Download Steps to Successful Marketing

MARKETING
Marketing is the management process for identifying and anticipating customer requirements
profitably. All company policies and activities should be directed toward satisfying customer needs.
Those setting up their own business should remember that profitable sales volume is more important
than maximum sales volume.
There are four steps to successful marketing:
1.
Market research may be carried out to determine the needs of potential customers
2.
Analyze competitive advantages to develop a market strategy
3.
Define your target market
4.
Determine how to satisfy customer needs by identifying a market mix
1. Market Research
Before undertaking any research you need to be clear about what you want to find out. Here are some
of the questions you might want your market research to answer:
•
What are your products/services? Is there a demand for your product/service?
•
What is the euro size of your markets? You need to assess the profitability of the sector which you
intend to enter.
•
What is your sales and distribution setup?
•
What geographic area will you sell to? How critical is location to your business?
•
Profile your prospective customers – look at population, demographics, income levels, etc.
•
Study your competitors – who are they, how many are there, what are their strengths/weaknesses?
If you are able to answer these, and perhaps other questions satisfactorily, you should be in a position
to estimate the amount of sales you are likely to achieve. The key question is will these sales be
sufficient to allow you to operate a viable business?
Successful marketing requires timely and relevant market information. An inexpensive research
program, based on questionnaires given to current or prospective customers, can often uncover
dissatisfaction or possible new products or services.
Market research will also identify trends that affect sales and profitability. Population shifts, legal
developments, and the local economic situation should be monitored to quickly identify problems and
opportunities. It is also important to keep up with competitors' market strategies.
Conducting your market research:
1.
Identity and define the problem – Defining objectives is highly important to a marketing
campaign. A lot of time can be wasted performing market research on the wrong problem.
2.
Analyse the situation – An analysis of the situation is an informal survey of what information
is available in the problem area. It will help you prioritise the information you need. It is
important to carry out secondary research before primary research, as an expensive primary
research survey may be commissioned to provide information already available from
secondary sources. Sources of information include:
•
Government agencies such as Enterprise Ireland (www.enterprise-ireland.com), Shannon
Development (www.shannon-dev.ie), Údarás na Gaeltachta (www.udaras.ie),
www.basis.ie, www.irlgov.ie
•
City and County Enterprise Boards (www.enterpriseboards.ie), Chambers of Commerce
or Specialist Trade Associations
•
3.
Local libraries, business magazines and journals, census information, banks, etc.
Pre-study field research – to ensure that you are seeking relevant information. Focus on facts,
revert to your list of questions and see if you are answering them. Collecting interesting but
irrelevant information is time-wasting
4.
Data collection method - concept and test your questionnaire. Make sure that the questions
are understandable and will give useful answers
5.
Field research – Asking the questions. It is important to select a varied sample group. Do not
base market research only on the opinion of friends and family. You may not get honest
opinions.
6.
Data processing – Analyse and interpret the information received
7.
Reporting – Presenting the information. Research findings and conclusions should be acted
upon and should form a basis for the marketing plan
2. Marketing Strategy
A marketing strategy identifies customer groups which a particular business can better serve than its
target competitors, and tailors product offerings, prices, distribution, promotional efforts, and services
toward those market segments. Ideally, the strategy should address unmet customer needs that offer
adequate potential profitability. A good strategy helps a business focus on the target markets it can
serve best. Getting your new products/services to market effectively and efficiently is the key to
market penetration, sales growth and profitability. This requires detailed market planning including
product launch and sales strategies and should be included within your business plan.
A SWOT analysis is a structured approach to evaluating the strategic position of a business by
identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It provides a simple method of
synthesizing the results of the marketing audit. Once a SWOT analysis has been completed, thought
can be given as to how to turn competitive weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities. Be
realistic – do not select options which are not likely to be viable or which might be impossible to
achieve.
Your marketing plan should be based on the latest market intelligence and research, should detail your
company’s competitive position and consider both the opportunities and risks in the marketplace. You
need to highlight your attributes: how can your company differentiate itself from the competition?
Your marketing plan should also establish the most effective marketing actions required to achieve
your objectives and goals.
3. Identify your Target Market
Owners of small businesses usually have limited resources to spend on marketing. Concentrating their
efforts on one or a few key market segments - target marketing - gets the most return from small
investments. There are various methods used to segment a market:
1.
Geographical segmentation - Specializing in serving the needs of customers in a particular
geographical area. For example, a convenience store may send advertisements only to people
living within one-half mile of the store.
2.
Customer segmentation - Identifying those most likely to buy the product or service, (based on
age, gender, education, occupation, income, status, values, attitudes and lifestyle, etc.) and
targeting those groups.
By targeting a specific market, strategies for designing, pricing, distributing, promoting, positioning,
and improving your product, service or idea are made easier, more effective, and more cost-effective.
4. Marketing Mix
Every marketing program contains four key components which are combined into an overall marketing
program:
•
Products and Services
•
Price
•
Promotion
•
Place
.
Products and Services – Defining the product or service you offer is a critical first step to marketing
your business. Product strategies may include concentrating on a narrow product line, developing a
highly specialized product or service, or providing a product-service package containing unusually
high-quality service
Price - The right price is crucial for maximizing total revenue. Generally, higher prices mean lower
volume and vice-versa, however, small businesses can often command higher prices because of their
personalized service. Successful businesses maximise their profits by matching their pricing with the
value customers put on their products or services. The price you charge will determine your margins
and your own salary. Price is closely connected with the credibility and quality of your product or
service. You should constantly survey the competition to monitor their prices. Once you have
established your price, it is very difficult to increase it without losing customers.
Promotion - Promotion strategies include advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public
relations, on-line marketing and direct customer interaction. Good salesmanship is essential for small
businesses because of their limited ability to spend on advertising. Good telephone book advertising is
also important. Direct mail is an effective, low-cost medium available to small business. Other
methods of promotion include advertisements in regional newspapers, brochures, posters, participation
in trade exhibitions, markets, etc.
Place – The physical criteria required for the successful operation of any business needs to be
determined well in advance. How much space is needed? Consider your requirements: an office will
need desks, phones, photo-copier, fax machine, reception, etc. A factory/work-shop may need to
consider transport, loading/dispatch areas, electrical needs, weight of machinery, environmental issues,
health & safety issues, etc. Is planning permission required? Will you buy or lease? What are the
insurance costs? It is vital that you consult a solicitor before signing documents or make verbal
agreements on property.
A lot of research is needed before choosing the right location for your premises. You need to know
about traffic flow (vehicles and pedestrians), parking, types of customers in the area and their spending
patterns, what other traders in the area think of the location and you also need to be aware of any
proposed developments in the area.
The nature of the product or service is also important in making decisions. High traffic and visibility
are critical for certain products. Location is less of a concern for products or services that customers
are willing to go out of their way to find. The continuous advances in technology have enabled certain
small businesses to operate from any location yet serve national or international markets.
MARKETING PERFORMANCE
Performance should be evaluated to understand how well or badly your marketing programme is
working. Marketing is a continuous process. Standards are needed to compare with actual results.
Researching industry norms and past performance will help to develop appropriate standards. The key
questions are:
•
Is the company doing all it can to be customer-oriented?
•
Do employees ensure the customers are satisfied and leave wanting to come back?
•
Is it easy for the customer to find what he or she wants at a competitive price?
Set realistic targets and measure your performance. What are your expectations for the first year in
business? Are they being met? Is your customer profile accurate? Are you targeting the right type of
customer? Are your marketing methods appropriate – the market is continually changing, your
marketing plan should anticipate these changes and be in touch with the latest trends. The right
marketing plan can help deliver the vision you have for your business.