Question (W4)

Week 4 Discussion - Marketing Strategy

This week's discussion is worth 56 points.

This Week's Discussion Post

For this week's discussion, please respond to the following:

1. Complete the Marketing Vehicles Table, identifying the marketing vehicles you will use to reach your customers.

· Be sure to include the cost of each marketing vehicle.

· Add any additional notes under the table.

· Delete the italicized examples.

Marketing Vehicles Table
Marketing Vehicle	Frequency	Cost/Month
Example 1 Social Media: Facebook and Instagram	2-3 times per week	$600 per month
Example 2 TV Stations: Local Station, WTC	1 time per week	$1,000 per month
Example 3 Free Samples	2 events	$500 per month

2. Copy and paste the Marketing Vehicles Table into the discussion area.

3. Complete the Setup worksheet in the Business Plan Financials Excel Template according to the instructions in the guidelines.

· Snack Food Company Guidelines [PDF]  Download Snack Food Company Guidelines [PDF] .

· Company of Your Choice Guidelines [PDF]  Download Company of Your Choice Guidelines [PDF] .

4. Input the marketing vehicles' costs into the appropriate areas of the Marketing Budget worksheet in the Business Plan Financials Excel Template.

5. Attach the entire Business Plan Financials Excel Template to the discussion thread before clicking  Submit.

Post at least one substantive comment to another student's post.

Notes

· Textbook Chapter 10, "Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy," pages 163-194, provides additional detail about this topic.

· You will use the:

· Marketing vehicles information from this post in your Week 5 assignment, Marketing Plan and Budget.

· Information from the Setup and Marketing Budget worksheets in Section 2 of your Week 5 assignment.

· If you are new to Excel, you may want to view these LinkedIn Learning courses on working with Excel. These courses focus on performing data entry in Excel.

· Build Your Foundation in Excel [Video]Links to an external site. .

· Getting Started With Microsoft Excel [Video]Links to an external site. .

· You may also find these LinkedIn Learning courses on how to interpret a business's financials useful:

· Finance Essentials for Small Business [Video]Links to an external site. .

· Finance for Non-Financial Managers [Video]Links to an external site. .

· Finance Foundations for Solopreneurs [Video]Links to an external site. .

· You may also find Stephanie Morrow's article on how to set up a marketing budget,  Cost of Marketing: What Is the Average Budget?Links to an external site. , helpful to complete this discussion and your Week 5 assignment.

Important Notes: 

· Complete the table in Word and then copy from there and paste it into the discussion window.

· DO NOT attach the Word document to the discussion window. Only the Excel will be attached.

· With your response, include a brief description of your company: name, what business you are in, and the products or services you offer for sale.

· A substantive comment is at least 4-6 substantive sentences in length, sharing examples, your perspective, resources, your experience, making connections, asking questions, etc.

SAMPLE of Another Student’s Discussion Post

My company DEC stands for Delicious Energy Chocolate. We provide energy boosts in a tasty treat. Our chocolate is made with the best ingredients and sold as individual bars, bagged snack sizes, and online in bulk in multiple flavors.

 

                      Marketing Vehicles Table

Marketing Vehicle	Frequency	Cost/Month
Social Media: Facebook and Instagram	Daily	$300 per month   Facebook and Instagram $5 per day each
Point of purchase displays on product shelf or window display and shippers	May though September   5 months	$1000 per month $20 each 50 locations per month
Free Samples Costco/Sam’s Club	2 events per month   1 at Costco 1 at Sam’s Club	$290 per month $15 an hour for 16 hours = $120 + $50 Store fee.
Website Creation	1 Time	$5000
Website Maintenance and Hosting	Once a month	$600   $50 per month

 

Good morning, I know I will have to spend money to get off the ground and $17,680 is low for a company that is planning to generate $1 million in sales by 2024. I am planning to have the website setup professionally, so it can take orders and be user friendly to improve online sales. We will sell at both DEC.com and Amazon.com.  Our primary advertising will be on Facebook and Instagram targeting the state of Utah and showing where it can be purchased. We will have samplers at both Costco and Sam’s Club once a month advertising our bulk sales and allowing customers to try our bars. At many of our locations, we will have window stickers, shelf stickers, or shippers displayed during warmer months May through September.