Marketing and Small Business

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Marketing and Small Business

• Implementing a Marketing Strategy

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Marketing The objective

• Marketing is means to pursue an opportunity
• It is the process of delivering goods/services to
  customers at the right place, time and price
• Identification of the target market is crucial to
  the success of the business
• What makes a firm successful is not just having
  a good product or service - it is good marketing
  supported by reliable goods or services

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Setting your Marketing Strategy
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Market Research Analysis Goals

• Evaluate the various target markets and choose
  the appropriate group
• identification of your particular market segment
  (people who will buy what your firm is offering)
• Analyze data about the buying habits of this
  group
• Develop an understanding of purchase habits and
  the selling experience this TM is used to
• i.e. direct sales, retail, catalogue etc.
• Use your competitive analysis to set your
  positioning strategy
• Low cost, differentiation, focus
• Understand the strengths and weakness of your
  competition
• Use this data to determine product/service
  features, price, promotion, distribution etc.
• Environment
• Understand the legal, government and economic
  factors
• Such as taxes, economic trends, regulations etc.
• This information will be the foundation of
  marketing plan

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Types of Market Research

• Secondary Research as seen during the seminar
• outside information census data, government,
  chamber of commerce, statistics Canada, trade
  associations, databases, newspaper articles,
  trade publications
• Macro information -- deals with populations as a
  whole trends, family income, consumer spending
  habits etc.
• Primary Research
• Two commonly used methods are interviews and
  questionnaires
• A small sample survey can be used for the class
  project
• Talking to competition and acting as a customer
  are two key research methods
• This method is often costly and inconclusive
• More applicable to the industrial market than
  consumer market

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Target Market

• Those individuals who will buy your goods or
  services
• Analyze by age, sex, geographic location,
  occupation, income, martial status, familial
  status, health, lifestyle factors etc.
  determine the demographics of your group
• Develop sales projections based on
• the size of the market
• the spending in this industry
• The number of competitors
• The geographic area you plan to target
• the capture rate you expect
• This group can be a small niche or a large group
• Develop a clear understanding of the motivations
  and desires of your customer group the better
  your analyze your target market the more reliable
  your sales projections will be

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Product/service Strategy

• The essence of this strategy is to offer a
  product or service to a segment of a market that
  is not well served things to consider
• Determine the appropriate product/service
  features based on customer preferences and
  competitors offerings
• Offer a product or service that will have some
  differentiation in order to attract customers
  away from competitors or create a new niche
• Offering a product that ensures a profit --
  volume, margins
• Determine where you will get your raw materials
  and supplies
• Over time adapt your strategy by
• Anticipating the markets changes in preference -
  technology, buying habits etc.
• Monitoring the products life-cycle
• Continuing product innovation and new product
  development

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Pricing Strategy

• Pricing is centered on product/service costs,
  what the market is able to bear (customers), and
  competitors and IMAGE
• Long-term pricing must be established on a
  full-cost basis, taking into consideration both
  fixed and variable costs
• Avoid the situation in which price is the only
  strategy to stay in business
• A low-price strategy is not the best choice in
  the introductory stage -- difficult to raise
  prices later on
• Pricing
• Cost-plus a mark-up to a full or variable cost
• Market skimming charging a high price for new
  products or technology (early adopters)
• Market penetration Low price for new product or
  technology (attract large market share)
• Complementary product low price item with high
  price add-ons
• Flexible pricing different pricing to fit
  different customers (volume discounts)
• Prestige pricing setting high prices to attract
  a certain segment of the market
• When quality is offered the entrepreneur should
  get the price he or she deserves

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Promotion Strategy

• Goal to provide information to the client about
  your company, product/service and to motivate and
  influence them to buy
• A steady long-term campaign will have more effect
  than an intense short-term campaign -- goodwill
  requires time
• Sales budgets can be set as of sales, a
  one-time lump sum, a variable cost for a
  particular product
• Forms of low-cost advertising freelance
  designers and writers, business cards,
  newspapers, hand-bills, specialty advertising,
  cold calling
• Promotion campaign Cover all media, costs, reach
  of media, scheduling -- include all sources of
  information

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Distribution Strategy

• Distribution channels differ greatly between
  industries
• Type of market number and behavior of buyers,
  size of orders, geographic location
• Product characteristics size, service
  requirements, technological complexity
• The companys internal organization HR and
  Financial resources
• Competitors distribution channels -- condition
  customers to certain type of service
• Working with intermediaries
• The more tasks it can perform -- the greater the
  value (service, promotion, proximity to
  customers)
• Determine roles and responsibilities of all
  agents
• Determine method of product/service delivery
• Cover geographic locations, shipping,
  customs/duty
• Determine levels (wholesale, distributors,
  retail), mark up to be applied at each level of
  distribution etc.
• Ensure a profit can be made at each level of the
  distribution chain