|
INSIGHT: Small businesses need unique marketing plans |
|
|
|
|
By SCORE for the Sioux Falls Business Journal
|
|
Tuesday, 17 July 2007 |
One of the greatest needs of managers of small businesses is to understand and develop marketing programs for their products and services.
Small-business success is based on the ability to build a growing body of satisfied customers.
Modern marketing programs are built around the marketing concept and performance, which directs managers to focus their efforts on identifying, satisfying and following up on the customers’ needs, all at a profit.
The marketing concept rests on the importance of customers to a firm and states that:
• All company policies and activities should be aimed at satisfying customer needs.
• Profitable sales volume is a better company goal than maximum sales volume.
To use its marketing concept, a small business should:
• Do market research to determine the needs of its customers. To manage the marketing functions successfully, good information about the market is necessary. Frequently, a small-market research program, based on a questionnaire given to present customers and/or prospective customers, can disclose problems and areas of dissatisfaction that can be remedied easily, or new products or services that could be offered successfully.
Market research also should identify trends that may affect sales and profitability levels. Population shifts, legal developments, the local economic situation and competitor activity should be monitored.
• Identify its market strategy by analyzing its competitive advantages. Marketing strategy encompasses identifying customer groups that a small business can serve better than its target competitors, and tailoring its product offerings, prices, distribution, promotional efforts and services toward that particular market segment.
Ideally, the strategy should try to address customer needs that are not being met in the marketplace and that represent adequate potential size and profitability. A small business cannot be all things to all people and must analyze its market and its own capabilities so as to focus on a target market it can serve best.
• Use target marketing to select specific markets to serve. Owners of small businesses have limited resources to spend on marketing activities. Concentrating their marketing efforts on one or a few key market segments is the basis of target marketing. The major ways to segment a market are geographical segmentation or customer segmentation.
In geographical segmentation, for example, a neighborhood convenience store might send advertisements to people living nearby. In customer segmentation, the store might sell to its heavy users before trying to develop new users.
• Identify its market mix to determine how to satisfy customer needs. There are four key marketing decision areas in a marketing program: products and services, promotion, distribution and pricing. The marketing mix is used to describe how owner-managers combine these four areas into an overall marketing program.
To contact the Sioux Falls SCORE chapter, call 367-5757 |