If the business doesn’t respond to the market it could be left behind allowing its competitors to catch up.
The organisation has to ask itself a number of questions: -
- Marketing & Advertising Plan
Marketing Research will allow us to make the right decisions for the organisations promotional activities to both online and offline markets.
We know that the business has two main target markets, understanding the segments assists us to maximise profit.
Primary research is needed to assist us in delivering what the customer wants, when they want it and how. A mail shot questionnaire using the database of current clients with bought in mailing lists to target potential clients in both segments would be useful.
Secondary research is needed to identify and gain an understanding of the industry trends and the product category. Analysis of sales made by client, product and location is a good example of secondary data available internally.
An understanding of the competition, the potential target audiences, and their decision making process is vital.
Small Business Gateway in Scotland offer a variety of data to businesses at a reduced cost. The data can be tailored to suit business needs and is charged at £20 per 100 with some data offered free. The databases can be used to create mailing lists and facilitate direct marketing.
The most important aspect of the campaign development lies within the organisations ability to:
Develop and analyse the research available
Develop logical objectives and strategies
Targeting and Positioning of product
Understand buyer behaviour
The Promotional Mix
The main marketing tools within the marketing mix are Product, Price, Promotion and Place. A good mix of the 4 P’s is needed in order to deliver customer satisfaction and gain competitive advantage.
Promotion – how do we best communicate the information concerning the product and services associated.
A carefully blended mix of promotional tools will address the objectives set out. The promotional plan should allow the business to efficiently and effectively achieve the marketing and communications objectives within the budget tolerances.
Communication
Any form of promotional activity should take into account the message. To communicate with the target audience effectively marketers need to understand how communication works. There are nine components that make up the communications process, the two main players are the sender and receiver.
Communication starts with a clear focus on who the target audience is be they current customers or potential buyers.
There are six buyer readiness stages, these are the stages we pass through when deciding to purchase.
To test the awareness of the target audience techniques such as name recognition assist with product recall. In this case the company name ‘The Wine Seller’ will promote recall and brand image.
The website should incorporate added value services that will encourage customers to come back and therefore reinforce the knowledge of the services and products offered.
A short online questionnaire with a bonus incentive such as a discount on purchase would assist marketers when evaluating whether the product and service is to the liking of the market. This should also be available to offline markets with an incentive to buy online, i.e. a paper copy with pre paid envelope for markets that don’t wish to use the online facility. This could be sent out with correspondence such as invoices and newsletters.
A direct marketing exercise using primary data would assist us to evaluate the market place and discover why the market might like the product but not prefer it to others. Following a campaign the marketer should evaluate the results to discover the preference of potential clients.
Ultimately the marketer wants the audience to develop preference and conviction when buying the product. We can use advertising to communicate the benefits of choosing a particular product or service.
Communications should lead the buyer to the final step, making the purchase.
The promotional tools that may assist with all of the elements of communication are far reaching. For this particular market segment wine tasting evenings, promotional offers and discounts will assist in reinforcing the message and leading buyers to purchase.
The appeal of the message will be Rational. The message content will emphasise the quality of the offering and give a certain kudos to the product. This will make the product highly desirable to the target market and potential markets.
The message format will reinforce the quality of the product a strong brand image is necessary such as the green and yellow of Harrods. The message could be reinforced with sunny pictures of Tuscan villas that promote a certain type of lifestyle.
Promotional Techniques
Promotional tools should be used to give a good blend of the Promotional Mix.
‘The Wine Seller’ should concentrate their promotional campaign budget on Advertising, Direct Marketing and Personal Selling. A complimentary advertising campaign through an upmarket Sunday newspaper supplement such as the Sunday Times Style Magazine would help retain the exclusivity or Kudos of the product.
A television advertisement run over eight consecutive Sunday lunchtime slots in the run up to the website launch will help promote brand awareness.
All stationery should be reprinted to carry the URL or web address of the website.
Wine tasting evenings in the country house hotels that buy the product already will help build good relationships.
A Discount of 10% should be offered to the first 500 customers that place an order on the website.
All advertising in whatever form should carry the URL for the website.
It makes sense to get the website higher up in the search rankings. It also makes good business sense to obtain data concerning what customers do when visiting the site, I.e. how long they stay and where they go afterwards. This information will assist us to gain competitive advantage.
Direct Marketing
The database of current customers will allow a useful direct marketing campaign. Executed properly, direct mail will send its message only to chosen lists of people who are known to be interested, or have a very strong possibility of being interested in the products and services of ‘The Wine Seller’. We should use the database of customer information we already have to send them highly targeted mailings that promote sales of items based on past buying habits.
Direct marketing is when applied online is also interactive and immediate. Customers visiting the site should be able to gain access to more information than simply what the product range is and how much they cost. Once the customer visits the site added value options such as menu to wine selector, wine recommendations based on customer buyer behaviour and gift vouchers that can be redeemed through the site will assist in ensuring the customers come back.
Direct marketing has also shown that the customer feels they have a greater degree of control and measure.
The benefits of direct marketing to the business in that they can build up data in their CRM systems consisting of existing and potential customers. Using this type of information helps to build strong, ongoing customer relations.
In the case of ‘The Wine Seller’ the direct marketing campaign should be timed to coincide with the launch of the website. Based on the interaction this will produce the business can then interact online with the customers to learn more about the needs and wants of the market.
If the business could encourage the majority of its market to market and transact online there would be a reduction in staff costs as the ordering process should link into stock control, dispatch and invoicing therefore freeing up staff time.
Setting the Budget
The Objective and Task Method has been used in this instance to ensure that the objectives which were outlined at the outset will be met.
Budget £500,000
Expenditure
Half page ad in the Sunday Times Style Magazine x 4 Sundays £160,000
Secondary data for Direct Marketing @ £20.00 per 100 (1000 required) £ 20,000
Television Advertising (Sunday lunchtime x 2 ads over 8 Sundays @ £25,000) £200,000
Cost includes production
Reprinting of all stationery £ 15,000
Search Engine Optimisation & Data Mining £ 5650
Wine Tasting evenings in Country House Hotels & Promotional offers £100,000
Conclusion
It is important to the marketer to understand how communication works in order to send the right message to the right people at the right time using the correct medium for the audience.
It is vitally important that after a communicating that the results or findings are monitored and evaluated.
Evaluation measures the success or failure of promotional campaigns. These promotions sometimes fail due to poor objectives and a poor understanding of customer needs and wants.
Successful e-businesses realise the importance of integrating their offline and online marketing activities.
Any promotional activity should run over a reasonable time scale in order that the receivers of the message recall the content. This helps reinforce the message and leads consumers to Purchase.
The internet is the biggest library and storefront in the world and therefore an ideal platform to sell products and ideas and research competitors.