Marketing

Developing a product does not guarantee that a business will succeed in the highly competitive market environment. To better the chances of success, organizations should follow up product development with sound marketing strategies. Effective marketing strategies increase consumer awareness. They also offer useful insights into the clients’ needs, which is essential in determining how the business can best satisfy them. They also engage clients, which is critical in building brand loyalty. Marketing also helps the company identify internal and external factors that influence its competitive ability. Sound marketing enables the organization to stay ahead of its competitors and boost sales leading to increased profits.

What is MarketingMarketing involves a wide range of activities that organizations undertake to attract clients to purchase their products or services and maintain relationships with them. The activities include creating value, informing clients of the products, delivering client purchases, and exchanging the products/services with the clients (University of Minnesota Twin Cities, n.d.). Marketing is essential as it helps a business identify its clients, determine and satisfy their needs which significantly influences the organization’s profitability.

How 7ps are Used to Create Customer Value

The 7Ps come in handy while planning marketing campaigns. The first P is for the product, which refers to what the business offers to clients. It should be centered on the needs of clients. Other decisions to make regarding the product include packaging and warranties. Price is the second P, and it is concerned with the organization’s process used to determine its product price. Products should be priced in a way that they offer value for money to the clients. The third P is for the place. Products should be available where target clients can easily access them (University of Minnesota Twin Cities, n.d.). The place also considers logistical factors such as distribution channels and storage facilities. The fourth p is for promotion, which refers to activities meant to inform the target client about the product/ service. Promotion should be done via appropriate channels such as social media and exhibitions to reach the right target.

The fifth p is for people, which refers to all individuals involved in the marketing process, including staff and the target market. The sales team should be equipped with the right skills to reach the target market better. The sixth p is for the process. The delivery processes should function smoothly to improve consumer experience and satisfaction. There also needs to be processes set aside to take care of mishaps. Such processes significantly affect the value of the business. The last P, Physical evidence, refers to physical evidence. Consumers should have hard evidence to confirm their transactions with the business entity. Apart from validating the transaction, physical evidence also delivers a sense of value to the client.

How a Business can use Marketing to Remain Competitive

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis is a useful tool to analyze the internal and external factors that affect a business. Internal factors include Strengths and Weaknesses. Strengths focus on areas that the company is performing well, which act as an advantage over competitors. Knowing the strengths can help the business to maintain them in the long run. The business should therefore focus on building strengths to gain a more significant advantage over its competitors.

Weaknesses refer to factors within the business that put it at a disadvantage as compared to its competitors. It is crucial to identify the flaws before they cost the company a significant problem. Once they are known, the business should develop ways to address them. Doing so will essentially convert them into a strength, increasing the business’s competitive ability. Organizations need to be thorough and objective while identifying weaknesses to effectively root out all problems that could pose future severe issues.

External factors include opportunities in the market place which are usually brought by changes in the external environment. Opportunities are gaps in the marketplace that the organization can fill with its unique products. Identifying such opportunities and taking advantage of them as soon as possible can catapult the business ahead of its competitors. The last factor is threats. Threats are factors that can cause significant disruption to the company. They can include new strategies the competitors have undertaken and changes in government policy. Determining threats is essential as the business can take appropriate action before they cause significant disruptions. Taking advantage of the available opportunities is highly determined by the strengths and weaknesses of the company.

Ansoff’s Growth Matrix

Ansoff’s growth matrix is a strategic tool that shows four strategies that businesses can use to spur growth and corresponding risks. It is also known as the product-market expansion grid. The four methods are categorized based on whether the business introduces either a new product or an existing product in either a new or existing market. Using the matrix, companies can choose an expansion strategy based on their risk tolerance.

How a Businesses can use Ansoff’s Growth Matrix

The four strategies identified in the matrix offer ways an organization can expand. The first strategy, also known as market penetration, involves selling existing products to existing markets to increase the market share. This strategy can only be used in growing markets. Businesses should be ready to incorporate other marketing mix elements such as price and promotion to reach more clients. It carries minimal risk.

The second strategy involves selling existing products in new markets, and it is also referred to as market development. Using this strategy, organizations need to revise the product and promotion strategies to serve new markets (Oxford College of Marketing, n.d.). This strategy carries significantly higher risk as the business lacks sound knowledge of the new market.

The third strategy is developing new products for existing markets or product development. It requires a change in the product and promotion elements of the marketing mix. Investing in the research and development department increases the chances of succeeding in this stage (Oxford College of Marketing, n.d.). It also carries a significantly higher risk as compared to market penetration.

The last strategy involves developing new products for new markets or diversification. It carries a high risk as businesses are entering into foreign markets with unfamiliar products. The new product can either be related to existing products or be unrelated. Between the two, developing a related product is less risky.

How a Business can use Digital Marketing to Improve Performance and Growth

Digital marketing involves using the internet and other forms of digital communication to reach clients. Among the ways, it helps businesses improve their performance is through providing useful user data. Digital marketing makes it easy to engage with clients through surveys and asking for clients’ views. Doing so provides valuable information the business can use to develop their products based on the clients’ tastes and preferences. Also, digital marketing has a broader reach as compared to traditional methods of marketing. It is also possible to target a specific group of buyers, therefore taking the guesswork out of marketing. It is also cost-effective; hence funds that would be spent on advertising can be diverted towards more productive use within the organization. It also levels the playing field as there are no barriers compared to traditional marketing; hence the business becomes more competitive.

Digital marketing also makes it possible to track and monitor what the competitors are doing. The business can therefore put the necessary countermeasures in place. Furthermore, digital marketing is measurable. There is various digital marketing analytics that shows the performance of digital marketing campaigns in real-time. With such information, it is possible to determine which strategies are working and those that need a review. Also, with many consumers purchasing goods and services online, digital marketing enables the business to reach such clients and engage them, improving the organization’s visibility. Besides, tactics such as the Search Engine Optimization strategy (SEO) enables the business to reach more willing buyers online, thereby improving conversion rates (Bala and Velma, 2018, p. 329). Engaging with the clients can also increase client loyalty significantly.

Conclusion

Marketing is essential to the survival of any business. In coming up with marketing strategies, businesses should analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as the above factors significantly influence the strategy’s success. Among the opportunities companies should seize is the growth of digital technologies, which can streamline marketing campaigns. Digital marketing allows the organization to reach a lot of clients at once, it is cheap, measurable and it increases customer engagement which inspires loyalty to the brand. It also offers information on clients’ tastes and preferences, thereby informing them how to modify the products to better satisfy their needs. Businesses should therefore focus on digital marketing as an essential part of their marketing campaigns.

References

Bala, M. and Velma, D., 2018. A Critical Review of Digital Marketing. International Journal of Management, IT & Engineering, 8(10), pp.322-329.

Oxford College of Marketing, n.d. Using The Ansoff Matrix to Develop Marketing Strategy. [online] Oxford College of Marketing Blog. Available at: <https://blog.oxfordcollegeofmarketing.com/2016/08/01/using-ansoff-matrix-develop-marketing-strategy/> [Accessed 5 March 2021].

University of Minnesota Twin Cities, n.d. 1.1 Defining Marketing. [online] Open.lib.umn.edu. Available at: <https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmarketing/chapter/1-1-defining-marketing/> [Accessed 5 March 2021].