Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Marketing Strategy For Beginners

Your marketing strategy can help you figure out reach your target customers.


A marketing strategy is a written plan that can help companies accomplish their promotional goals and objectives. When you write a marketing strategy as a beginner, there are several basic sections you should include, such as a section about your marketing goals and objectives, one that identifies your key customers, one that describes how your business is different from your competitors, and one that describes your "marketing mix" and tactics you will use to promote your product or service.


State Your Goals


All marketing strategies, including those for beginners, should begin with a statement of your marketing objectives. These are the goals you hope to accomplish with your marketing strategy. When writing your goals, ensure they are specific, concise, timely and measurable.


Identify Your Customers


Another basic part of a marketing strategy is determining who your main customers are. This is referred to as your "target market," and there are several ways you can find this out. The easiest but most expensive way is to hire a market research company to do your research for you. To determine your target market yourself, talk to business owners in your industry and ask them about their customers. Network at local Chamber of Commerce and conference events. Conduct your own online research. For example, to research the target market for a home health care agency business, search with variations of keywords such as "target market" and "home health care agency." Once you have identified your target market, write a section about its key characteristics in your marketing strategy.


Communicate Why Your Product is Different


Another key part of a marketing strategy for beginners is communicating how your products or services are different from your those of your competitors. An easy way to do this is to get a pen and paper and write down as many responses to the following question as you can: "How does my product or service solve my customers' problems better than my competitors?" Once you have developed this list, you can then create a section called "Key Differentiators" in your marketing strategy.


Identify Your Marketing Mix


One of the most basic elements of a marketing plan is a section about your marketing mix, which is a combination of your company's product, price, place and promotional strategies, also known as the "four P's." Outlining your marketing mix is a simple strategy beginners can use to create an easy-to-understand marketing strategy. Take a couple paragraphs of your marketing strategy to describe the features of your product, how you will price it, where you will sell it and how you will promote it. There are many tactics you can use when promoting your business, including direct mail, Internet advertising, calling other businesses and face-to-face networking. When first starting off, experiment with several tactics and track which ones work best for you.

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