Basics of Marketing

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A good marketing plan is essential if a business is going to be successful. New customers are important but you also need to make sure that, once the public have tried your product or service they will want to return and continue to use your service or product in the future.
Profit is also one of the main aims of setting up a business, whilst concentrating on making as much profit as possible you should also aim to ensure that company policies satisfy customers needs as much as they can. Market research plays a vital role in finding out what customers want and need. Gather as much knowledge as possible about your market, questionnaires and surveys will help you do this. Find out what has an effect on your business, understand trends and move with the times. You should always be aware of local economy and try to plan ahead.

Marketing Strategy

Identify customers that your business can serve. A strategy will enble you to plan ahead of your competitors, you should be able to understand your customers requirements and plan to be able to fulfill them. Research is vital to your business and is not to be ignored. A service that is tailor made to your customers needs will be most successful and they will want to return to you time and time again. Whilst you will obviously want to make profit you should consider your customers budgets. If they can afford what you have to offer they will buy it frequently.

Target Marketing

Small businesses usually have limited resources to spend on marketing so target marketing is the best way to make it work. Asmall business will need to know the needs of customers in their geographical area and meet those requirements. Target those people who you believe are more likely to want or need your service or product.

Key features of a marketing program are:

Products and Services - Product strategies may entale concentrating on a narrow product line. Instead of offering a vast array of services or products it may be better to concentrate on developing a highly specialized product or service.

Promotion - Promotion strategies include advertising and direct customer interaction. As a small business you may not have the funds to throw into a large advertising scheme. Advertising in the telephone book and direct mail are always useful methods of advertising. A good sales teme is vital.

Price - Generally, higher prices mean lower volume and vice-versa; however, small businesses can often command higher prices because of their personalized service. A highly specialised product or service is always going to cost more. Price your product or service correctly and people will return to you maximising your revenue and profits.I

Distribution – Often the most secure way for small businesses is to work through established distributors or manufacturers. The nature of the product or service could play a big part in location decisions. You should decide whether a low cost, low traffic location is going to be ideal for your business or will you as a result have to pay more to advertise. If your business is located where ther is large amounts of traffic then it will get seen by more people. Choose your location for your business very carefully. Does your service or product need to be located within a community or would it be better for you to locate it outside of a populated area. Would it be beneficial to be close to a motorway or a port.

Marketing Performance

Results, targets, standards and performance all need to be monitored and evaluated regularly. It will help to identify where, if and when things may be faultering and not working for the company. These problems can then be rectified.