What are the three steps of the planning phase of the strategic marketing process?

Answer: The three steps of the planning phase of the strategic marketing process are: (1) Conducting a situation analysis, which involves taking stock of where the firm or product has been recently, where it is now, and where it is headed in terms of the organization’s marketing plans and the external forces and trends affecting it. To do this, an organization uses a SWOT analysis, an acronym that describes an organization’s appraisal of its internal Strengths and Weaknesses and its external Opportunities and Threats. (2) Developing a market-product focus and customer value proposition, which determine what products an organization will offer to which customers. This is often based on market segmentation—aggregating prospective buyers into groups or segments that have common needs and will respond similarly to a marketing action---and crafting a customer value proposition. (3) Designing a marketing program, which is where an organization develops the marketing mix elements and budget for each offering. LO.1