Strategic Marketing Training Course

Duration 10 days 19 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Marketing Managers, Senior Brand Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-M-057

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience in marketing, sales, product management, customer experience, business development or commercial planning.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Strategic marketing decisions determine where an organisation competes, which customers it serves, how it creates preference and how commercial resources are allocated. Senior marketers must often make these decisions with incomplete customer evidence, pressure on margins, fragmented channels and competing internal priorities. The work requires more than campaign planning: it requires a defensible view of market attractiveness, customer value, positioning, portfolio choices and financial return.

This advanced course develops the methods needed to diagnose markets, select priority segments, define value propositions and build marketing strategies that can be funded, measured and governed. Participants apply PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces, market segmentation, customer journey mapping, perceptual mapping, brand architecture, pricing analysis, marketing mix modelling principles and customer lifetime value. They learn to turn research and commercial data into choices about target markets, offers, channels, budgets and performance measures.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings, sector cases, group analysis, decision simulations and structured application to participants' own organisations. Cases may involve retail banking, public services, healthcare, telecommunications, FMCG, business-to-business services and nonprofit programmes. Participants progressively build a strategic marketing plan during the course, then test its assumptions, economics, implementation requirements and scorecard. They leave with a completed plan and reusable decision tools suitable for immediate adaptation at work.

The course is suited to experienced marketing, product, customer experience, commercial and business development professionals who contribute to market-facing strategy. It is also relevant to managers leading growth initiatives, brand portfolios, customer propositions or go-to-market programmes.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose market attractiveness using PESTLE, Five Forces and market sizing methods
  • Segment customers using needs, value, behaviour and profitability criteria
  • Develop differentiated value propositions supported by customer evidence and competitor analysis
  • Construct positioning statements, perceptual maps and brand architecture decisions
  • Design pricing, channel and go-to-market choices aligned with strategic objectives
  • Build marketing budgets using response assumptions, unit economics and customer lifetime value
  • Create a marketing performance scorecard with leading, lagging and diagnostic measures
  • Present a complete strategic marketing plan with implementation governance and commercial rationale

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produces board-ready strategic marketing recommendations supported by commercial evidence
  • Builds confidence challenging poorly defined segments, propositions and campaign requests
  • Improves credibility in budget discussions through customer lifetime value and unit economics
  • Creates clearer links between customer research, strategic choices and execution priorities
  • Develops a reusable strategic marketing plan for a current business challenge

For your organisation

  • Improves allocation of marketing funds toward attractive segments and profitable propositions
  • Reduces disconnected campaign activity through clearer strategic choices and governance
  • Strengthens pricing, channel and portfolio decisions with market and customer evidence
  • Creates consistent measures linking marketing activity to commercial and customer outcomes
  • Produces actionable growth plans that align marketing, sales, product and service teams

Course modules

19 modules over 10 days

Participants can define the strategic marketing decisions required to support a business objective.

  • Marketing strategy choices: markets, customers, propositions, channels and investment priorities
  • Corporate strategy translated into growth, retention, margin and market-share objectives
  • Distinguishing strategic marketing from campaign management and communications planning
  • Demand creation, demand capture and customer retention within commercial planning
  • Marketing's role in product, sales, service and finance decision processes
  • Strategic marketing brief framed through decisions, evidence, constraints and accountabilities

Participants can define a market in terms useful for strategic analysis and investment decisions.

  • Category definition based on customer need, use occasion and substitute solutions
  • Relevant market boundaries tested through geography, channels, price points and regulations
  • Demand-side substitution distinguished from supply-side competitor classification
  • Market maps showing customers, intermediaries, influencers, competitors and complementors
  • Category maturity assessed through adoption patterns, growth rates and profit pools
  • Market definition statements written for investment, positioning and portfolio decisions

Participants can assess external forces affecting market attractiveness and strategic risk.

  • PESTLE analysis prioritised by impact, uncertainty and decision relevance
  • Porter's Five Forces used to assess structural profit potential
  • Regulatory, technological and demographic drivers converted into market implications
  • Scenario axes built from critical uncertainties and plausible future conditions
  • Industry value chains mapped to identify margin pools and bargaining power
  • Competitor moves assessed for likely customer, channel and pricing effects

Participants can estimate market opportunity and prioritise growth opportunities using explicit assumptions.

  • Top-down market sizing using published data, adoption rates and spending assumptions
  • Bottom-up sizing built from target accounts, volumes, frequencies and prices
  • TAM, SAM and SOM distinguished for planning and investment decisions
  • Market growth decomposed into customer acquisition, frequency, volume and price
  • Opportunity scorecards compare attractiveness, capability fit, risk and time-to-value
  • Sensitivity analysis identifies assumptions requiring further research or management judgement

Participants can convert customer evidence into strategic insight and decision criteria.

  • Jobs to Be Done identifies functional, emotional and social progress
  • Buying-centre roles mapped for complex business-to-business purchase decisions
  • Customer decision journeys identify triggers, barriers, moments and information needs
  • Voice-of-customer evidence separated from interpretation, hypothesis and strategic implication
  • Qualitative research findings tested against behavioural and transactional evidence
  • Insight statements link customer tension, context, consequence and unmet need

Participants can create actionable segments and select target markets using commercial criteria.

  • Segmentation variables combine needs, behaviour, value, context and accessibility
  • Needs-based segments distinguished from demographics, personas and customer lists
  • Segment attractiveness assessed through size, growth, profitability and competitive intensity
  • Organisational fit evaluated through capabilities, channels, credibility and investment capacity
  • Targeting strategies compared: undifferentiated, differentiated, concentrated and customised approaches
  • Segment profiles specify needs, triggers, value potential and purchase barriers

Participants can design value propositions that address priority customer needs and commercial goals.

  • Value proposition canvases connect customer jobs, pains, gains and offers
  • Functional, economic, emotional and social value identified by target segment
  • Value quantification converts customer outcomes into credible financial or operational terms
  • Points of parity and points of difference tested against competitor claims
  • Proof points selected from product evidence, service performance and customer outcomes
  • Proposition statements specify audience, need, offer, benefit and reason-to-believe

Participants can select a competitive position and articulate a defensible market position.

  • Competitive advantage assessed through cost, differentiation, focus and capability fit
  • Perceptual maps reveal customer perceptions, white space and crowded positions
  • Positioning statements define target, frame of reference, benefit and support
  • Category entry points connect brand availability with buying situations
  • Competitor benchmarking compares offers, prices, channels, service and communications
  • Strategic positions tested for relevance, distinctiveness, credibility and durability

Participants can make brand and portfolio choices that support clarity and growth.

  • Brand purpose distinguished from positioning, promise, personality and visual identity
  • Brand equity drivers assessed through awareness, associations, quality and loyalty
  • Branded house, house of brands and endorsed brands compared
  • Portfolio roles assigned: flagship, fighter, premium, entry and innovation brands
  • Cannibalisation risk assessed through customer overlap, price gaps and channel conflict
  • Brand governance defines decision rights, standards, approvals and exception processes

Participants can prioritise product and service portfolio actions using market and financial evidence.

  • Portfolio matrices compare market attractiveness, competitive position and strategic fit
  • Product life-cycle assumptions tested against category evidence and customer adoption
  • Core, adjacent and transformational growth options assessed for risk
  • Service design choices linked to proposition delivery and customer experience
  • Innovation pipelines prioritised by customer value, feasibility and commercial potential
  • Rationalisation decisions consider revenue, margin, complexity and strategic relevance

Participants can develop pricing choices aligned with value, demand and profit objectives.

  • Value-based, cost-plus and competitor-based pricing compared for strategic fit
  • Price elasticity interpreted using demand response and customer switching evidence
  • Willingness-to-pay research translated into price corridors and offer design
  • Price fences differentiate offers by usage, timing, service or eligibility
  • Good-better-best architecture creates trade-up paths and protects price integrity
  • Discount governance sets approval thresholds, exceptions and margin protection rules

Participants can select channel roles and design a route-to-market model for target segments.

  • Direct, partner, retail and digital channels assessed by segment requirements
  • Channel economics compare acquisition cost, margin, reach and service capacity
  • Omnichannel journeys identify handoffs, conflict points and conversion losses
  • Partner selection criteria cover coverage, capability, incentives and brand control
  • Channel conflict managed through territories, account rules and compensation design
  • Route-to-market plans align target segments, offers, channels and sales coverage

Participants can prioritise customer experience improvements that protect retention and value.

  • Journey maps identify moments of truth, pain points and value erosion
  • Service blueprints connect frontstage experience with backstage operational dependencies
  • Retention analysis separates preventable churn from natural attrition and migration
  • Net Promoter Score interpreted alongside complaints, behaviour and segment economics
  • Customer recovery policies define response standards, ownership and escalation paths
  • Loyalty mechanisms assessed for customer value, cost and behavioural impact

Participants can develop an integrated communications strategy linked to customer decisions and objectives.

  • Communication objectives derived from awareness, consideration, conversion or retention gaps
  • Message architecture aligns master narrative, segment messages and proof points
  • Paid, owned, earned and shared media assigned distinct strategic roles
  • Content strategy matches customer questions, decision stages and channel behaviours
  • Media planning balances reach, frequency, context, cost and response potential
  • Creative evaluation tests clarity, relevance, branding, credibility and call-to-action

Participants can assess digital growth opportunities and define appropriate marketing technology requirements.

  • Funnel analysis identifies conversion bottlenecks from acquisition through retention
  • Search, social, email and content channels assigned measurable customer roles
  • First-party data strategy addresses consent, identity, quality and activation
  • Marketing automation use cases prioritised by value, readiness and process ownership
  • Experiment design distinguishes causal tests from descriptive performance reporting
  • Digital channel governance sets standards for audience, content and measurement

Participants can assess marketing investment using unit economics, response assumptions and financial measures.

  • Customer acquisition cost calculated by channel, segment and offer
  • Customer lifetime value estimated from margin, retention, frequency and servicing cost
  • Contribution margin separates profitable revenue growth from volume growth
  • Break-even analysis tests campaign, launch and channel investment assumptions
  • Incrementality distinguishes causal marketing effects from existing customer demand
  • Budget scenarios compare expected returns, risks, capacity and strategic priorities

Participants can build a performance system that links marketing activity to business outcomes.

  • Marketing scorecards connect objectives, measures, targets, owners and review cadence
  • Leading indicators include reach, engagement, pipeline quality and conversion rates
  • Lagging indicators include revenue, margin, retention, share and customer value
  • Attribution approaches compared: last-touch, multi-touch, experiments and econometric models
  • Dashboard design separates executive decisions from operational performance monitoring
  • Performance reviews identify variance, root causes, corrective actions and learning

Participants can convert strategy into an accountable implementation roadmap with risk controls.

  • Implementation roadmaps sequence initiatives, dependencies, milestones and decision gates
  • RACI matrices assign responsibility, accountability, consultation and information flows
  • Marketing operating models define central, local, product and channel responsibilities
  • Capability gaps assessed across people, processes, data, technology and agencies
  • Risk registers address execution, reputation, compliance, customer and financial risks
  • Change communications build alignment among sales, service, product and leadership

Participants can build, review and present a complete strategic marketing plan for a defined market opportunity.

  • Situation analysis integrates market, customer, competitor and internal performance evidence
  • Strategic choices specify target segments, positioning, objectives and growth priorities
  • Marketing mix decisions align proposition, portfolio, price, channel and communications
  • Financial case states investment, assumptions, expected returns and sensitivity ranges
  • Implementation roadmap assigns milestones, owners, dependencies, risks and governance
  • Executive presentation defends recommendations against challenge, trade-offs and alternatives

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Strategic marketing plan template
  2. Market attractiveness scorecard
  3. Needs-based segmentation model
  4. Value proposition and positioning canvas
  5. Marketing investment business case
  6. Marketing performance scorecard

Who should attend

  • Marketing Managers — responsible for translating business priorities into market strategy
  • Senior Brand Managers — managing portfolio choices, positioning and brand investment decisions
  • Product Managers — shaping propositions, pricing and route-to-market plans
  • Customer Experience Managers — connecting journey evidence to proposition and retention strategy
  • Business Development Managers — identifying attractive segments and commercial growth opportunities
  • Commercial Directors — reviewing marketing investment, market choices and growth plans

Skills and tools covered

Market opportunity assessmentCustomer segmentationValue proposition designBrand positioningMarketing economicsStrategic plan development

Tools and standards

PESTLE analysis, Porter's Five Forces, STP framework, Net Promoter Score

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce strategic marketing methods, followed by cases, group analysis and decision simulations. Participants work with market data, customer research extracts, financial assumptions and competitor evidence to make defensible choices. Structured discussions test alternative segment, proposition, pricing and channel decisions. Application planning begins in the first week and continues through the second, allowing participants to build and refine a strategic marketing plan for a current organisational priority. Facilitators provide feedback on logic, evidence, economics and implementation feasibility.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience in marketing, sales, product management, customer experience, business development or commercial planning. They should be comfortable discussing customers, competitors, revenue, margin and basic business performance measures. Familiarity with campaign planning or market research is useful, but specialist research, finance or data science expertise is not required. The course does not assume prior use of formal strategy frameworks. Participants benefit most when they can bring a current market, product, service, customer segment or growth challenge for application during the course.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have experience in a marketing, commercial, product, customer experience or business development role. They do not need prior formal training in strategy, market research or marketing analytics.

Participants should bring information on a current product, service, market, customer segment or growth challenge where possible. Useful materials include customer research, sales data, competitor information, campaign results or planning documents, subject to organisational confidentiality rules.

It is designed for experienced professionals who influence market choices, propositions, brand portfolios, pricing, channels or marketing investment. It is not an introductory course for people seeking basic promotional or social media skills.

Digital marketing courses usually focus on channels, platforms and campaign optimisation, while brand management courses focus more closely on brand identity and equity. This course addresses the wider strategic choices that determine where to compete, whom to serve, what to offer and how investment creates commercial value.

Participants develop a strategic marketing plan around a live or realistic business issue, using the same tools taught in class. The plan can be adapted for annual planning, proposition development, market entry, retention strategy or investment approval.

The first week establishes market diagnosis, customer strategy, value propositions, positioning and portfolio choices. The second week develops pricing, channels, communications, economics, measurement, governance and the capstone plan; each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 with about 6.5 contact hours.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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