marketing 101, understanding marketing basics, and fundamentals

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. Good. Marketers, know, the value of a diverse and talented team of colleagues to. Help develop and execute. Their marketing strategy, you'll. Need to draw on their expertise. Their market. Knowledge possibly. Their resources, and their, network your. Team will include colleagues, inside the company as well, as external, partners like advertising, and promotional, firms let's. Review the various roles of your cross-functional. Team, first. Is finance, your. Finance, department, plays a very, important, role in making, sure you have sufficient budget, dollars to execute, your plan, now.

May At times feel like the finance guys are there just to cut your budget, but, believe me they want you to succeed, after. All the marketing, effort is the key to achieving revenue. Goals without. Your efforts budgets. Might have to shrink even smaller, making, their job even tougher, finance. Partners will, also help you in the measurement, phase of the planning process they'll. Help you quantify your, AR OMI. Return. On marketing, investments, and they'll. Help find ways to improve it in the next business cycle. Marketing. Research is another key role you'll need on your team your. Company may have a separate, marketing research department, or it, may outsource, it but, either way you'll, need their help understanding. Customer, needs testing. New product, concepts, or, perhaps testing, a new advertising, message, marketing. Research can be applied at just about every, step of the marketing process so. Be sure to get their advice on the best way, to use this important, resource. Next. Is your technical, team these. Are the people who develop, your products and services they, might be engineers. Or scientists. In an R&D department, or perhaps, software. Developers, it, depends, on the nature of your business you'll. Need their help making sure your products and services deliver. The right benefits, to delight your customers. Speaking. Of delighting customers be. Sure to involve your design, team in many. Companies design. Is a separate, department. And they can help make sure your products, and services are, delivering. The right experience. For your customers to build, and enhance the. Brand promise. Most. Companies have a sales function and you, should enlist their help in, developing, a marketing plan after. All they're, on the frontline day-to-day. And they, have a lot of insight, about your customers, and your. Competition, they'll. Have ideas about the selling tools they need to succeed be. Sure to get their input, depending. On your business you may also want to involve colleagues, from manufacturing. Or operations. These. Are the people who make the products and deliver the service a customer. Support team for example might. Have great insights about customer, complaints, or service. Issues. External. Partners might include your advertising, agency your, branding, company a public. Relations, firm and, perhaps a marketing, consultant, they're. There to help you succeed so make them a part of the team from, the very start. Once. You've identified the, key players on your team make. Sure they're aware of your planning schedule, that. They know their role and they. Know the expectations, that you have for each other in developing. A great, marketing. Strategy. 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. Strategy 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 to 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. In. Marketing. You'll often hear, the terms b2b, and b2c. B2b. Means, business-to-business. That's, where your business is selling, products, and services to other businesses. B2c. Stands for business to, consumer where. You're selling goods and services, to everyday, people like you and me as, you. Begin the marketing, planning process, it's important, to know the key differences, between the two keep. In mind that the marketing, planning process, is exactly the, same for each but. How you execute. Certain steps in the process will vary, let's. Explore how when. People buy products, and services, they're, buying a collection, of benefits, and you. Can categorize, those benefits, into three types. Functional. Benefits, refer, to a product's physical, performance. Economic. Benefits, are related, to saving money or saving, time and finally.

Our Emotional. Benefits these, are related to the psychological, feelings, you get when using, a product perhaps. The biggest, difference, between b2b. And b2c marketing. Is, what. Types of benefits are most important. For. Consumers. Emotional. Benefits, tend to be most important, while, for companies, the, economic, cost savings and other financial, factors will, drive their decisions, the. Other key difference, is who's involved, in the purchasing, process in. B2b. Marketing, companies. Usually, have a purchasing, department, buy goods and services, the. Person, involved won't be the one who actually consumes, the product or service so they're, more logical. And unemotional. When they make buying decisions that. Will affect how, you market to them. Consumers. On the other hand usually, buy products, for themselves or for others they. Make the buying decisions, themselves now. They too can, be quite logical, for some purchases, but, there's usually an emotional, involvement here, - you'll. Need to understand, these emotions, to develop, effective marketing. Strategies. 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. You. Can write a marketing, plan for one. Specific product, or service a collection. Of products or services or, for, the company's entire, family. Of products and services you. Should decide this before, you start the planning work because, how you decide, has a dramatic. Impact on, how you go about marketing, when. You develop, a marketing plan for a single, product the, entire, focus, is on all the resources. And activities needed. To get just that product, into the hands of prospective. Customers all. Your decisions about, how you communicate, sell. And set, prices, are about, that product only even. If you have other products to offer that. Might make sense especially for. A brand new product but. Sometimes, it makes more sense to develop, your marketing strategy, around a family of products or even, all of them it's, usually much, more efficient, to spread your marketing, dollars across, all of your products than concentrating, on just one. So. How do you decide, you. Don't the, customer, decides this for you why, do I say that because. In marketing, we always, want to take the customers, perspective, you. May be selling a product but, your identity, in the customers, mind is represented. By brands. Regardless. Of whether you're marketing to consumers or, the businesses, your, brand is how customers, understand, you, therefore. We base our decision, from the outside, looking, in a brand. Is essentially, the promise, that you are making to the customer to deliver a set of benefits brands. Usually have an identity, in the form of a distinctive, logo or a name, if your company, and products, are known by one, brand such as McDonald's, then. It would make sense to develop your strategy, at this, level of the firm if your. Company is not well known to customers, but they know your products, brand names very well then. It makes more sense to develop your plan around, each specific. Brand, you've. Heard the old saying that customer, is always right when. Deciding on what level to write your plan, take, the and write the plan around how they understand. You and your, family of brands. 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. When. Consumers. Use a product, or service they. Do so, because they seek the bundle, of benefits, that a particular product, or service delivers. To. Complete the product analysis you. Need to test each feature of your product, compared, to the same feature on your competitors. Products, you. Need to determine which, feature perform, better, than the competition which. Perform, the same and which. Perform, not as well, when. You complete the analysis, take, a close look are there, features that need to be improved, are, there certain competitors. You want to avoid or possibly. Go after based, on product, performance. Later. On you'll be choosing a. High-performing. Feature and its benefits, to base your marketing strategy, on here's. Why when. You outperform. The competition on, a feature, that is important, to consumers, and they, know it guess. What you. Earn a lot of customers, and that's. What, good marketing, is all about. 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. That. 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. Could 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 attitudinal. 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. Marketing. Is about changing, customers beliefs, so they prefer your, products, and services versus. The competition. Ultimately. Though we're. Working towards a financial, or other result, to support your business the.

Final Step of the strategy, phase then is to set goals, setting. Goals helps, you in two important, ways first. Goals. Help you decide how much marketing. Resource, you'll need to devote to your tactical, programs, the. More aggressive, goal you set the, more resources, you'll need and, second. Goals, help you measure your progress during the marketing campaign, to see if you need to make adjustments, later. In the course I'll show you how to set up key, performance, indicators, or KPIs. And how. They connect, to the goals you set here, a, marketing. Goal can be anything. That's relevant to the success, of the business, most. Companies set a sales revenue, goal but, it doesn't have to be dollars of revenue you. Could set goals for number. Of units sold or, perhaps, market, share or even. Number of new clients acquired if. You're cross-functional. Team includes. A colleague from your finance, department, consult. With him or her on this, for. A marketing, goal to be the most useful it should, meet the following criteria. First. It should, be specific. If. You simply say your goal is to increase, market, share that, would not be specific, enough, increasing. Market share from, 15%. To 17%, is, much, better because, it's specific. Second. The goal should be measurable. Setting. A goal that can't be measured will, become frustrating. For you and the team especially, when you try to gauge your progress in reaching it. Next. The goal must be attainable. Setting. An unrealistically, high goal, won't, do you any good in fact. It, could hurt your campaign by, causing, you to spend more marketing, dollars than is warranted. The. Fourth criteria. Is relevant. That, means the goal is directly, related to marketing strategy and finally. The, goal must be time. Bound meaning. That the goal will, be achieved during. A specific period, of time that. Could be any timeframe you want but. Most likely you'll, set the same timeframe for, the same periods, of time that your company, measures, financial, results a year. Or perhaps. A quarter or, even monthly. Taken. Together these. Criteria. Spell, the word smart. And that's, an easy and smart, way to remember these important, goal, setting criteria. You. 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, unpack, 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 the 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 costly, 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, product's 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. After. You set the price of your product or service you, have to communicate it in an effective way that, supports, your overall, strategy a simple. Framework for this is answering. The questions, who, what. Why, when, and where. Your. Target audience of course is who you want to communicate to but. It's more than just potential, customers, you also want to make sure your partners, such as distributors. Understand, your pricing structure, generally. Speaking you, want to make your prices, available to, the public including, competitors. They. May be setting, their prices, based, on yours, what. You communicate about pricing, is much more than just the dollar amount, when. A customer, first sees the price that's, a critical, time to remind them of the, value they're, getting for their money be. Sure to tell them about any discounts, that might apply or any other terms and conditions, such as shipping, and handling charges you. Want customers, to have a complete, and clear, picture, of your pricing if they're, confused, about something, they, may look elsewhere and this. Is the main reason why you communicate. Price. Customers. Ask themselves, a simple, question am I. Getting my money's worth you. Need to help them answer this question, or they'll, do it by themselves and they may come up to the wrong conclusion. Customers. Try to calculate what, they're getting by comparing, the total value, to, the total, price paid the. Easier, you make it for them the more they'll understand, your offering. When. You communicate the price that depends on several factors. Remember. The customer analysis. And the steps of the buying process we, talked about earlier that. Analysis, helps you understand, what factors are most important, when buying your product if price. Is the most important, factor then you must communicate price, very, early in the buying process if it's, not the most important, factor then. You want to communicate it later during the phase where customers, are evaluating. Their alternatives, the. Key is to make sure they understand, the value they, get in all the features of the product or service before. They get the price. Where you communicate price, depends, on the point of sale and where, people go for information about your products, if, customers. Do their research online you'll. Need to have prices, on a website either, yours, or a distributors, if your. Prices, change very often or you offer regular discounts. It may be best to disclose, price at the same location, where the customer, buys the product think. About the touch points of the customer, experience and where those occur physically, then. Select. A location for disclosing the price that helps the customer, make the connection, between price, and value, oh, and. One final tip, pricing. Is a business, activity, that is governed, by certain laws it's, usually a good idea to have your legal advisors review, the overall pricing, approach to, make sure you're in compliance.

In, The. 4ps model, promotion. Is where, you communicate, to the customer to get them to understand, something and ultimately, to, get them to do something to. Create effective. Promotional, programs, follow, these steps, first. Determine. The objectives, of the program, second. Select. The message, you want to communicate. Next. Select the target, audience, to receive the message, then. You select the media that will carry the message and finally. Create, the material, that, you send to the market in this. Video I'll describe, step, 1 how to determine the objectives, of your promotional, effort there. Are 5 communication. Objectives that you can try to achieve. Think. Of them as levels. Of awareness. First. Is called basic. Awareness. Customers. Need to know that your product or service exists, before they can even consider buying it basic. Awareness is, achieved, when the customers, simply recognizes. Your product or service when they see it or hear, it mentioned, basic. Awareness is, essential. For new products, or for, new features on existing products. Next. Is top. Of mind awareness, now. The customer, not only knows your product but also would, recall it first if they were asked, to list the names of products in a particular category, to. Achieve this you have to constantly, remind customers, about your product and that, gets expensive, but. It can be worth it having. Top of mind awareness can, increase, your sales significantly. Once. The customer, has basic, awareness of your product, now, you want them to have information, awareness. This. Is where the customer can actually explain, something, about your product to others perhaps. About its features its, performance. Or how to use the product the. Fourth objective that you might want to achieve is called image awareness, that's. Achieved, when, the customer, can explain your product and also. Associate. Your product, with some mental, image that image, should be closely tied, to the brand image you're trying to convey. Ideally. The customer, associates. Some image about themselves. When, they use or experience, your product. Finally. Your, marketing, communication. Objective, might be to cause some type of behavioral. Awareness. Where. You're suggesting that, they actually do something that behavior. May be as simple as going to your website or it, might be more aggressive, such as asking the customer, to buy the product. Notice. How these objectives. Are more complicated, and, difficult to, achieve as, we, go from basic, awareness all the, way to behavioral. Awareness, it's, typically, more expensive as you set more difficult, objectives. So. How do you determine your objective, well. It depends on two things what. Does your customer believe, and understand, about your product now and. What. Is your strategy, look. Back at your customer, analysis, based. On your marketing research you should have some idea about what, benefits, in a product are most, important, to customers and, you should know how they perceive, your products performance, in delivering, those benefits, are there.

Any Beliefs, about your product that you need to change now, look, at your five box positioning, tool here. You'll find the information you, need to set objectives, especially. In the desired, belief and desire, do and of, course in the value proposition. Itself, what. Are you hoping to communicate and how does, that translate into, one, of our five promotional. Objectives. Once. You've set the objective, for your marketing communications, now. You need to implement it first. Select, the message you want to communicate then. Select, the target, audience to receive the message, next. Select, the media, that will carry the message and finally. Create, the material, that you send to the market, the. Message, you send to the market will include the value proposition. As well. As the evidence of why that claim is true we, call these the reasons. To believe or are tbs, here's. What I do to craft the message I imagine. I'm standing, in front of a group of customers and I'm going to explain my value proposition I, know, what they already know about my product, so I roleplay, and actually. Speak, the words that, I would use with these customers, once. I'm satisfied with my message, I write, it down and edit it sometimes. With the help of a professional, copywriter. Next. You need to select the target audience this, should be easy because you've, already done this when performing, the targeting, step in, STP. Are. You, communicating to, your current. Loyal customers. Customers. That are new to the category, and so on it's. Important, to clarify this when. You send the message you, need to do it in a way that the target, audience knows. It's for them the. Media channel, you select depends. On the target audience how, many of them you want to reach the, complexity. Of the message you're sending in how, frequently. They, need to hear the message, marketers. Have a wide, choice of. Traditional, media including. Television. Radio. Print, advertising, outdoor. Billboards, and digital. Media which includes social. Media websites. And mobile, channels each. Type, of media has advantages. And disadvantages. TV. Commercials, for example, can reach millions, of people but. It's expensive. Billboards. On the other hand are not that expensive but they're, limited in what objectives you, can achieve it, would, be hard to explain how do you a complicated, product in a billboard, you. Have to weigh the cost versus. The reach meaning. How many customers, get the message and you. Have to consider how much information, you can send my. Advice is to match the medium, to the message then. Decide. On how, many people you have to reach based, on your available, budget, now. You're ready to actually create, the marketing material, to put into the market that, might be a new website a print, ad or a commercial. Most. Companies use, the services, of a creative, advertising agency. For this but. You'll need to give them guidance on what, you want and you. Do that with a creative. Brief which, I'll cover later in this course. Social. Media is an essential, part of any marketing, plan no matter what business you're in consumers. Expect, a way to learn about your products and share their experiences, with others online, social. Media is a powerful way to communicate your value proposition and, enhance, your brand so. What I want to do here, is give, you guidelines on, how to make sure you tie your social, media programs, to, your marketing, strategy, otherwise. You, might find yourself in a situation where. Social, conversations. Are happening that, are inconsistent. With your value proposition or, worse. That, are sending wrong information about. Your products, and services. Effective. Marketers, use social media in three, ways the. First is to, listen. To the conversations. That are taking place the. Second, is to join. The conversation. And the, third is to shape, the conversation I, call. It the listen. Join, and shape, model, let. Me explain each of these. Giant. Social media sites like Facebook Twitter. And LinkedIn as well, as the smaller, lesser-known, sites, are great, sources, of market information but.

You Have to set up systematic. Ways to monitor, these sites to find out what customers are saying to each other you. Have to put your ear to the ground so, to speak let's. Look at Twitter using. The Twitter search, function, type, in the name of your product see. What tweets are coming across then mention your product do. This for your brand and company name you. Can also set, up automatic. Monitoring, of Twitter for, these keywords using, tools like HootSuite. You. Can do the same for Facebook, and you, should set up Google, alerts using, keywords, about your company, and perhaps. Your competitors, set. Up RSS. Feeds so, that any mention, of your product, or brand on a website. Is fed to you automatically. In an RSS, reader. Once. You have the pulse of the social web by listening. In look. For ways to join, the conversation. That. Means get, out there and participate. In the. But you have to do it in an authentic way don't. Disguise, your identity, people, will respect your comments, and your company, if you, represent yourself. And your company honestly. You. Should join the conversation, when you have something relevant to say in response to a customer, or a, potential, customer on a social, media site you. May need to resolve a consumer complaint or, perhaps, correct some misinformation. Do. This in a friendly helpful. Way and you'll, build a positive, reputation for, your company, here's. A tip when, dealing with the customer issue, online, always. Keep in mind what other customers are going to think about the way you are handling it if you're, dealing with a sensitive, issue it may, be best, to ask the customer, to contact, you offline through. Traditional, customer, service support. Finally. You also have an opportunity to shape the conversation, share. Information, that supports your value proposition go. Back to your promotional. Objectives, and create, comments on sites that support, that objective. Be. Careful, not to over, promote or you'll just annoy people and that, defeats the purpose in, all. Cases be, sure to follow your company's social, media policy, on what you can and cannot. Do on the social web. Listen. Join, in shape, 3, effective, ways to use social media and increase. The likelihood of success of, your, marketing, strategy. 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 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. A. Distribution. Channel has, three, objectives, it. Needs to deliver a product customers. Want at a convenient, location and, at, convenient. Times so. That your marketing, effort is successful the. Right product, means that, you have the necessary inventory. Of product on hand when the customer, is shopping. That. Means you have to have all the models and all the styles, and sizes and, available, options that a customer, might want at that moment.

Missing. Just one of these will cause the customer to, look elsewhere and you lose the sale the. People selling your product need to be skilled at merchandising. It and explaining. It to customers, they. Might have to demonstrate, the product and explain, why it's superior, to others, the. Right location. Means that your product, is conveniently, located and, it's easy to find the. Salespeople have to be skilled at transacting. The purchase if you, have an online store it, too, has to be easy to find easy. To locate a product and easy. To buy from otherwise. Customers, may look for a place that's more convenient, your. Channel, must offer quick, delivery or fast. Service, it means you have convenient. Hours of operation, and customers, don't have to wait to get access to your product if you, keep people standing in line too long it, erodes the experience, they have with your brand and they, may abandon, you to. Design, a channel, you, have to decide three, things the. Length the. Breadth and the depth. Length. Of channel means the number, of intermediaries. Between you, and the customer you. May want to sell direct, meaning, the channel length is very short it's, just you and the customer and it, gives you total control of the channel or you. May need to go indirect and hire partners, to ship warehouse. And sell. Your product. Breadth. Of channel means the number of outlets of each type a partner. Exclusive. Distribution means. You have just a few outlets, selling, your product a high-end. Jewelry company, like Tiffany's, has, just a few outlets. Whereas a company, like Starbucks, has thousands. Depth. Of channel means how much of the channel you own in control, versus. Having a third party do, it for you, channels. Are expensive, and you might not have the resources or, skills, to do all of it so, you'll usually have to hire others to help. Imagine. You work for a company that makes fine. Men's wallets, let's. Design your, channel you. Sell wallets in many countries around, the world you're, a small company so, you'll, have to use an indirect, channel and hire various, partners, to get products into the marketplace, how. About breath well. Given, your value, proposition you, probably, want to handpick. Some, exclusive, retail, distributors, in various. Countries that, can explain the benefits, of your slim wallets and sell. Them alongside other, clever high quality products, the. Key is to integrate all four, p's to create a great, tactical. Marketing program, and we'll, explore that next. The. 4ps, Marketing is an old and classic idea, but, still very relevant, the. Mistake, you can make is to not have all of them work together you. Need to create marketing programs, that are in sync with each other and support. The overall positioning. Described, in your strategy it. May seem obvious but it can be more challenging than. You think, look. At your product a common. Mistake is to over, feature the product or service. By, adding many bells and whistles you may be succumbing, to a problem, called feature creep, you, keep adding features to, add more value but. That value is, inconsistent. With the value, proposition. This. Can be a challenge, for Rd, or engineering. Teams who are motivated to. Make the, product, amazing, you. As the marketer, have to guide their development, to keep it in line with strategy. Now. There may be times, when your product development team comes, up with an amazing breakthrough, a feature. That changes, the competitive, balance they. Find a way to make your product clearly, superior, to the competition. Well. In that case it may make sense to, accept the change and go, back and revise your value, proposition to.

Fit The product's profile. Pricing. Is another, area that gives marketers, problems, you. Want to resist this common, mistake, your. Product, is better than the competition and everyone, knows it it's. Tempting, to say hey. My. Product, is better than theirs if. I price it lower than theirs I'm gonna win big, wrong. Pricing. A superior, product lower than the competition sends, the wrong signal and, it, confuses, customers, they'll. Pay more for more value so. Make sure it aligned the price up so it communicates. More value. Finally. Is your promotional. Part of the 4ps, you, should promote your product, or service only, where customers, expect, to see it it's. Tempting, to put the word out about this great new product, or service through. Mass media to get the widest, exposure, possible, but. Once again, if, you promote your product where the customer, doesn't expect to see it they, may get confused and walk away your. Value, proposition doesn't. Sink in. Think. Of the four PS this way each, is, an or of a rowboat make. Sure all are rowing, at the, same time and speed and you'll, get to your final destination, a lot, faster. Y

2018-09-19 08:15

Other news