10 Best Strategy Tools and Analysis Tips

When was the last time you jumped into operational tactics for solving the problems. Getting less business leads, do some paid SEM campaign with a mix of content marketing? Need more followers for brand? Go invest some money on paid promotions or influencer marketing?

The best way to solve a problem is research, research for understating the audience, weekness areas, gaps in previously done work, competition offerings, defining right scenarios for achieving the desired results.

What is Strategy?

Originating from the military, the word Strategy refers to a plan to do something or take action in order to achieve a particular goal or a set objective. Analysis, on the other hand, means to examine and evaluate the information minutely in order to understand the concepts involved. This understanding may give way to making decisions, or choosing the best courses of action amongst various available options or to arrive at a conclusion about a certain subject. Some of the best strategy tools and analysis tips are listed below:

1. Assessing Balance of Power: Traditionally, this tool is used to understand and check profitability. It assesses new products or services, to ensure prospects of being profitable. In addition, Porter’s 5 forces also help you know the strength of your current competitive position and know the strength of the position you aspire to be in future.
2. PEST Analysis: PEST stands for Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological environments that you are working in. These bring change in the world; adjusting in accordance to these forces helps you get favorable results. This tool assists you in seeing the ‘big picture’ and adapt to your new surroundings breaking free of any assumptions.
3. Gap Analysis: Gap analysis is a tool that helps you identify the difference between the desired state and your current situation or placement. It is a reality check where you face the facts, work to bridge gaps by prioritizing effort. Such analysis
   can be performed at the strategic, operational, or organization or business.
4. Risk Analysis: Risk is a possible threat where you may lose something that is of value to you. You start with identifying your areas of vulnerabilities, assess the extent of possible loss, come up with contingency plans to manage your risks, and periodically review them in order to keep them under check.
5. Core Competence Analysis: This analysis is a powerful tool that helps you estimates facts and data; it also analysis skills and wherewithal required by you or your organization or team to offer the products or services. This tool facilitates development of those areas you are weak at before they become issues or crisis.
6. Strategic Group Mapping: This technique of helps you categorizes your competitors into meaningful groups on the basis of at least 2 strategic variables. Helps you identify areas you need to get better at. Helps position your product, service, business well in the market. Identifies your rivals competence and work accordingly to gain advantage.
7. Decision Analysis: This is a tool that helps you arrive at responsible, accurate decisions using tree-like graph or structure of decisions with their probable outcomes. They identify strategies that will take you to your goal. It can be depicted as an influence diagram that brings your attention to issues and relationships between events.
8. SWOT Analysis: This analysis stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and threats. This is a strategic planning method that helps you analyze all these factors in any project or business venture that you are contemplating on taking or updating. This analysis basic element of the marketing plan to make projections for proposed marketing activities.
   
9. Ansoff Matrix Strategy tool: This is a tool that helps you identify objectives and provides strategic choices to achieve the identified objectives. It provides analysis, objectives, and strategies for market penetration, market development, product development and diversification. It was first published in the Harvard Business Review, in 1957, in an article called Strategies for Diversification.
   
10. Scenario Planning: Scenario Planning is a tool that helps analyze the current scenario that helps in bettering future prospects. It provides the option to bring different perspectives within the organization, including different managers, and then consider different forecasts. It helps in early predictions, inclusive understanding and acceptance between stakeholders, and lateral thinking for all involved.