Put-Marketing-in-your-Business-Plan

Making Marketing a Part of your Business Plan(Original title:Put Marketing in your Business Plan)Denise Mainvillemainvillvt.eduMid-Atlantic Horticultural Society ConferenceJanuary 29,2007Virginia Beach1What is Marketing Anyway?Getting people to buy what you supply?Supplying what people want to buy?A passive vs.active approachReactive vs.responsiveA step behind vs.a step ahead2“Good Marketing”meansGood marketing involves Understanding your market(customers and competitors)and How you fit in itDesigning&defining your products to be responsive to the markets needs,Communicating effectively to clientele.3The Marketing PlanThe marketing plan is the methodical approach to doing thisThe steps to developing a marketing plan allow you to hit all the points that are required for effective marketing.4Why develop a marketing plan?A good marketing plan helps you to define your market so that you can make good use of your marketing efforts and budget!Do you have a marketing plan?Do you spend money on advertising&promotion?Do you do analysis before deciding on how to promote and evaluate results of promotion?5Developing an Effective Marketing Plan:5 steps1.Define your current market2.Secondary market research3.Targeted market research4.Redefining your product and“marketing mix”5.Evaluating effectiveness and adaptation61.Define your current marketA.Know yourself and your productB.Know your customersC.Know your competitorsD.Consider how these all fit togetherany areas for improvement?71.Define your current marketA.Know yourself and your productWrite a description of what you“market”to your customersTry to describe the benefits of your goods or services from a customers perspective.Emphasize its special features-i.e.,the selling points.Include both tangibles&intangibles81.Define your current marketB.Know your customersWho are they?Retail?Wholesale?Businesses?Residential?Institutions?91.Define your current marketB.Know your customersWhat are their characteristics?Ex.Residential customersLocation of residenceIncome levelsAgesGendersEducational levelsEthnicities101.Define your current marketB.Know your customersWhat do they like,dislike,what decides their purchases?111.Define your current marketC.Know your competitorsWho are they?Other local suppliers of similar products&services“Big Box”suppliersOthers?121.Define your current marketC.Know your competitorsWhat products and services do they offer?Similarities and dissimilarities between your product or service and competitors Pricing strategy for and comparison of yours and the competitionsWhat do they do well?Poorly?What are barriers to entering the market?What are their current marketing thrusts?131.Define your current marketD.Consider how these all fit togetherany areas for improvement?What gaps and deficiencies are you aware of in terms of how you are meeting your current customers needs?How are you doing relative to your competition?142.Secondary market researchWhy do market research?Your preliminary analysis of your product offering,customers&competitors only tells you a snapshot of what is today.Market research helps you move beyond what is to recognize what your market will be like in the future,and to make plans to serve that market profitably.152.Secondary market researchWhat isYour current mix of products,services,customers and competitorsWhat will beA dynamic perspective helping you to take into account a changing customer base,changing product&service needs,allowing you to be on the leading edgeWhat might beThe mix of products,services,and customers that you could have,helping you to achieve more profitHow you bridge what is(your current market)and what willl be(the market of the future)162.Secondary market researchMarket research should answer questions such asWho are your customers and potential customers?What kind of people are they?Where do they live?Can and will they buy the product or service youre offering?172.Secondary market researchUse secondary data to determine trends in demographics,socio-economics,etc.in your business areaHow do these trends match with your current customer mix?Are your current core customers growing or declining in number and purchasing power?What are“growth areas”that you can target?182.Secondary market researchExamples of what you might find includeAn aging populationIncreasing ethnic diversityYoung people with growing purchasing powerA stagnating or booming business environment193.Targeted market researchThe next step is to determine what these potential or current customer groups needProducts and servicesHow can you find out?Second stage of market research targets specific potential customer segments203.Targeted market researchThis second stage of market research is much less focused on numbers and demographic trendsMore focused on determining the needs and values of potential customersUse targeted,first hand research to explore their needs213.Targeted market researchObjectiveDefine potential market and determine their needsDefine and segment your marketDetermine the needs of each segmentDetermine whether and how you meet these needs223.Targeted market researchHow?Focus groupsInformal customer interviewsObservation 233.Targeted market researchA few of the benefits of market research areLearning who your customers are and what they wantLearning how to reach your customer and how frequently you should try to communicate with themLearning which appeals are most effective and which ones arent243.Targeted market researchDifferent client groups have different needs,even though they may all need the same basic“product”Ex.Residential vs.business customersEx.Retired residential vs.Young residential customersDont mix these different groups as you do your market researchgroup like types together to let salient issues emerge253.Targeted market researchThis is your opportunity to get to know your(potential)customersStart broadget to know them as people and know what they valueWhere do they live?Where do they work?What do they do in their spare time?What issues concern them?What are their values?How do they promote these values?(Health,environment,local economy,etc.)In their ideal world,what would their relationship to their lawn be?In their ideal world,what would their relationship to their product/service provider be?263.Targeted market researchOne size does not fit all!You can serve several groups simultaneously,but generally NOT with the same product/service mixNeed to emphasize different attributesHome Depot provides a great example274.Redefining your product and“marketing mix”The 4 Ps284.Redefining your product and“marketing mix”ProductPlacePricePromotion294.The“marketing mix”:Product“Product”refers to the mix of product and services that you provide to your clients.This mix will likely differ for different clientsThis is what you have redefined in previous steps304.The“marketing mix”:Place“Place”refers to the place that you use in promotionAlso where you can reach your clients through advertising and promotion314.The“marketing mix”:Price“Price”refers to how you price your products and servicesDifferent means of pricingCost/itemBundledBundled can simplify things,and also help you to segment your customersBe sure you coverService costs Material costs Labor costs Overhead costs Other costs324.The“marketing mix”:PriceRegardless of how you price,the key issue to your customer is not costit is value!Value is the ratio of benefits to cost.334.The“marketing mix”:PromotionOnce you have are clear on your target customers and product,promotion is keyPromotion can be costly,particularly ineffective promotionIt is hard to determine the effectiveness of promotionThere are steps that can be taken to maximize value of promotion expenditures344.The“marketing mix”:Promotion1.Have a clearly defined product and a clear idea of who you are trying to reach354.The“marketing mix”:Promotion2.Clearly communicate the key product/service attributes in your promotional activities364.The“marketing mix”:PromotionDevelop an effective Promotional StrategyOptions for advertising includePrint media(newspaper,magazine,classified ads,Yellow Pages advertising,brochure)Radio Television Networking Business cards Promotional items(tee shirts,hats,buttons,pens)374.The“marketing mix”:Promotion3.Make it memorable!Build brand association with a memorable motto and logoThe motto should communicate in few words and memorable words the essence of what you are offeringThe logo is the“handle”that allows the customer to hold onto the rest of your messageAllows for a long-term vs.transitory effect3839Marketing BudgetDevelop a marketing budget based on thecost for the media you will usethe cost for collecting research data and monitoring shifts in the marketplaceDeveloping an advertising and promotional plancosts allocated for advertising and promotionsadvertising and promotional materialslist of advertising media to be used 405.Evaluating effectiveness and adaptationCan be difficultQuestion to ask:Are you seeing increases in your target customers?Where are they finding out about your business and products/services?Are they coming back after initial visits?What feedback do they have to offer?41Wrap upEffective marketing requires that youKnow your current marketBut arent stuck on the idea of serving that market onlyKnow where your market is goingFind a way to capitalize on these trends and find a good nichethis is especially important given the changing nature of competition42