Lesson 10: Marketing Strategy

How to Create a Business Plan Section 4: Marketing and Product Development
9 minutes
Share the link to this page
Copied
  Completed
You need to have access to the item to view this lesson.
One-time Fee
$69.99
List Price:  $99.99
You save:  $30
€64.90
List Price:  €92.72
You save:  €27.82
£55.48
List Price:  £79.26
You save:  £23.78
CA$94.84
List Price:  CA$135.49
You save:  CA$40.65
A$107.44
List Price:  A$153.49
You save:  A$46.05
S$94.44
List Price:  S$134.92
You save:  S$40.48
HK$547.73
List Price:  HK$782.50
You save:  HK$234.77
CHF 63.11
List Price:  CHF 90.16
You save:  CHF 27.05
NOK kr759.51
List Price:  NOK kr1,085.06
You save:  NOK kr325.55
DKK kr484.31
List Price:  DKK kr691.90
You save:  DKK kr207.59
NZ$117.18
List Price:  NZ$167.41
You save:  NZ$50.23
د.إ257.02
List Price:  د.إ367.19
You save:  د.إ110.16
৳7,686.18
List Price:  ৳10,980.73
You save:  ৳3,294.54
₹5,834.28
List Price:  ₹8,335.04
You save:  ₹2,500.76
RM330.66
List Price:  RM472.40
You save:  RM141.73
₦97,668.24
List Price:  ₦139,532.04
You save:  ₦41,863.80
₨19,468.63
List Price:  ₨27,813.53
You save:  ₨8,344.89
฿2,546.70
List Price:  ฿3,638.31
You save:  ฿1,091.60
₺2,265.91
List Price:  ₺3,237.16
You save:  ₺971.24
B$351.06
List Price:  B$501.53
You save:  B$150.47
R1,322.01
List Price:  R1,888.66
You save:  R566.65
Лв126.52
List Price:  Лв180.76
You save:  Лв54.23
₩94,315.14
List Price:  ₩134,741.70
You save:  ₩40,426.55
₪257.38
List Price:  ₪367.71
You save:  ₪110.32
₱3,931.96
List Price:  ₱5,617.33
You save:  ₱1,685.37
¥10,592.26
List Price:  ¥15,132.45
You save:  ¥4,540.19
MX$1,160.67
List Price:  MX$1,658.17
You save:  MX$497.50
QR255.40
List Price:  QR364.88
You save:  QR109.47
P964.60
List Price:  P1,378.06
You save:  P413.46
KSh9,279.27
List Price:  KSh13,256.67
You save:  KSh3,977.40
E£3,320.75
List Price:  E£4,744.14
You save:  E£1,423.38
ብር3,980.93
List Price:  ብር5,687.29
You save:  ብር1,706.36
Kz58,401.19
List Price:  Kz83,433.85
You save:  Kz25,032.66
CLP$68,800.17
List Price:  CLP$98,290.17
You save:  CLP$29,490
CN¥505.43
List Price:  CN¥722.08
You save:  CN¥216.64
RD$4,147
List Price:  RD$5,924.54
You save:  RD$1,777.54
DA9,435.57
List Price:  DA13,479.97
You save:  DA4,044.39
FJ$157.96
List Price:  FJ$225.66
You save:  FJ$67.70
Q546.07
List Price:  Q780.13
You save:  Q234.06
GY$14,663.88
List Price:  GY$20,949.30
You save:  GY$6,285.42
ISK kr9,758.70
List Price:  ISK kr13,941.60
You save:  ISK kr4,182.90
DH709.58
List Price:  DH1,013.74
You save:  DH304.15
L1,235.01
List Price:  L1,764.37
You save:  L529.36
ден3,991.30
List Price:  ден5,702.11
You save:  ден1,710.80
MOP$564.38
List Price:  MOP$806.29
You save:  MOP$241.91
N$1,336.41
List Price:  N$1,909.24
You save:  N$572.83
C$2,577.43
List Price:  C$3,682.20
You save:  C$1,104.77
रु9,342.84
List Price:  रु13,347.49
You save:  रु4,004.64
S/260.45
List Price:  S/372.08
You save:  S/111.63
K268
List Price:  K382.87
You save:  K114.87
SAR262.59
List Price:  SAR375.15
You save:  SAR112.55
ZK1,736.79
List Price:  ZK2,481.24
You save:  ZK744.44
L322.64
List Price:  L460.94
You save:  L138.29
Kč1,642.49
List Price:  Kč2,346.52
You save:  Kč704.02
Ft25,571.54
List Price:  Ft36,532.34
You save:  Ft10,960.80
SEK kr748.30
List Price:  SEK kr1,069.05
You save:  SEK kr320.74
ARS$60,059.22
List Price:  ARS$85,802.56
You save:  ARS$25,743.34
Bs483.92
List Price:  Bs691.35
You save:  Bs207.42
COP$270,819.36
List Price:  COP$386,901.39
You save:  COP$116,082.02
₡35,222.95
List Price:  ₡50,320.66
You save:  ₡15,097.70
L1,728.74
List Price:  L2,469.73
You save:  L740.99
₲517,758.37
List Price:  ₲739,686.52
You save:  ₲221,928.15
$U2,629.19
List Price:  $U3,756.16
You save:  $U1,126.96
zł279.29
List Price:  zł399
You save:  zł119.71
Already have an account? Log In

Transcript

In the previous module, we focused very much on the inner workings of the business. This was in the form of the financial model. Well, the economics of the business as we termed it. In module six, we're going to be focusing on the marketing strategy, which is very much an outward focus, but off the business or the business plan. Using the well crafted combination of a number of points, we will ensure that you can carefully consider your marketing strategy and how you can put this together in a way that can be easily implemented. This is going to be made up of what we call the seven P's.

And these are product, price promotion, place packaging, positioning, and people. Don't worry if we just rush through them. Now we're going to cover each of these in a little more detail as we go through the contents of module six. As has been highlighted a number of times in the training course business plan needs to contain will be built on a number of assumptions. And one of the key assumptions is the revenue that you predict your business will generate by selling products. And offer services to your customers.

It's important to articulate how potential customers will become aware of your business, and your products and your services and benefits that these products and services will bring to your customers. This is typically described as marketing and this section will help you describe your marketing plan in more detail. earlier on in the course, we described the high level generic business strategies, one of which or a combination of which your business will follow. Your marketing strategy will be largely influenced by this overall business strategy. For example, if you decided to follow a new strategy in which you targeted, for instance, a very particular group of customers or a very specific subject matter, you probably wouldn't decide on a marketing strategy that relied heavily or at all on TV advertising, but rather one that marketed your products and services to a niche group of potential customers. Something like a hobby or a craft magazine.

Marketing Strategy is made up of a number of components and these are sometimes for Is the piece of marketing. Sometimes there are five and sometimes there are seven. And sometimes there are different number, depending on which school of thought one follows. For the purposes of this training, we're going to focus on seven because I think this provides a very clear picture of what your marketing strategy and your marketing plan should be. Let's get kicked off with product. This to a large degree has already been described in an earlier section of the training.

However, it's important to reiterate product features aside, what are the actual benefits that your product or service will provide to your customers? And why would your customers choose your product or service over that of your competitor? Is your product or service relevant? And is it appropriate to the market that you're trying to sell it to? Secondly, price, how will your product or service be priced again, this will be largely dependent on your overall strategy. If you're intending to be a low cost provider, your products and services should be priced accordingly.

This is where your mind Research becomes important in understanding how your competitors have prostate products and their services. If for example, your prices are substantially different from your competitors prices? How would you justify this? If your prices are higher? Does the customer receive better off sale service? Or if the prices are lower?

Is the customer sacrificing anything such as product or service quality? Will you be offering volume discounts? Or will you be pricing your products and services differently for different types of customers? For example, a low cost version that you can sell to home users of your product, or a premium cost version or a higher cost version that you can sell to business users. Also, what will the payback period be for your customers? For example, if you're marketing and selling a bread making machine for instance, after how many loaves of bread will the machine have paid for itself?

Now looking at your pricing options, are your margins large enough to cover distribution and sales costs? Can you cover warranty claims and returns Can you cover training and servicing costs? And are you still left with an attractive profit at the end of the day? promotion promotion is probably the first aspect of marketing that most businesses consider. Sometimes it's the only one they consider, which leaves a huge number of gaps in their marketing strategy. In this section, you'll need to describe how you will promote your product or service.

And much of it boils down to who your target market is, is your product specialist insurance aimed at medical practitioners, for instance? In this case, you want to think about professional journals, conferences and industry events aimed at medical professionals. Will you use things like traditional media such as print radio and television or direct mailing? Or will you focus on more of a social media strategy such as Facebook and Twitter? Well, would you use a combination of these? Each has its advantages and drawbacks, but for many new and small businesses, costs will be the deciding factor.

The power of advocacy Customer referral referrals should not be underestimated either. And this might mean giving away free trials and subscriptions to people like journalists, business leaders, a well respected figures who are representative of your target audience. Because cost is likely to be a factor. It's important to consider free promotions such as, such as reviews and public relations write ups in newspapers, magazines, and websites. There are many public relations agencies that will do this for you at a cost. But it's something you can probably do yourself.

Point for place? Where will you sell your products and services? If you brew small batches of craft beer, you'll probably only sell at local farmers markets or perhaps local pubs. National supermarkets will largely be out of the question or will ignore you because of your lack of volume and distribution network. So how would you get this product into Sainsbury's across the county or across the country? How would you get it into Walmart's across the county or the country If you're selling digital products such as ebooks, there is no limit to where you can sell.

So how do you see this changing over time? Do you envisage for instance beginning locally and then growing. Having obviously identified your target market earlier, you want to be sure that you're in a position to supply your products and services to your target market. For example, it wouldn't be any good selling water purification kits targets at developing countries in Africa. If your business was based in Inverness and Scotland, and you didn't have the means to get your products to your customers. Will you employ your own direct team?

Will you all you distribute your product to resellers or any How will you select the retailers and distributors that will carry your product? packaging? Consider Apple products and the packaging there Robin? It's an absolute joy to unbox these products and the customer experience begins a long time before you even use the product. Compare this to a gadget that arrives in a brown unmarked box. Which do you find most appealing I think that's an easy answer.

This is not to say that plain packaging is bad. If you were producing and own name, supermarket brand or product, you'd want to ensure that the packaging was playing in order to reinforce the no frills, less expensive than established brands look and feel. If you're selling hot air balloon trips, and you issue a voucher to customers, how much you do this after having paid 100 pounds? Would you just give them a piece of paper? Would you rather provide them with an embossed credit card size plastic gift card? describe exactly how you're packaging and how your products and services will look when you deliver these to your customers.

Next, let's think about positioning. Positioning refers to how your customers perceive their business or sorry, your business and its products. Are you seen as a well respected organization that supplies high quality goods, or you're regarded as a run of the mill supplier of commodity goods that that nothing with that introduce between you and your competition? How Do you position your business in the hearts and minds of your existing and prospective customers? This is crucial and continual improvement of this positioning is, is really, really important. Consider, for example, the fierce loyalty of Apple customers who are going to both come back for repeat purchases and be strong advocates of your products.

They are going to spread the message and they're going to be your best salespeople. talking with people, always remember who you are marketing and selling to. Even if you're in the business of business to business. It's still the person who makes the purchasing decision. And it's important that your marketing message and brand resonates with people. Remember, it's also the people or agencies that you work for, or work for you to execute your marketing plan.

And as with any area of your business, it's important that you have the right people doing the job. People buy from people using the well crafted combination of the above points will ensure that you have a carefully considered marketing strategy that can be effectively implemented. Let's take a look at what we've covered in this chapter or this module. As we've said, you'll be able to effectively design and implement a marketing strategy. If you carefully consider the seven P's. These are product, price, promotion, place, packaging, positioning, and people.

See you in the next module.

Sign Up

Share

Share with friends, get 20% off
Invite your friends to LearnDesk learning marketplace. For each purchase they make, you get 20% off (upto $10) on your next purchase.