Marketing and Sales

Marketing Do's and Don'ts

Undertaking Market Research

Setting Your Marketing Goals

Your Marketing Strategies

Monitor and Control

More Information

 

To download the Marketing leaflet in PDF format click here.

Marketing is more than just selling and advertising.  It's about what you need to do to capture and keep your customers over time.  Your marketing plan needs to answer the question:  Why am I in business, what do customers want and why will customers buy from me and not my competitors?

Developing your marketing plan covers four main aspects:

• Market research.
• Marketing goals.
• Marketing strategies.
• Monitor and control.

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Marketing Do's and Don'ts

Do:

• Regularly review your marketing strategies to meet changing situations.
• Focus on your customers' wants and needs, not on what you think you have to offer.
• Find a niche - small businesses tend to succeed by offering something that's a bit different.

Don't:

• Waste money on promotional opportunities that don't fit with your strategies.
• Neglect building networks to help you promote your business and build your reputation.
• Forget to assess the effectiveness of your strategies.

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Undertaking Market Research

Before you develop your marketing goals and strategies you need to identify what are the most promising market opportunities you should pursue.  You need to consider:

Your Products/Services

It may seem obvious, but you will benefit from analysing your product/service offering from the customer point of view.  Ask yourself what:

• benefits are you offering your customers;
• are all the features of your products/services and which ones will be  most valued by customers;
• will be its likely life cycle and what is the risk of substitutions?

Your Marketplace

Understand your market and identify factors that will impact on your business.  Aspects to consider:

• What is its size and is it growing or shrinking?
• Where is your main market located?
• What are its characteristics, eg gender, aspirations, ability to pay?
• What changing social trends and attitudes could affect your business?
• What technological developments are occurring?  Emergence of substitute products/services?

Your Customers

Once you have researched your market you can define the specific segments you intend to target.  Market segments are groups of customers who share similar attributes and attitudes - which segment(s) you target will depend on the nature of your business and your strengths and capabilities.  Segments can be defined by:  location, gender, industry, ethnic identity, attitudes (eg adventure seekers) and attributes (eg luxury car owners).

You need to understand the factors that will drive your customers to buy your products or services.

Your Competitors

Identify both direct competitors (those selling the same products and services to the same markets) and indirect competitors (those offering substitute or similar products/services).

Information you need to know about competitors includes:

• what exactly they offer their customers;
• how well established they are and their reputation;
• their strengths and weaknesses and what makes them successful;
• their pricing.

Market Research Sources

At this stage your main sources of information will be through:

 

Better Business Tip Look at your workplace, shop or office through your customers' eyes.  Familiarity with your surroundings can make them comfortable and adequate to you.  But to your customers they can look shabby, disorganised, old fashioned or unwelcoming.  Remember that perception is everything in marketing.  Only by creating the right perceptions about your business will your customers understand what you can offer them. In summary:  redecorate and re-organise regularly.

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