(this smacks of a college prep or term question, but I will answer it none the less)
The first step to creating a market strategy is to understand the purpose of a marketing strategy or strategic marketing plan. Too many small and medium sized business owners falsely believe that the point of a marketing plan or marketing strategy is simply to have one – ie: that it’s an end unto itself.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
For example – HOT SAUCE.
Identifying a marketing strategy that would monopolize the marketplace in the hot sauce industry may actually mean branding the hot sauce as the ONLY, repeat, ONLY thing that makes a particular chili, hamburger or bar-b-cue recipe perfect. That without XYZ brand of hot sauce your chili is bland, your burger burned and broken and your bar-b-que – bite less.
If you try to take (and therefore market to monopolize the marketplace) the position that XYZ brand of hot sauce is the perfect tasting hot sauce you’re going to have to convince nearly every single person that has
1. either already decided upon a favorite brand of sauce
or
2. has tried hot sauce and hated it
That, essentially your brand is better, different or more compelling than their favorite or the last brand they tried. Good luck with that.
Once you decide what you want to do with your marketing strategy (monopolize your market, add sales to complementary product, something else?) you can begin to identify a marketing strategy with the goal in mind.
For example, lets suggest we want to make this hot sauce the “perfect” addition to chili. You would need to identify a group of chili eaters, and do some basic but complete market research.
For example
1. Does the flavor of the chili matter more than the burn?
2. What makes a great chili
3. What makes a bad chili
etc, etc…
The point of this survey is essentially to get into “John or Jane Smith’s Brain”.
Why? (NOTE: GOLDEN NUGGET of marketing here)
Because – If you want to be great, not good, but truly great at marketing and advertising you need to be able to see the world thru john smiths eyes. Figure out what’s in John Smiths brain and pull it out, and slap it on paper, radio, web, etc.
We call this identifying the hot buttons….or the action points. Identifying the action points allows you then begin to understand your message.
Once you have your message, or the “What You’re Going To Say” you need to determine “Where And How Your Going To Say It”. Almost every client or client group I have worked for has mistaken the “Where and How” for the entirety of marketing. They nearly always put the “What you’re going to say” (the strategic) behind the “Where And How Your Going To Say It ” (the tactical) that it is nearly invisible.
You simply cannot have a successful marketing strategy if you don’t FIRST identify the strategic plan and THEN build the tactical to support it.
Identifying the tactical marketing plan is a matter of more research, good marketing background and some basic common sense.
You need to indentify the easiest route to your clients. In the case of the hot sauce you might include a $1.00 off coupon for ground meat and get your product put in the meat section of a large grocery chain, or send a free sample to a local test market and include the same coupon. There are a billion different ways to get the response (direct of course) you are looking for but the purpose here is simple – always ensure your tactical marketing plan has a testing phase to identify if the strategic and tactical are in line to produce results.
There is more to this – literally pages – but if you want to know more just email me and I will literally bury your inbox with newsletters I have written about this topic.

Firstly, the question sounds like something a Professor would ask. That is the whole game. The person who knows the most about their customers wins!
You know what, if someone answers this question completely it reminds of a middle manager what has nothing to do. Why would any on in their right mind give you an answer to that question, for free?
Good Luck,
Jimmy Clark
ZMG Group
http://www.zwangproductions.com