Marketing Basics

Many people consider marketing to be promotion, advertising and all the selling techniques used to get someone to buy a product. However marketing is much more. A marketing approach to business begins with the customer’s needs and involves designing the entire enterprise around fulfilling those needs. Decisions about the product's design, sales outlets, the price, the service level and where to advertise are made with a solid understanding of who the customer is and what they are looking for.

Market Research

Whether you're just starting out or if you've been in business for years, it's always a good idea to stay up-to-date with your market information. We'll tell you the best methods for finding your data. The purpose of market research is to provide relevant data that will help solve marketing problems a business will encounter. This is absolutely necessary in the start-up phase.

Targeting Your Market

Compiling a Customer Profile

Just as a mission statement guides the operation of your company, a customer profile will guide your sales effort. It's important to develop an overview of your target customers so that you and all of your employees are clear about whom you are selling to.

Demographic Checklist

Ensure that you include the following characteristics in the demographic profile of your target market:

• Age
• Gender
• Profession
• Education level
• Household income level
• Marital status
• Geographic location

If your target market is made up of corporate customers, include the following elements:

• Number of employees
• Location of headquarters
• Types of products and services they provide
• Annual revenue
• Number, size and location of branches
• Year founded

Identifying Your Sales Strategy

Self-Assessment

To get you thinking on the right track about your sales strategy, ask yourself the following questions:

1. How do I define my business?
2. How is my company different from the competition?
3. How do clients benefit from my product/service offering?
4. Who are my ideal clients – and what am I currently doing to attract them? What new things can I do to entice them?
5. Are my sales currently growing at a desirable rate?
6. What is my idea of ideal salespeople? Do I currently have enough people who fit that profile on my staff? If not, what can I do to attract them?
7. What is my current marketing budget? Is it adequate to achieve my sales goals?
8. Do I have an effective referral program in place?
9. Is my product/service best suited for selling directly or indirectly to the end customer? (Direct sales are made when you sell right to the end user. Indirect sales utilize a middleman or reseller.)
10. What, if any, specific niches will I target? How will I find them and reach them within my geographic locations?

Choose a Distribution Channel Question to ask yourself:

1. How many products and services am I currently offering?
2. Is my sales volume high or low, relatively speaking?
3. Are my offerings high- or low- tech? Are they support-intensive or can they stand alone?
4. Do I plan to distribute locally, regionally or nationally? Do my chosen distribution channels mesh with those plans?
5. What are the barriers to entry for the distribution channels I'm considering? Can they be overcome?
6. How risky are the potential channels? Can I absorb the risk – and will the return be worthwhile?
7. How much will it cost me to utilize the channels I'm considering? Can I absorb these costs and still maintain an acceptable level of profit?