UNIQUE MARKETING ISSUES
Selecting a Market and Establishing a Position
👀 Segmenting the Market
(what groups of customers in my market are similar enough that the same product or service will appeal to all of them?)
Market segmentation is important because a new firm typically has only enough resources to target one market segment, at least initially.
👀 Selecting a Target Market
(which specific group of customers have I decided to target?)
A niche market is a place within a market segment that represents a narrow group of customers with similar interests.
👀 Crafting a Unique Market Position
(what position will my firm occupy in the minds of my customers that will differentiate it from all of my competitors?)
(what position will my firm occupy in the minds of my customers that will differentiate it from all of my competitors?)
A helpful technique is to develop a product attribute map, which illustrates a firm's positioning strategy relative to its major rivals. To support their positioning strategy, firms often develop a tagline.
Branding
A brand is the set of attributes that people associate with a company. The customer loyalty a company creates through its brand is one of its most valuable assets. Some companies monitor the integrity of their brands through brand management, which is a program used to protect the image and value of an organization's brand in consumers' mind. One of the keys to effective branding is to create a strong personality for a firm, designed to appeal to the chosen target market.
How does a new firm develop a brand? A firm must have meaning in its customers' lives. Brands are built through a number of techniques, including advertising, public relations, sponsorships, support of social causes, social media, and good performance. It's important for start-ups, particularly if they plan to sell to other businesses, to have a polished image immediately so that they have credibility when they approach their potential customers. Creating buzz means creating awareness and a sense of anticipation about a company and its offerings. This process can start during feasibility analysis.
What journalists usually prefer is a human interest story about why a firm was started or a story focused on something that's distinctly unique about the start-up.
Over 50 percent of consumers say that a known and trusted brand is a reason to buy a product. Brand equity is the term that denotes the set of assets and liabilities that are linked to a brand and enable it to raise a firm's valuation. One aspect of branding that start-ups should be alert to is the possibility of forming co-branding relationships. The objective is to combine the strengths of the brands.
💁 PRODUCT
A firm's product, in the context of its marketing mix, is the good or service it offers to its target market. As the firm prepares to sell its product, an important distinction should be made between the core product and the actual product, such as the features, design, packaging, and so on that constitute the collection of benefits that the customer ultimately buys. The initial rollout is one of the most critical times in the marketing of a new product. All new firms face the challenge that they are unknown and that it takes a leap of faith for their first customers to buy their products. New firms must often offer their product to an initial group of customers for free or at a reduced price in exchange for their willingness to try the product and for their feedback. Many entrepreneurs are reluctant to give away products, even in exchange for a potential endorsement.
💁 PRICE
Price is the amount of money consumers pay to buy a product. It produces revenue. The price a company charges for its products also sends a clear message to its target market. Methods to set the price for their products are:
⇨ Cost-Based Pricing
In cost-based pricing, the list price is determined by adding a markup percentage to a product's cost.
The advantage : it is straightforward, and it is relatively easy to justify the price of a good or service.
The disadvantage : it is not always easy to estimate what the costs of a product will be.
Cost-based pricing is based on what a company thinks it should receive rather than on what the market thinks a good or service is worth.
⇨ Value-Based Pricing
In value-based pricing, the list price is determined by estimating what consumers are willing to pay for a product and then backing off a bit to provide a cushion. Most experts recommend value-based pricing because it hinges on the perceived value of a product or service rather than cost plus markup, which, as stated previously, is a formula that ignores the customer. Most consumers make a price-quality attribution which means that consumers naturally assume that the higher priced product is also the better quality product.
💁 PROMOTION
Promotion refers to the activities the firm takes to communicate the merits of its product to its target market. The most common activities entrepreneurs use to promote their products are:
➪ Advertising
Advertising's major goals are to raise customer awareness of a product, explain a product's comparative features and benefits, and also create associations between a product and a certain lifestyle. Step involved in putting together an advertisement:
➪ Public Relations
Public relations refers to efforts to establish and maintain a company's image with the public. The cost of public relations to a firm is the effort it makes to network with journalists, blog authors, and other people to try to interest them in saying or writing good things about the company and its products. A positive review of a new company's products, or a company is profiled in a prominent blog, consumers are likely to believe that those products are at least worth a try.
➪ Social Media
Use of social media consists primarily of blogging and establishing a presence and connecting with customers and others through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. In regard to engagement, many companies use social networks to strengthen their relationships with customers by soliciting feedback, running contests, or posting fun games that pertain to a company's product
➪ Other Promotion-Related Activities
By give away free samples of their products or offer free trials such as a three-month subscription to a magazine or a two-week membership to a fitness club. Viral marketing facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message about a particular product. The idea of designing a promotional campaign that encourages a firm's current customers to recommend its product to future customers is well worth considering.
💁 PLACE (or Distribution)
Place or distribution, encompasses all the activities that move a firm's product from its place of origin to the consumer.
➩ Selling Direct
The advantage: being able to control the process of moving their products from their place of origin to the end user.
The disadvantage: a firm has more of its capital tied up in fixed assets because it must own or rent retail outlets. It must also find its own buyers rather than have distributors that are constantly looking for new outlets for the firm's products.
➩ Selling Through Intermediaries
Firms selling through intermediaries typically pass off their products to wholesalers or distributors that place them in retail outlets to be sold.
The advantage: the firm doesn't need to own as much of the distribution channel.
The disadvantage: a firm loses a certain amount of control of its product.
Exclusive distribution arrangements give a retailer or other intermediary the exclusive rights to sell a company's product.
What journalists usually prefer is a human interest story about why a firm was started or a story focused on something that's distinctly unique about the start-up.
Over 50 percent of consumers say that a known and trusted brand is a reason to buy a product. Brand equity is the term that denotes the set of assets and liabilities that are linked to a brand and enable it to raise a firm's valuation. One aspect of branding that start-ups should be alert to is the possibility of forming co-branding relationships. The objective is to combine the strengths of the brands.
The 4Ps of Marketing for New Ventures
A firm's marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that it uses to produce the response it wants in the target market.💁 PRODUCT
A firm's product, in the context of its marketing mix, is the good or service it offers to its target market. As the firm prepares to sell its product, an important distinction should be made between the core product and the actual product, such as the features, design, packaging, and so on that constitute the collection of benefits that the customer ultimately buys. The initial rollout is one of the most critical times in the marketing of a new product. All new firms face the challenge that they are unknown and that it takes a leap of faith for their first customers to buy their products. New firms must often offer their product to an initial group of customers for free or at a reduced price in exchange for their willingness to try the product and for their feedback. Many entrepreneurs are reluctant to give away products, even in exchange for a potential endorsement.
💁 PRICE
Price is the amount of money consumers pay to buy a product. It produces revenue. The price a company charges for its products also sends a clear message to its target market. Methods to set the price for their products are:
⇨ Cost-Based Pricing
In cost-based pricing, the list price is determined by adding a markup percentage to a product's cost.
The advantage : it is straightforward, and it is relatively easy to justify the price of a good or service.
The disadvantage : it is not always easy to estimate what the costs of a product will be.
Cost-based pricing is based on what a company thinks it should receive rather than on what the market thinks a good or service is worth.
⇨ Value-Based Pricing
In value-based pricing, the list price is determined by estimating what consumers are willing to pay for a product and then backing off a bit to provide a cushion. Most experts recommend value-based pricing because it hinges on the perceived value of a product or service rather than cost plus markup, which, as stated previously, is a formula that ignores the customer. Most consumers make a price-quality attribution which means that consumers naturally assume that the higher priced product is also the better quality product.
💁 PROMOTION
Promotion refers to the activities the firm takes to communicate the merits of its product to its target market. The most common activities entrepreneurs use to promote their products are:
➪ Advertising
Advertising's major goals are to raise customer awareness of a product, explain a product's comparative features and benefits, and also create associations between a product and a certain lifestyle. Step involved in putting together an advertisement:
- Identify the purpose of the ad ⤑ clearly identify one or more purposes that you expect the advertisement to achieve
- Determine the target audience ⤑ identify who you want to see the ad
- Select a medium ⤑ select a medium for the ad, such as television, radio, or newspaper
- Create the ad ⤑ create an ad that is appropriate for your audience, product, and budget
- Select a place and time for the ad to appear ⤑ select the specific place and the specific time of day (or location in a newspaper) for an ad to appear
- Fulfill expectations ⤑ make sure to have enough product on hand if the ad is successful
➪ Public Relations
Public relations refers to efforts to establish and maintain a company's image with the public. The cost of public relations to a firm is the effort it makes to network with journalists, blog authors, and other people to try to interest them in saying or writing good things about the company and its products. A positive review of a new company's products, or a company is profiled in a prominent blog, consumers are likely to believe that those products are at least worth a try.
➪ Social Media
Use of social media consists primarily of blogging and establishing a presence and connecting with customers and others through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. In regard to engagement, many companies use social networks to strengthen their relationships with customers by soliciting feedback, running contests, or posting fun games that pertain to a company's product
➪ Other Promotion-Related Activities
By give away free samples of their products or offer free trials such as a three-month subscription to a magazine or a two-week membership to a fitness club. Viral marketing facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message about a particular product. The idea of designing a promotional campaign that encourages a firm's current customers to recommend its product to future customers is well worth considering.
💁 PLACE (or Distribution)
Place or distribution, encompasses all the activities that move a firm's product from its place of origin to the consumer.
➩ Selling Direct
The advantage: being able to control the process of moving their products from their place of origin to the end user.
The disadvantage: a firm has more of its capital tied up in fixed assets because it must own or rent retail outlets. It must also find its own buyers rather than have distributors that are constantly looking for new outlets for the firm's products.
➩ Selling Through Intermediaries
Firms selling through intermediaries typically pass off their products to wholesalers or distributors that place them in retail outlets to be sold.
The advantage: the firm doesn't need to own as much of the distribution channel.
The disadvantage: a firm loses a certain amount of control of its product.
Exclusive distribution arrangements give a retailer or other intermediary the exclusive rights to sell a company's product.
Sales Process and Related Issues
A firm's sales process depicts the steps it goes through to identify prospects and close sales.- Prospect for (or gather) sales leads
- Make the initial contact
- Qualify the lead
- Make the sales presentation
- Meet objections and concerns
- Close the sale
- Follow up
No comments:
Post a Comment