BUS599: Marketing Plan

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Tell them what they get, not what you do.

Reaching and Capturing Customers You must have customers to stay in business: It’s the most basic business truth. That’s why an effective marketing plan to communicate with, motivate, and secure customers is vital for your company’s success. Since reaching customers costs money, and money is always limited, your marketing strategy must be carefully and thoughtfully designed. If you are developing a business plan to seek outside funding, remember that many investors read the marketing plan portion closely. They want to know you have a realistic and price-conscious strategy to get your product or service into the hands of customers. In your marketing plan you define:

■ How you make customers aware of your product or service; ■ What message you are trying to convey to customers about your product, service, or company; ■ Specific methods you use to deliver and reinforce that message; and ■ How you secure actual sales.

Note that marketing and sales, although closely related, are two different activities. Marketing is designed to increase customer awareness and deliver a message; sales is the direct action taken to solicit and procure customer orders. Thus, marketing includes activities such as advertising, creating brochures, social media marketing, networking, and public relations; sales encompasses telemarketing, sales calls, and ecommerce sales.

“Some people think it’s either win or lose. But every game is followed by another. An analogy in business is that every sales call will be followed by another. You’re always preparing for the next one. So it’s important to make each game as close as possible, do as well as you can on each call. Even in the process of losing, even if you don’t make the sale, you’re improving and refining your skills, and how well you perform when you lose is important in determining whether you will eventually win.”

Bill Walsh Former Coach and President

San Francisco 49ers

In devising and implementing your marketing strategy, you may wish to use the services of specialists such as marketing consultants, advertising agencies, and public relations advisors. While these professionals can increase the focus and effectiveness of your efforts, you must never relinquish the marketing program entirely to outsiders — it is far too crucial to the definition and success of your business.

This chapter provides the basic tools you need when outlining a marketing strategy to be included in a business plan document.

“As a socially responsible company, you need to tap into people’s real desire to help, and create an experience that gives them real satisfaction.”

Premal Shah President, Kiva

Your Company’s Message Every business sends a message in its marketing. This message, based on the strategic position the company stakes out for itself, emphasizes particular attributes, such as “low-price leader” or “one-day service.” Or perhaps the message exploits a market niche: “specialists in estate planning” or “software for architects.” Maybe the message is less direct and aimed more at the customer’s self-image: “the choice of a new generation” or “I’m lovin’ it.”

The Four Ps of Marketing

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What messages do you give customers to motivate them to purchase your product or service? Traditional marketing experts emphasize the elements in the graphic below, known as “the Four Ps,” in influencing customers to buy.

WHY CUSTOMERS BUY: THE FOUR Ps

These elements leave a lot out of the marketing picture, however, especially as customers have become more discriminating over the years and look for products or services not just to fill an immediate need but to enhance their overall sense of well-being.

Most marketing strategists agree that people buy benefits, not features. In other words, customers are more concerned about how a purchase will affect their lives than about how the company achieves those results. So your marketing message must tell customers what they get, such as security or an enhanced self-image, rather than merely the detailed specifics of what your product or service does.

What Customers Want: The Five Fs “The Five Fs,” described below, are a convenient way to sum up what customers want.

1. Functions. How does the product or service meet their concrete needs?

2. Finances. How will the purchase affect their overall financial situation — not just the price of the product or service, but other savings and increased productivity?

3. Freedom. How convenient is it to purchase and use the product or service? How will they gain more time and less worry in other aspects of their lives?

4. Feelings. How does the product or service make customers feel about themselves, and how does it affect and relate to their self-image? Do they like and respect the salesperson and the company?

5. Future. How will they deal with the product or service and company over time? Will support and service be available? How will the product or service affect their lives in the coming years, and will they have an increased sense of security about the future?

Customers, of course, want to receive benefits in all these areas, and you should be aware of how your product or service fulfills the entire range of their needs. However, your primary message must concentrate on one or two of these benefits that most effectively motivate your customers and that stake out a competitive position for your company.

You communicate these benefits through every interaction you have with your customers, not simply through your advertising. Naturally, your company slogan and any words you use in advertisements deliver an overt statement to the potential customer. Perhaps the name of the business itself is a direct message, for example, “Toys ’R Us” or “Cheap Tickets.”

Success key terms Ecommerce Conducting sales and transactions on the Internet.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) The practice of purchasing ads to increase your website’s ranking and visibility on relevant search engine results pages — often called paid search.

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Optimizing your website by planning content and design that leads to high rankings on search engine results pages when a user searches for relevant keywords.

Social Media Content created by individuals and disseminated online through networking sites such as blogs, YouTube, and Facebook. Used for awareness, marketing, and customer communication and retention.