Research, Analysis, Views - Just another Globalthoughtz | Right to Information weblog

How do you introduce your product in a market makes a lot of difference. In a technical term we call it developing Marketing Strategies. If you have no knowledge of the technical terms that concern the subject then you have come to the right post.

The life cycle of a product is quite interesting. Every product goes through lot of process from concept to design to execution and finally to marketing and Sales maintenance. If you look around then you will find lots of experimentations and creative ideas of marketing products. (For reference check out Advertisements) Further, if you observe established companies’ strategy to market their product, you will be quite intrigued with their ingenuity. Truly speaking the defined path of marketing never works ever time and many variables need to be considered. In a short : its a creative process that requires you to handle every situation differently but knowing the well established methods will help you clear few doubts. So lets get some of these dogmas cleared out.

Theory and Process

Marketing is a key part of business success. It is the decision to determine which customers to target, how to reach and win new customers, how to keep existing customers happy, etc. The marketing plan needs to be reviewed and improved in order to stay ahead of the competition. Marketing plan should be the reference document to use as a basis to execute marketing strategy. It sets out clear objectives and explains how to achieve them. Perhaps, most importantly, it looks at how we can ensure that plan becomes a reality.

Image Source : Mind Mapping Software (Nova Mind)

Marketing in itself will not guarantee sales, but by adopting a well-researched and coherent plan, company has a much better chance of building long-term, profitable relationships.

Once you have decided what your marketing objectives are, and your strategy for meeting them, you need to plan how you will make the strategy a reality.

Many businesses find it helpful to think in terms of the four Ps while making marketing plan:

• Product – what the company’s product offers that your customers value, and whether/how company should change your product to meet customer needs.
• Pricing – for example, company might aim simply to match the competition, or charge a premium price for a quality product and service. Company might have to choose either to make relatively few high margin sales, or sell more but with lower unit profits. It is obvious that some customers may seek a low price to meet their budgets, while others may view a low price as an indication of quality levels.
• Place – how and where to sell. This may include using different distribution channels. For example, company might sell over the Internet or sell through retailers.
• Promotion – how company reach the customers and potential customers. For example, company might use advertising, PR, direct mail and personal selling.

For a more comprehensive approach, marketing plan can extend this to seven Ps:

• People – for example, company need to ensure that your employees have the right training.
• Processes – the right processes will ensure that company offer a consistent service that suits customers.
• Physical evidence – the appearance of employees and premises can affect how customers see the business. Even the quality of paperwork, such as invoices, makes a difference.

In addition to those seven Ps, there are still following important thing for a marketing plan:

• set clear, realistic and measurable targets – for example, increasing sales by 10 percent
• include deadlines for meeting targets
• provide a budget for each marketing activity
• specify who is responsible for each activity

MARKETING PLAN OUTLINE

The following sections provide an insight on the contents of a typical marketing plan.

I.   Executive Summary

A high-level summary of the marketing plan.

II.   The Challenge

Brief description of product to be marketed and associated goals, such as sales figures and strategic goals.

III.   Situation Analysis

Company Analysis

• Goals
• Focus
• Culture
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Market share

Customer Analysis

• Number
• Type
• Value drivers
• Decision process
• Concentration of customer base for particular products

Competitor Analysis

• Market position
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Market share

Collaborators

• Subsidiaries, joint ventures, and distributors, etc.

Climate

Macro-environmental PEST analysis:

• Political and legal environment
• Economic environment
• Social and cultural environment
• Technological environment

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis of the business environment can be performed by organizing the environmental factors as follows:

• The firm’s internal attributes can be classed as strengths and weaknesses.
• The external environment presents opportunities and threats.

IV.   Market Segmentation

Present a description of the market segmentation as follows:

Segment 1

• Description
• Percent of sales
• What they want
• How they use product
• Support requirements
• How to reach them
• Price sensitivity

Segment 2

• Description
• Percent of sales etc.

V.   Alternative Marketing Strategies

List and discuss the alternatives that were considered before arriving at the recommended strategy. Alternatives might include discontinuing a product, re-branding, positioning as a premium or value product, etc.

VI.   Selected Marketing Strategy

Discuss why the strategy was selected, then the marketing mix decisions (4 P’s) of product, price, place (distribution), and promotion.

Product

The product decisions should consider the product’s advantages and how they will be leveraged. Product decisions should include:

• Brand name
• Quality
• Scope of product line
• Warranty
• Packaging

Price

Discuss pricing strategy, expected volume, and decisions for the following pricing variables:

• List price
• Discounts
• Bundling
• Payment terms and financing options
• Leasing options

Distribution (Place)

Decision variables include:

• Distribution channels, such as direct, retail, distributors & intermediates
• Motivating the channel – for example, distributor margins
• Criteria for evaluating distributors
• Locations
• Logistics, including transportation, warehousing, and order fulfillment
• Advertising, including how much and which media.
• Public relations
• Promotional programs
• Budget; determine break-even point for any additional spending
• Projected results of the promotional programs

Promotion

VII.   Short & Long-Term Projections

The selected strategy’s immediate effects, expected long-term results, and any special actions required to achieve them. This section may include forecasts of revenues and expenses as well as the results of a break-even analysis.

VIII.   Conclusion

Summarize all of the above.

Appendix

Exhibits

Calculations of market size, commissions, profit margins, break-even analyses, etc.

Once you get the flow and idea of marketing it is imperative that you continuously experiment with your methods and find your own strategies. Like I said its a creative process and no two painting should look a like. If you don’t have the above 8 points in your marketing plan, do not worry, you must be doing something different and thats worth trying.

Image Source :

http://www.easy-marketing-strategies.com/images/Four-Ps.jpg