how to promote your business? business marketing must know tips

Every. Organization, has customers. Regardless. Of whether you're a commercial, for-profit. Firm or, a non-profit all, companies. Must be seen as relevant, to those customers if they, want to survive. Marketing. Then is getting, customers, to believe that your products, and services are, important, and that, they deliver a better value than the competition's. Smart. Companies see marketing, as an investment, that's. Because the marketing, function may, be the, most critical in any organization. Marketing. Is how, companies wage competitive, battle in the marketplace, if. A company doesn't fight the good fight it, won't be around long, companies. That Excel up marketing not, only survive. But, they grow in value. But. Marketing, is hard work it's, a world of ambiguity. And constant. Challenge, think. About the things that change for a company, for. Example consumer. Trends, new. Generations. Of consumers, Millennials. For example, have, different needs than previous, generations a good. Marketer, has to adapt to that competition. Changes. New. Competitors, enter the market and the, old competitors, try, new things to take your customers, away, marketers. Are also affected, by changes, in technology. Innovations. In new products, as well as new ways to connect with customers, especially. Social media have, a dramatic, impact on, the marketing function, but. Companies, are also, affected. By external. Factors like, the political climate, economic. Conditions, as well, as the regulatory, environment a, sudden. Downturn in the economy stiffer. Regulations, in your industry or a surprise election, result might. Impact, consumer, behavior, you. Can't predict these changes, but, you can adapt, to them if you have two things a well-thought-out. Marketing, strategy, and a, written marketing, plan a marketing. Strategy, defines, which, customers, you're going after and how. You'll change their beliefs about your products and services your. Marketing plan outlines. The specific steps you'll take to implement your strategy, having. Both helps you prepare for the unexpected so. You can adapt and refine. Your marketing programs, as needed, within. An organization, think, of the marketing, function as the, hub of a wheel, connected. To that hub or all, the other activities, within the company, operations. Sales. Finance. And so on the. Marketing, function coordinates. All these other activities to. Create value, for customers. It, takes talented. Well-trained. People led. By experienced. Marketing, leaders, look. At the most successful companies. Today and you'll, find that they invest, in training to, keep their marketing skills strong and that's. What, this course is all, about. The, marketing, planning process, has four phases in the. Analysis, phase you'll. Learn about your customers, in terms of how and why they buy your product you'll, analyze the, competition and how they compare it to your company, in terms, of strengths and weaknesses. You'll, also analyze, the overall market. To understand, its potential, and where, the most attractive segments. Of the market are to, earn revenue in, the.

Strategy, Phase you'll. Use, what you've learned to, make decisions, around segmenting. The market, targeting. Specific, parts of those segments, and ultimately. How, you will position your products, and services to. Win over customers in the. Tactical, phase you'll. Create marketing, programs, to execute, your strategy you'll. Make decisions, around your products, and services and, how they, have to perform in delivering. Benefits to your customers, you'll. Set prices, you'll. Create sales support material, and, you'll develop a marketing, communications, campaign, and. Finally. Is the measurement, phase as the. Name implies this. Is the part of the process where you find out if you're achieving what you've expected to achieve but, it's not just measuring sales, it's. Finding, out if you're getting business, from the customers, you expected. To get business from and it's. Also finding, out if they bought your products, and services for, the reasons you expected, the. Measurement, phase helps. You know if you're getting a good return, on your marketing, investments. A good. Marketer, is disciplined. And doesn't. Cut corners, in the planning process it. Takes time and lots, of hard work but. In the end it's, worth it. A. Formal. Written, marketing, plan is a great, way to document the planning process, it, serves many purposes, first. It captures, all the things you and your team have learned about the market the, competition. And your, customers, this. Information. Is critical because it becomes the supporting, evidence for, the strategies, that you and your team decide, to pursue. Second. The plan serves, as a tool to help you align the organization. Marketing. Involves many people, so, you'll need to get everyone on board and going, in the same direction the. Written plan becomes. A source document to, create presentations. To, conduct training and to, give directions to external. Partners, believe. Me you'll use it a lot. Finally. The written plan lays. Out a coherent. And coordinated. Set of marketing, programs, with, schedules, and budgets so. You can run a smooth operation. Now. There are many formats, you can use for the written plan but, most plans will include the following components an. Executive. Summary that, gives a brief high-level. Review of the plan, the. Situation. Analysis, that, documents, all the data about, your company's, strengths and weaknesses, the, market opportunity, the. Competition. And of, course the customer. The.

Strategies, Section that outlines, how you segment, the market who. You plan to target and how, you will position your products and services in, the market. The. Tactical, programs, including. What products, you will offer what. Prices you will charge how. You will promote your products and how, you'll distribute, them a. Financial. Section that, documents, your revenue, projections, and budget. Requirements, an. Implementation. Plan that outlines the timing, of your programs and who's, responsible. Now. To write, the plan don't. Wait until the very end of the planning process I like. To start writing it from the very beginning. Here's. A tip that makes that easy. Create. A blank, PowerPoint, presentation. With just the headings, of each component on a separate. Page, keep. It with you during team meetings as you. Collect information or, make key decisions, write. Or type that into the appropriate slide, that. Helps you keep the document up to date as you, move through the process when. You have enough written material go, ahead and create a first draft but, be sure to date the draft as you'll, be making regular, updates and revisions a written. Marketing, plan is a dynamic. Document and, you should expect to make changes to it as conditions. In the market change if you. Create a great plan and update, it regularly it'll. Help you stay ahead of the competition. It. May sound obvious but. The first step to developing, a marketing plan is to know what business, you're in how. You decide, that can have a big impact on, the size of the market you compete in in the intensity. Of competition. You face you. Can define your core business very, broadly, or very. Narrowly or, you. Could define your entire core, business around. A primary. Benefit, notice. That with each change in the core business definition, the, size of the business opportunity, gets bigger, that might, sound like the way to go the, bigger the better right. Not, necessarily, with. Each increasing, level, of opportunity, comes, more challenge, you, have more competition, to consider but. Perhaps even more important, is that you have to be good at so many other things, you. Have to decide whether it's better to focus on the things that you do really, well and deliver, that consistently. To your customers, or you. May want to expand, as broadly. As you can and try to grow the business, my. Advice is to define your core business just, up to the point where, you can still leverage your core skills or what, are called core, competencies, if you. Try to do things that you're not skilled at doing you'll, run into trouble. Marketing. Would be relatively, easy if, it were not for the fact that, you always face some type of competition, a, competitor. Is anything, that once the same thing that you do it, can be an individual. A company. Or even. A completely. Unrelated, activity, that, distracts, your potential, customers, away from you you. Need to understand, your competition, for a lot of reasons first. You, need to know which ones to focus on and, which. Ones to avoid you. Want to stay away from a competitor, if they are much stronger, than you if you. Take customers, away from a stronger competitor you may, trigger a reaction from them that you aren't prepared to handle the. Intensity. Of competition. Will affect the overall potential. For success of your business this. Is why it's important, to consider all types, of competition, when planning, your business to, ensure that you, have the edge over, others, in your industry you.

Need To compare your strengths, and weaknesses, to theirs, to see how you match up this. Will help you select the right strategy. To win. Competitors. Come in three different types direct. Indirect. In what. Are called substitutes. A direct. Competitor is anyone. Who is selling the same things you are and delivering. The same benefit, an, indirect. Competitor, sells similar, products, with, different benefits. A, substitute. Is any, unrelated. Product or service that a consumer, can use in place of your products, or services, to. Create a matrix list. Your company and your competitors, across the top down. The side list, the things that you want to compare things. Like size, market. Share strengths. And weaknesses, and especially. The, key strategy. Elements like, the value propositions. What. Does each company, have in terms of key resources, and how. Do they use those resources to acquire, and retain customers, a. Competitive. Matrix will, vary a lot depending on, the industry if. You're in a high-tech industry, you'll want to compare R&D. Activities. Like spending. Number. Of Engineers or number. Of new products, launched in service. Industries, be sure to compare things like how, each company, delivers, the service how, they train their employees or how. They're rated for their service, every. Industry has certain key factors, that every competitor, has to pay attention to so. It's likely those factors, will be the ones you want to compare a, word. Of caution when. You collect competitive, information use. Only information, that is publicly, available, never. Try, to get inside, information about. Your competitor, that they would consider confidential. When. You complete, the matrix, take, a close look at it and find some insights, that you'll need later when deciding on your strategy what. Conclusions. Can you draw from the matrix by. Considering. All the possible, ways your customer's needs can be satisfied and, creating, a strategy, for handling the competition, you'll, create powerful, advantages. In the marketplace. Marketing. Is about acquiring. And retaining, customers. So. You absolutely have. To have a thorough, understanding of. Who, they are where. They are what. They believe about, your products, and services and how. They go about purchasing, them good. Customer, analysis, starts with deciding, on exactly, what is a customer, how. You define, a customer, will have a big impact on how you go about reaching them you. Can define them very broadly or you can make the definition very narrow and specific a. Customer. Is anyone, who's going to replace their, wallet within, a year you could. Even be more specific and define. A customer, around their attitudes, and brand loyalty, once. You define a customer, you need to understand, what's going on in their minds, in terms of what's important, to them and what, perceptions. They have about your products, and services versus. The competition. Customers. Buy things for, a variety, of reasons, but, some are more important, than others if you know what's most important, to them you can appeal to that need when trying to get them to buy or you. Can try to raise the sense of importance, they place on another, factor. You. Also need to measure how they rate your product, versus, others in how, it delivers each, benefit, they.

May Have misperceptions. That you need to change you. May be able to emphasize, a key, feature of your product, that is better than the competition this. Analysis, will be critical, later when, you begin segmenting. Customers in, many. Ways great, marketers, understand, their customers, better than they understand, themselves a, solid. Customer, analysis, prepares. You to develop, solid, marketing. Strategy. Customers. Follow, a distinct. Set of steps when, buying anything, that. Process, may take a, matter of seconds, such, as an impulse, purchase in, a store or, it, may take a matter of months, such as the purchase of a new home or a car, typically. Though these, steps are as follows, first. Is the need, recognition, phase, this. Is where customers realize. That they want something that. Can be triggered internally. For. Example if a customer is thirsty, that, will trigger a need for some type of beverage but. It can also be triggered externally. Through advertising. Or other stimuli, if a customer sees a TV, commercial for a cold soft drink or perhaps, sees, a group of people drinking it those. Could stimulate the customer, to want that same drink the. Need recognition step is very important. Because without it there. Won't be a sale. The. Next step is information. Search once. Customers feel, a need to have something they, start gathering information, about solutions, for that need they. Get information from a wide variety of sources including. Commercial, advertising, internet. Search while. Shopping in a store and most. Importantly, from, other customers, this. Is a critical, step because, this is where a customer is most receptive, to your marketing, message, once. A customer gathers, information they. Go to the next step which, is to evaluate. The alternatives, customers. Make choices based, on two things what. Features are most, important, and which. Brand, does the best job in delivering, those benefits.

Customers. Will make head-to-head, comparisons, between, your, product, and the competition, so. It's critical, that you give them a complete, picture of how your product will best satisfy, their needs. Eventually. The customer, will narrow their choices down to one brand and they'll, go to the next step the purchase. Phase, buying. A product may take a matter of seconds, such as buying a soft drink in a vending machine or, it, could take months, that might involve, negotiations. Financing. Training. Maybe, installation. Complex. Expensive. Products usually take a lot longer to buy then, your everyday consumer, good that you'd find in a grocery store, now. You might think that the buying process ends, here with the final purchase but. There's one last, step it's called the post purchase behavior phase, once. Customers start, using the product or service they, compare, the results, with their, expectations. Did, the product work is expected how. Did the product make them feel when they used it this. Phase is also critical, because customers. Will share their experiences, good, or bad with, other customers, and. With. The way information spreads. Through social media that. Can be really helpful or hurtful. To, your marketing campaign, something. Else happens at this phase that a marketer, needs to be aware of it's, called buyer's, remorse. Customers. Might start having second thoughts on, whether it was a good idea to buy the product, they. Start to wonder gee. Did I pay too much did, I really, need this product was. There a better alternative out, there that, it should have but instead. Marketers. Need, to weigh in at this phase and remind, the customer that they made a great choice you. Can do that with advertising. Either. Way you, don't want to just assume your, customer, is satisfied. Reach. Out and find. Out, great. Marketers, know they have a role to play in each, step, of the customer buying process, they. Know where these steps take place when. They take place and who's. Involved with these, insights, you're, ready to develop an outstanding. Marketing, strategy. Analyzing. A market means estimating. How many potential, customers you might be able to sell your products and services to when. Analyzing. Any market, you want to group customers, into four types. First. Are the customers, that already buy from you in fact, not, only do they buy from you they buy exclusively. From you and never, from a competitor, the. Second, group is similar, to the first group and that they currently buy your products and services the. Difference, is these, customers, also buy products from your competitors, why. That's. Because for some categories, of products customers. Want choices the. Clothing, market is a good example you. Almost certainly buy your clothes from many different manufacturers, of clothes the. Market for food is another example the, third group of customers are, those that buy solely, from your competitors, and never, from you at. Least not yet and, finally. The, fourth group of customers are those that don't buy your, type of product from anyone, we, call them non category. Users, these. Potential. Customers, are important, because, acquiring. Them gives you a new source of revenue instead. Of taking market share from a competitor, getting. These customers, helps, you increase the overall size of the market, now.

When, We estimate. The potential number of customers, that we might be able to capture for each of these four types we, do this so we can decide where, we want to concentrate our marketing, strategy, in marketing. It's. The old adage fish. Where, the fish are, it's. A two-step process first. We estimate, the total number of customers, then. We make assumptions, of what percentage we, might convert, to our brand, once. You're done with the market, analysis, you've, completed, the analysis. Phase of the marketing planning process, it's, time now to start crafting strategy. You. If you've. Been following along with the earlier videos, in this course at this. Point of, the marketing planning process, we've completed, the analysis, phase we. Know a lot about our customers, we've, estimated our market, and we're the most potential, is we. Understand, our competition, and we, know how our products, and services perform, versus theirs it's. Time to start the strategic, phase of our planning, to. Create a marketing strategy, you have to perform three, steps, first. Is segmentation. Where you break your customers, into homogeneous. Groups, next. Is targeting. Where, you decide which, of these segments, to go after and, finally. Is positioning. Where, you determine how you want your customers, to think about your products versus. The competition, so, they're more likely to buy yours, let's. Focus first on segmentation. Breaking. Customers, into groups helps, you be efficient, with your marketing resources, it, helps you focus only on the, most relevant customers. And avoid, wasting, time and money on the, less relevant, there. Are four ways to segment a market, the, first is demographic. This. Is where you group your customers, by, their characteristics. Such, as income. Level age, gender. Or their. Height and weight it's. Useful, for certain products or services, that, deliver a benefit. Specifically. Tied to that characteristic. For. Example if you're marketing a, shampoo, for redheads then. You would want to group customers, by hair color. Geographic. Segmentation, groups, customers, by where, they are physically. Knowing. Where your customers, are helps. You know where, to place stores, for example and where. To communicate, or sell to them. Behavioral. Segmentation is, grouping. Customers, by, the things they do it. Can be customer, related behaviors, such as how. Much they purchase, how, frequently, they purchase or their. Price, sensitivity. It, can also be behaviors, such as hobbies, or habits. Finally. There is psychographic. Segmentation. This is grouping, people by, how, they think their. Attitudes, and aspirations. Especially. About, the benefits, and ultimately. The values, that, we explored, in feature. Benefit. Laddering an, example. Of psychographic. Benefit would be need. For prestige, or need. For convenience. Segmenting. This way tends, to be very, powerful. Segmentation. Tells, us how we, are going to appeal to customers in, targeting. We make decisions, on whom to go after it's. A process of narrowing. Down your audience, to a selected, group, now. That may, seem like a bad idea after. All the whole idea of marketing is to get as many. Customers as you can right. That's. True, but keep, in mind that, your marketing, message will not appeal to everyone, you're, better off narrowing. Down the, audience to the most receptive, ones then, blasting. Your marketing message to everyone hoping. That a few stick, you'll. Waste a lot of money that way so. Think of targeting, as looking. For the largest group of customers that are most willing to consider buying your product or service based, on your marketing appeal. When. I do targeting. I start. With the aDNA, to Donal benefit, that we selected, during segmentation. Then. I test, to see if there are any demographic. Characteristics of, people that, might be more inclined, than others, to want that benefit, if, there. Are then. I want to identify them and market, to them I do, the same thing with geographic, data are.

Certain Cities or countries more, likely to want that benefit. Next. I consider, the behavioral, data remember. The four customer, types we described, in the analysis, phase I look. For two things which. Of the four groups is large. In size and might. Be most, receptive, to my marketing message. Think. About how we define, our core business, how, we defined, our scope, in customer. Definition. And then. How we narrow, down our, audience, using, various segmentation. Approaches. Turning. These dowels to, tweak our model gives, a strategy, that defines, how we are going to compete and who. We, are going to compete for we. Have one final step we, have to define what we are going to say to the market to convince, them that step. Is called, positioning. Perhaps. The most. Idea, in all of marketing, is that of positioning, a company's. Value proposition. Is the single-minded. Claim that it makes to change the customers, mind and cause, them to do something that, something. Could be to buy a product to, try a product or to. Pay a certain price maybe. To visit a website or, to think about your brand in its benefits, in a, certain way how. You position, your product in the market will ultimately, determine its success. It. May seem a little abstract, but. Positioning. Happens, up here in the mind of the consumer, think. Of the consumers, mind as a three-dimensional. Space and in, that space they. Form opinions, about products, and services in a particular category, they. Have perceptions, about which products, perform better or worse on certain, aspects, they. Consider, certain features, more or less important, than others when deciding what to buy and the. Good news is as a marketer. You can, change these beliefs you, can move them in a new direction that increases. The likelihood of, buying, your product, you. Do that by making a claim, and by, supporting. That claim with credible, reasons. To believe or RT. B's as we call them let's. Look at how, first. We, define the current. Do, that. Is what, are the targeted, customers, doing, today with. Respect to your product, and the category, you're in given. That current, do what. Must their current, belief, about the products, be out, there today. Next. Given, our strategy, what. Is it that you desire customers. To do what. Desired, beliefs, do you want them to have that will cause them to do, the desire do, when. I say beliefs, I mean, the beliefs in opinions, they have about your, primary, benefit, that you selected, at the segmentation, step, do. They think it's important, how. Do they perceive your, product, versus, the competition in delivering. That, benefit. Now. The hard part given. The current, belief, and where. You need to take them to believe the, desire belief what. Claim must, you make what's. Supporting, evidence do you have can. You bridge that gap or have. You overreached, a bit. Completing. The STP process. Segmentation. Targeting, and positioning. Gives. You a clearer idea of how you're going to compete who. You're going to target and what. You're going to say to the market to position, your offering, now. You, have to bring that positioning. To life and you, do that by, creating and. Executing tactical. Marketing programs, in. Marketing. We use four, types of tactical, programs. Product. And service, pricing. Promotional. Communications. And. Distribution. The. Last one distribution. Is sometimes, referred to as place. Because. That's where we're deciding, the places, we need to put our product to get it to customers, now. Taken, all together gives. Us product. Price. Promotion, and, place, and, you, may recognize, these as the famous four, PS of marketing, let's. Review, each one, by. Product, and service, programs these refer, to all, of the aspects, of how products, and services perform, their job in delivering, benefits it. Includes, things like the design of the product how, it feels to use it the, packaging, of the product and the. People and processes, involved. In dealing with customers, it's. Not just how the product, functions, but. It includes the entire experience. Of buying and using it that. Experience, should be consistent, with, your positioning. And the brand promise. Pricing. Involves, two things, setting. The actual, price that customers, will pay and. Communicating. Those prices in an effective, way the. Price of your product or service implies, their value, that the consumer, should expect, from. Buying and using it. Promotion. Includes, all the things you say outside, of the company to the market this. Is where you broadcast. The value proposition, and other, information, about the product it includes. Advertising. In-store. Promotions, email. Campaigns. Social. Media and, sales promotions, and, finally. Distribution. These. Are the programs that create, an effective, pathway, to, get your product, from the factory, into. The customers, hands, somebody. Has to take the product ship, it store, it place. It on the shelves sell, it and possibly.

Service. It once the sale is made all. Four. P's have to work together to convey, the value proposition. No. One of the four piece can, carry all the load a good. Marketer, uses. All the tactical, tools available to. Make the biggest impact possible. Marketing. Is all, about delivering value, to customers and, you, do that by offering them the right products, and services. Think. Of products, and services as, benefit. Delivery vehicles. There, are a collection of various features that, create value when, customers use them, so. How, do you build the right product or service for. That you, need to go back to the analysis, phase of the marketing planning process, from. There you'll, need the results, of your product, analysis that's, where you did a detailed, comparison of, how your product compares, to the competition's, feature, by, feature, you. Also created, the feature, benefit, ladder that, unpacked, the product to see how features connect, to the benefits, that customers, seek you'll. Also need the customer. Analysis, especially. The market research on what factors, are most important, to customers when. They buy a product, as well, as the data on how they perceive, your brand versus, the competition and. Finally. You'll, need your marketing, strategy, as expressed, in your value, proposition that we covered earlier as a, marketer, you have to give your development, team guidance, on four, aspects, so, they build the right product, first. Is what. Features, the product must have to compete against the competition and also, satisfy. The customer, you. Have two especially, guide, them on what features or, feature, to, emphasize, the most look. At your value proposition, what. Benefit, are you promising then. Look, at your feature, benefit, ladder find. That benefit, on the ladder then, move down the, ladder to find the set of features that deliver it you. Want to make sure those features, are most evident, when the customer, uses the product. Next. Your development, team needs guidance on performance. Of each feature, once. Again your value, proposition should. Guide you on whether the product needs to work better than the. Same as or slightly. Less effectively, than the competition. Also. Look, at your market research if, consumers. Perceive, your product as less, effective on a particular feature you. May need to have the development, team increase. Its performance, your. Development team also needs guidance on design, meaning, the look and feel of the product or service what. Does your brand stand for, given. That what, must your product, or service look like to, express, that brand essence. Finally. Your team must think of the product or service as an entire, customer, experience. Remember. The customer buying, process, from earlier. Think. Of each step as a touch, point where.

You As the marketer, have an opportunity, to figuratively. Touch. The customer, with something, about your product or service touch. Points, include, things like the, service, customers, get in a store and how. Your products, are displayed it. Also includes, things like the packaging, and perhaps, the instructions. On how to use the product, everything. The customer comes, in contact with, including. Things online, our touch, points. Based. On their experience, in each touch point the. Customer will form beliefs, about what, your brand stands for whether. It's consistent. Believable. And authentic. The. More authentic the. More loyal your customers, will become and that's, a very good way to build your business. Setting. Prices is, the quickest, of the four-piece but. That doesn't mean it's the easiest in fact. Making, a mistake here can be very constantly. In terms of lost revenue as well, as sending the wrong signal to, the market about your products and services. Let's. Start with some definitions, to. Be successful. At pricing, you, need to understand, the difference between a, products, cost, its. Price, and its, value, the. Cost of the product is all the, direct and indirect expenses that you experience, as the manufacturer. To, make the product things, like raw materials, and labor for example. Price. Is what a consumer, has, to pay to. Acquire the product a price. Is a signal a piece, of information, about. What you might ask about. The value, value. Is what, the consumer, gets out of the product the collective, set of benefits delivered, by the product, the. Most common, mistake in pricing, is setting. It based on your costs. It may. Seem counterintuitive, but. Price is unrelated. To costs, your. Customer, doesn't care what it costs you to produce the product they. Don't compare, your costs, to what they pay, instead. They, compare, what they pay versus. The total value, they get from the product if value. Exceeds, price then, they'll buy the product, and if, not they'll. Ignore the product. Value-based. Pricing, then is the process, of calculating, the total delivered. Value from using the product then, setting, the price at or, just below that amount. Think. Of price as a shortcut, the, price quickly tells, a customer, a lot about the quality and value. But. What about the competition and their, prices, go. Back to the 5 box positioning. Tool and look, at your value proposition if. You're. Positioning. Your product, is superior to, the competition, then, you should set the price higher, than theirs if your.

Product Is equivalent, to the competition, make. The price the same and if. Your product is inferior, to the competition, set. The price lower, that's. How price becomes, a signal, of value in comparison. To competitors prices. Price. Is a signal of value in a powerful, part of the 4ps so, make sure you put it to effective, use in your marketing campaign. Building. Distribution, channels may be the most difficult of the four PS depending. On your business it's. Typically, the most people, intensive. Aspect, of your marketing effort because, you have to enlist lots of partners, to move your products, physically into the marketplace a channel. Is a pathway, that, carries, things and it, may involve many steps along the way three. Things move, through it first. As your product, typically. Your product, flows from you, the manufacturer. Or reseller, through, to the hands of the customer. Occasionally. That product might move back the other way in case the customer wants, to return it and you, have to be set up for that the. Other thing that moves through the channel is money, and it's, not just money and credit cards but, also all the money, related, parts of the transaction. Which, may include financing. Negotiations. And perhaps contracting. You. Or your channel partners need to be skilled and available to, do these things again. Depending on your business, there's. One more thing that flows, through the pathway and, in some respects it may, be the most important, thing that is. Information. And it, flows in both directions, from, you to, the customer, and vice, versa, the. Information, you send through the channel could be information, about your product, your. Prices. Availability. Or, promotional. Messages, about, a new product the. Channel, and all the partners in it play a vital, role in communicating. Your value proposition in, the. Other direction flows, information. About, your customer, it might, include demographic. Information about, who, they are. Geographic. Information about. Where they live perhaps. Feedback, about your product, positive. Or negative. Earlier. In the course I spoke, about segmentation. You. Could learn a lot of information about what's important, to customers and how. They perceive your, product versus, the competition. Through. This channel you could learn vital information that, would help you in a law is your market to create, your marketing strategy. That's. Assuming, that your partners, along the way in the channel let, you. Sometimes. They. Like to keep that information for themselves, they.

Might See that customer as belonging to them not, you if you, want access to that wealth of data about, your customers, you'll, have to select your partners, carefully, and strike. The deal with them around collecting and sharing that information and. That's. Where managing, channels gets difficult. Conflict. Often arises in the channel because the various, partners have competing, goals your. Distributors, for example, may, not like your pricing approach so. They might set the prices where they want them and that, price level might, not be consistent, with your, value, proposition, they. May also be selling competitors, products, and, you have to do a lot of convincing and nurturing, to make sure your products, get the right amount of attention it. Takes. A lot of work in energy to train and motivate your channel partners to, do what's needed to, put your strategy, into motion but. If you do it right you'll, have a well-oiled, machine to. Put more great products into the marketplace and earn, new, customers. You. Marketing. Takes time and money so, it's important, that you develop a budget a good. Budget helps you allocate, the right amount of resources, to the right marketing, programs, now. There are two ways to develop, a budget you. Can decide on how much you have to spend in total and then allocate, it some. Companies do this by taking a percentage of sales revenue as the total budget for marketing that. Amount is assigned, to different teams and programs I call. This the top-down. Approach the. Other approaches, from the bottom-up each. Marketing, team develops, a budget to spend on marketing programs, that, they think are needed to achieve a revenue forecast, those. Budgets, are combined, into, a company. Level budget if, you. Recruited, a finance, member to your marketing planning team they'll. Be able to tell you what approach, your company uses. Whichever. Approach you take you, still need to decide where, to spend the money and how much to spend, one. Thing's for sure you, always have a limited. Amount of money to spend so you probably can't do all the things you'd like to but. Be careful, of a common, mistake, don't. Take your limited, dollars and spend, a little amount on many different programs, if you, spread your budget too thin you won't give any tactical, program, a chance to succeed it's. Better to limit rather, than dilute, spend. On those programs that are likely to be most effective at positioning. Your product in the market place, how. Much you spend depends. On a number of factors, earlier. We, looked at how many customers, are in your target audience, the. More you have to reach the. More you'll have to spend we. Also addressed, how to position, the product in the market meaning, how to change, the customer, sense of importance, and perception. About your brand if, your positioning, is very aggressive. And requires, the consumer to change behaviors, in a significant, way you're. Going to need to spend more money. Finally. Look, at each of your tactical, programs, the, four piece product.

Price. Motion and place. Estimate. The required spending, in each one for. Example do, you need to spend money to upgrade your product, or its packaging, how. Much do you need to spend on marketing, communications. To, reach a sufficient, number of people and still achieve the communications. Objective. What. Are your distributors, and salespeople need to do their job effectively. Once. You've estimated what each program, will cost you'll, probably need to make some tough choices and, this. Is a great time to, use the talents, of your marketing planning team let. Them help you decide in my. Experience, a team, decision ends, up being better than any single, individual. Decision, after. All you're. In this together, so, put them to work in helping you develop the most effective, budget possible. Before. You launch your marketing, campaign, you, want to set up key, performance, indicators, or, KPIs. For short key. Performance, indicators, help you keep track of your overall strategy in your, individual, marketing, programs, they, alert you when it's time to intervene and take, action, to get things back on track, without. KPIs. You're, flying blind so to speak and you run the risk of falling short of your overall goal, to. Be most effective. Each KPI, should, be quantifiable, and measurable, you. Can have as many as you want but. Don't measure a KPI, just, because you have the data if, you're not going to use it don't, bother it's a waste of time. Measure. Something only if you plan to take action, from it that's, why we set thresholds. Around each one each, KPI, should, have a target, of what you expect, to happen plus. A high and low number, around, that target, for. Those thresholds. You and your planning, team should, agree in advance what, action, you'll take if those, thresholds, are exceeded, now each KPI, should, be linked to the key parts of your marketing plan including. Your goal. Segmentation. Targeting, positioning. And, marketing, tactics, for. The goal you might have KPIs, around, the timing, of revenues, the. Type of customers, you're converting and whether. You're taking customers, from the right competitor. For. Segmentation. Targeting and, positioning you. Want to measure changes. In customer, beliefs. Such. As importance. And perception. You. May also want to measure their behaviors, such, as purchase. Habits. Customer. Attrition and retention, profile, you. Need to carefully, monitor whether, you're achieving the market, positioning, that you had hoped for for. Marketing tactics, you could create a KPI, for each of the four PS if needed, for example, you. Might have measures around communications. Objectives, sales. Force effectiveness. Distributor. Activity. Store. Promotions. Search. Engine, ratios. Social. Media activity. Pricing. And discounting. Rates, product. Performance. Waiting. Times and. Service. Complaints. Good. Marketers, not only reach their financial goals but, they also know, whether, those goals were achieved the. Way they expected, them to be achieved they. Also take, immediate. Action, when they detect something is going in the wrong direction. KPIs. Help you and your marketing team stay, aligned and do. What's needed to succeed. You.

2018-09-09 18:55

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