What is
marketing?
It is to choose the right media to distribute a product to
the market.
This book focuses
on small
business. A typical small
business has different
marketing needs from a big corporate. This book will
assist a small business owner to maximize his available resources by providing
practical marketing strategies.
During the planning stage, the business owner must be able
to understand the needs and desires of his present and potential customers, and
to select or develop product(s) that would be able to satisfy his customers.
Then, there should be a program to enlighten his customers about the benefits
of the product(s). The next step is to ensure that the product(s) get the
customers.
A business owner must understand that a marketing plan is
meant to be used to measure how he is doing, where he has been and what else
needs to be done differently in the future. The marketing plan is also a
flexible working document where it can be revised and improved upon whenever
necessary.
All marketing strategies must be aligned with marketing
environment changes and continually revised. A small business owner must
constantly monitor the marketing environment as it is continually changing. A
smart business owner will be able to adapt his business to take advantage of
the opportunities arise and avoid threats.
As the opportunities arise, a smart business owner needs to
segment their market. This means to specialize his services. It would be a
waste of time and resources to mass produce. The business owner will produce
product(s) that respond to certain group of customers only. This means that
there will be potential customers in this group.
A smart business owner understands his customers’ buying
traits. Consumers’ attitude, intentions, needs, self-image, moods and values
are some of the major influences on their choice of product(s). Every customer
goes through certain stages before he decides to buy a product.
Before a business owner markets his product(s), there is a
need to research the market itself. The business owner needs to know who his is
market, what products do the market buy, when do they buy, their purchase
decisions, and so on.
Every business owner wants to develop his very own unique product(s).
The product(s) should appeal to and be consistent with the needs, values and
lifestyles of the targeted market. The product(s) should benefit the customers
in a few ways. Customers must be able to identify the benefits that the
business owner claims. In this way, the value of the product(s) will increase.
Any business owner will need to plan additional services for his product(s) to
show his concern for his customers’ needs.
Another going concern for a business owner is pricing.
Pricing is affected by competition from comparable products, production over
capacity, mass retailing, increased consumer price-sensitivity, competition and
aggressive penetration pricing. A smart business owner knows that charging the
wrong price can shrink his profits. He must be smart in pricing strategy.
To communicate to customers the benefits of his product(s),
a business owner needs to advertise. Advertising provides information,
reinforcement or assurance of the product(s). Advertising can encourage
immediate buying action and generate traffic for retail purchase by attracting
new dealers, distributors and customers.
A smart business owner must be able to make his product(s)
available to his targeted market. There are many distribution methods. By
improving or changing the distribution methods, any business owner can make
profits.
These days, with the advance of technology, business owners
are able to do marketing on the internet. Online shopping is fast becoming a
popular trend in many countries due to the convenience and time saving factors.
More and more new products are available under theconce