MARKETING MODEL FOR BUSINESS

1. SELF-ASSESSMENT

2. MARKETING PLAN DEVELOPMENT

3. SEGMENTATION (TARGET MARKET)

4. POSITIONING (BRAND RECOGNITION)

Marketing Mix: PRODUCT + PRICE + PLACEMENT + PROMOTION + PERSUASION

5. TEST & EVALUATE

6. REFINEMENT

To use marketing concepts effectively, the following steps are required:
• Analyze your firm’s competitive advantage. What do you do best?
• Identify specific markets you serve currently.
• Determine needs and wants of present customers.
• Determine how to satisfy needs and wants.
• Prepare a Marketing Plan that allows you to reach out to “new” customers and / or sell more to existing customers.
• Test the results to see if new strategies are yielding desired results.

A good marketing plan must compliment the overall business plan. Neither one will work without the other. Sales and Business Development are different activities. They are, however, components of the Marketing Mix. Understanding this distinction is vital in ensuring activities are performed to achieve successful results that are aligned with company goals outlined in the business plan.

Sound management procedures are also vital in providing leadership to ensure staff employees are working toward meeting company objectives. All managerial functions must employ the following stages continually in any defined leadership role:
• Planning
• Organizing
• Staffing
• Directing
• Controlling

The Marketing Concept

Marketing is a management tool designed to facilitate sales. As a management tool, marketing is part of the overall business process operation involving effective planning, project organizing, staffing concerns, direction, and control systems. Selling cannot be productive without good marketing. Both marketing and sales are dependent upon each other even though they are different disciplines.

Think of marketing as a way of managing business processes so decisions are made with the awareness of what the impact will be on the customer. For example, in sales, a product is created with the intent of offering it to potential buyers resulting in revenue. The sales staff is told to find prospects and turn them into buying customers. Sales practices are influenced by the marketing plan. Under the sales approach, a customer exists for the business. Under the marketing concept, the business exists to serve the customer.

Market Research Primer for Beginners

A well-defined Marketing Strategy is dictated by your Marketing Plan and influenced by your research. This can be complex, but some basics are worth noting. I cannot hope to encompass all aspects of Marketing Research elements in this article. My intent is to give you an idea where to start and get you thinking in the right direction.

A marketing strategy should boil down to identifying customer bases that your service or product can be perceived as an alternative over target competitors. Your approach and product offering should be tailored to meet the demand of market segments. It is key to understand the difference between what customers need and what they want. Customers recognize value in your offering. Value positioning is another topic of discussion and will not be discussed in this article.

You need to know what your Target Market is about and segment it. There are two basic methods used to segment a market: Geographic Segmentation and Customer Segmentation. Are you trying to serve the needs of customers in a geographical area? Alternatively, are you trying to identify people most likely to buy your product?

The Market Research Process Involves:

1. Define Marketing Problems and Opportunities.
2. Set Objectives, Budget and Timetables.
3. Select Research Types, Methods and Techniques.
4. Design Research Instruments, e.g. a questionnaire.
5. Collect Data - Organize and Analyze it.
6. Present and Implement from Research Findings.

Do some Competition Analysis:

1. Identify a few of your nearest "direct" and "indirect" competitors.
2. What is the status of their business? Growth - Static - Decline.
3. Learn from their advertising and operational deployment.
4. SWOT analyze competitors.
5. What are the major differences between you and them?

Market research and planning can get very involved. Many resources and books cover each element of this research. My intent is only to create an awareness of what is involved before you go to market with a product. I hope that you can use my overview to help you understand where to start.

Best Regards and Good Luck

© 2009 gmh