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A Market Analysis Whether you are starting a new business or launching a new product, conducting a marketing analysis is the first step in determining if there is a need or audience for your idea. Knowing the market's needs and how it is currently serviced provides you with key information that is essential in developing your product/service and marketing plan. Prepare A Competitive Analysis Almost everyone in business understands the principle of trying to offer something better than what their competitors are offering. Gaining an advantage is the key to success and even survival. This tool helps you to see how your strengths stack up against your competitors' weaknesses and suggests ways to take advantage of marketplace opportunities. After you have performed the analysis, there are four basic competitive strategies to consider. Identify Your Target Market Doing business without knowing what your target market is will prevent you from reaching your objectives: increased sales, market share or brand awareness. This tool shows you to identify who your target market should be. Creating a Competitive Edge Having a competitive edge means possessing an advantage over your competition. Assessing your competitors openly and honestly will play a key role in helping you develop a competitive edge. Pricing Your Products and Services There are some simple, yet definitive measures you can take to accurately price your product or service. By exercising creative judgment and a keen awareness of consumer motivations, you can greatly increase your chances of owning the market. The following road map will guide you through the pricing maze and set your company on the road to accurate pricing. Create a Branding Strategy A brand represents many more intangible aspects of a product or service: a collection of feelings and perceptions about quality, image, lifestyle and status. It creates in the mind of customers and prospects the perception that there is no product or service on the market that is quite like yours. In short, a brand offers the customer a guarantee and then delivers on it. Create a Promotional Package Every marketing plan starts the same way: by defining your target customer. Only after you have defined your target customer can you figure out the best way to reach them. The answers will dictate the type of promotional campaign you choose. Create Sales Letters The most valuable single sheet of paper in all of direct marketing is a letter. Creating and sending a good letter can create 40 percent to 50 percent more sales than just a brochure. If structured correctly, the sales letter can be one of the best selling tools in an arsenal of sales weapons. Create a Direct Mail Package Of all of the sales prospecting tools you will use throughout your company's life span, a direct mail package can be one of the most effective. If you can assemble the necessary information in an appealing package, you will warm up your new prospects and increase the likelihood for making a sale before you even speak to your new clients Personalization Strategies to Attract and Retain Customers This tool focuses on personalization and on ways you can gear your business to provide products and services individualized to your customers' tastes and needs. The steps outlined in this discussion are designed to help you increase customer traffic and realize larger profits - whether you operate in the retail sector or in the realm of e-commerce. Creating an Effective Customer Service Plan The ability to service customers well is a talent that must be taught and nurtured it, you will put your customers first - where they belong.. Having a formal plan for effectively servicing customers helps everyone in your organization know that your organization's ultimate goal is to keep customers happy - and coming back. |