Marketing and promoting your small business

Marketing & Promoting Your Small Business W t to ? WANTED: S R E M O T S CU ! e m i t e f i L For a W BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of ou h s t ld i t? s o tc The R’s of Target Marketing • Researching Your Market • Reaching Your Market • Retaining Your Market BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Pre- Marketing Tactics • Determine if you have a market • Determine if your market is profitable • Determine the “uniqueness” of your product or service • Protect yourself: your product & service BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Protecting Your Product or Idea • Protect Your Work (and make sure you are not infringing on the rights of others) • Disclosure Letter – For your records – To have potential stakeholders sign • Journal…demonstrate you are an active rather than passive business activity • Copyright, Trademark and Patents BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Protecting Your Ideas • Patent – a grant from the Patent and Trademark Office to the inventor of a product, giving the exclusive right to make, use, or sell the invention for 20 years from the date of filing the patent application • Check out: – www uspto.gov – www.nolo.com BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Protecting Your Ideas • Trademark – any distinctive word, symbol, design, name, logo, slogan, or trade dress a company uses to identify the origin of a product or to distinguish it from other goods on the market • Service mark – the same as a trademark except that it identifies the source of a service rather than a product • Check out Secretary of State Trademarks/Service Marks www.ss.ca.gov/business ™ BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Protecting Your Ideas • Copyright – an exclusive right that protects the creators of original works of authorship such as literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works • Copyrighted material is denoted by the symbol â Check with the Library of Congress Copyright Office- www.copyright.gov BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Market Research an organized objective way of learning about your customers • Get to know your market Get professional help, use the local library and on-line databases • Evaluate Current Buying Trends…evaluate growing NEEDS in your community • Find a NEED and Fill IT! BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Conduct Market Research • Identify your Target Market • Get to KNOW your Target Market personal observation, sample questionnaires, how will your product/service benefit the Target Market, Ask Questions • Identify Your Competition We can learn so much from our competition- both direct and indirect DO a Strength- Weakness Evaluation Find out YOUR NICHE! BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Keys to Market Research on the Internet In-depth analysis of your industry Identify Your Customers Recognize Your Competition Put it all together, and have vision for the future BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 10 Step 3: Recognize Your Competition Knowing what your competition is up to is critical to the survival of your business… Always ask Who are my competitors? What they offer? Where they advertise? What unique features and benefits they provide? BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Check out: www.dogpile.com (meta search) The Yellow Pages www.thomasregister.com 13 (B2B Directory) Evaluating the Competition: Through the Customer’s Eyes • The “weaknesses” of your competition are the keys to your success • They help you determine your UNIQUE benefit for your customer BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 14 Evaluating Your Business with the Competition DO a SWOT Analysis Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats • • • • • BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Profile the competition What they right? What they different? Would could you better? What is your competitive advantage? 15 Testing the Market Survey people are asked questions In person, telemarketing, focus groups Questionnaires data gathering form used to collect information by a personal interview or through the mail What to consider… Types of information determining need, indicating lifestyle, figuring the best channel to reach, how they feel about the competition Distribution- mail, telemarketing, interviews, group Evaluation of Responses color-coding prior to sending BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 16 Your Marketing Mix is Unique! The right ingredients include a “mixture of the FOUR P’s •Product (or service) •Place (or distribution) •Promotion (communication that influences the buyer) •Price (not always the KEY factor) • Also “positioning, packaging and personal relations” BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 17 Part II: Reaching Your Target Market • Develop a strategy to cost effectively REACH your market • By studying your TM you know where they shop, what conveniences they like, what they will be willing to pay… • Develop the Marketing Mix! • Price, Product, Place & Promotion! BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of Wanted: Nice, Rich Clients 18 Develop a Realistic Budget • What can I afford? Why? • How can I get the best “bang for the buck”? • What channels are used in your industry & by your TM? • Prioritize your marketing choices • Often the type of business dictates the type of marketing (personal services rely on referrals and word of mouth more) • What if I cannot afford to market??? BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 19 Putting Your P’s to Work for You • All of your P’s work together to design a “marketing strategy” this is the mix that reaches your Target Market • Product/Service Positioning- keep the needs of the customers in mind! • Place- means distribution and the distribution channels used • Price- Recognize the Price Ceilings & Floors • Promotion- Timing of Market entry, Advertising, Publicity, Alternative Marketing, Marketing on the Net, Community Marketing BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 20 Product- Service Line • Positioning the Product/ Service Line is critical • Distribution channels are ALL of the individuals and organizations involved in moving your product (or service) from producer to the end-user • Many of these folks are your Internal Customers (Internal Market) • Developing “strategic alliances” is key BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 21 PLACE…the Pipeline to the Customer • Consider the needs, attitudes and location of your target market & your suppliers and employees •What is the primary method? Direct Sales, Mail Order, Wholesale, Consignment •Where will the “service” be provided? •Location & Distribution Factors to (market, supplies ,labor force, competition, consider cost, home-based or not) BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 22 Price…with a profit margin •Biggest obstacle…pricing a product or service for what we WANT to sell it for, rather than what it WILL sell for… •Price Ceiling is the top amount the market will bear and is determined by the market •Price Floor is the lowest amount you could sell & still meet expenses •Profit Margins differ greatly in every industry and in business size •When determining your pricing strategy take into account all the costs involved! BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 23 Promotion…anyway to advertise your business Evaluate Your Options •Timing of Market Entry -adjust to the nature of your business Is your product seasonal? •Advertising -reminding customers about the benefits of your product in printed or spoken matter •Publicity or PR -“free advertising” •E- Marketing •Alternative Marketing – Displays, Community Involvement, Networking, Trade Shows, DirectMail, Brochures, Telemarketing , promo gimmicks BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 24 Thoughts for Next Week Doing the SWOT… For your business, or potential business, a quick scan of the business environment and review of your business Ask yourself these questions What are your businesses… Strengths & Weaknesses? (internal) What is the current business environments’ Threats & Opportunities ?(external) BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 25 Group Work • Where to look for help? • Please create a group of – Write your own ideas down – Write a survey questionnaire together – Surveys – At home, Do a Google or Yahoo Search [dogpile] • “How to write a planning survey” BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 26 For Next Week • Please read the text Chapter on Marketing • Please hand in one SWOT for your dream company/business • Please hand in your group work • Wanted one suggestion to make this program “better” for you [Is this a survey?] BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 27 ... Doing the SWOT… For your business, or potential business, a quick scan of the business environment and review of your business Ask yourself these questions What are your businesses… Strengths... channels are used in your industry & by your TM? • Prioritize your marketing choices • Often the type of business dictates the type of marketing (personal services rely on referrals and word of mouth... databases RAND www.americandemographics.com BUS 211_M&A Summer 20 06 Courtesy of 12 Step 3: Recognize Your Competition Knowing what your competition is up to is critical to the survival of your business