to opinions from leadership instead of insights
It feels like we’re talking to the wrong people… but you can’t prove it
Sales says leads are bad, but you don’t know why
Every new campaign feels like a gamble
Constant self-doubt
Defensive conversations with sales
No solid foundation for decisions
Everything feels fragile and easily criticised
Sales, leadership, and marketing all describe the customer differently
Don’t forget:
Customer needs and journey evolve
New objections appear
Buying behaviour shifts
Markets become more competitive
Customer research is never “done”. It deepens over time and strategy improves with it.
If this part is weak or missing, everything else becomes guesswork.
2. Message & Content
Is your marketing message based on customer insight or internal assumptions?
Is your message still aligned with what your customer cares about today?
This part turns insight into communication that resonates.
A proper strategy defines:
How your solution connects to current customer problems
What to say at different phases of the problem-solving journey
Clear value propositions, not just features
Content priorities based on impact, not volume
Checklist questions – revisit & optimise regularly:
Is your message customer-focused or product-focused?
Does your content reflect real customer problem-solving journey?
Do different phases of the journey get different messages?
Are we adjusting messaging as insights improve?
Does our message still reflect ideal customer language?
Do we know which messages perform best at each phase?
Are we optimising and A/B testing it?
Signs you need to review this part of your strategy:
Content is created because it’s “needed”, not because it’s strategic
Messaging is shaped by internal preferences, not customer insight
Messaging changes depending on who you last spoke to
Features are easier to explain than customer value
Every piece of content feels disconnected
Endless revisions
Low confidence when presenting messaging
Hard to explain why something should work
Marketing feels noisy and inconsistent
Content ideas come from pressure, not insight
Leadership rewrites headlines because “it doesn’t sound exciting enough”
Don’t forget
Language evolves
Customer priorities change
What worked before may lose effectiveness
Messaging is not static. It improves as your understanding improves.
Without this step, content becomes random and inconsistent.
3. Campaigns & Channels
Do you choose channels strategically or just “do everything”?
Are your channels still the right ones and used in the right way?
This part answers: “Where should we show up, and why?”
A proper strategy defines:
Which channels matter for your specific customer
What role each channel plays in their problem-solving journey
How campaigns are structured, not just launched
Campaign priorities and focus areas
What to stop doing to free up resources
Checklist questions – revisit & optimise regularly:
Can you explain why you use each channel?
Are we still using the most effective channels?
Do campaigns support a clear journey, or exist in isolation?
Are you spreading budget thin or focused on impact?
Are we optimising and A/B testing channels?
Signs you need to review this part of your strategy:
Pressure to be “everywhere”
Too many channels, not enough time
Campaigns launched but rarely optimised properly
Budget spread thin across platforms
You’re busy but unsure what’s driving impact
You’re afraid to turn anything off
Campaigns are launched quickly but rarely reviewed properly
You feel responsible for everything but in control of nothing
Don’t forget:
New insights and opportunities appear
Channels change
Costs increase
Teams and budgets grow
If this part is weak, marketing becomes busy, expensive, and exhausting.
Without regular review, channels become inefficient and hard to scale.
4. Funnel & KPIs
Are your funnel and KPIs a result of strategy?
Do your KPIs still measure what actually matters?
This part tells you whether your strategy is working.
A proper strategy defines:
Clear marketing funnel stages (TOFU, MOFU, BOFU)
The role of each marketing channel in the funnel
KPIs aligned with the funnel
KPIs that reflect quality, not just volume
What success looks like at each stage
How marketing supports business outcomes
Signals for when to optimise or change direction
Checklist questions – revisit & optimise regularly:
Can you link metrics to specific funnel stages?
Do you know what to improve when numbers drop?
Do your KPIs still reflect real customer value?
Are our KPIs still tied to business impact?
Signs you need to review this part of your strategy:
You report traffic growth but get asked: “How many of these leads are good?”
Team changes tactics because numbers moved, without knowing why
KPIs chosen because they’re easy to track
Reports full of numbers but no meaning
Leadership wants growth, but expectations aren’t clear
Stress before reporting meetings
Fear of being exposed as “not strategic enough”
No clear optimisation direction
Don’t forget:
Customer needs evolve
Buying behaviour shifts
Marketing and sales processes change
Business goals evolve
KPIs are not fixed, they mature alongside the strategy.
If KPIs feel confusing, the problem is usually upstream, not in the numbers.
THE KEY PRINCIPLE: STRATEGY IS A LOOP, NOT A LINE
The biggest mistake marketers make is treating strategy as a one-off exercise.
A proper marketing strategy works as a continuous loop:
Review insights
Refine messaging
Adjust campaigns
Improve funnel & KPIs
Repeat with more clarity
Each cycle makes communication simpler, not more complex.
When you use this structure to build and review your strategy, you gain:
Clear focus
Faster optimisation
Fewer wasted tactics
Better decision-making
Confidence as your role and team grow
WHAT TO DO NEXT
If this checklist raised questions or highlighted a few gaps, Marketing Strategy System (MSS) shows you how to address them using a proven, end-to-end framework.
Get your sample of the framework today and start building a strategy you can revisit and improve using the same structure over time.
👉 You can get the framework here.
Because a good marketing strategy isn’t a one-time exercise.
It’s a system you use, review and refine.