Dallas Business Consultant Elijah ClarkDallas Business Consultant Elijah Clark

Marketing Audit

Based on questionnaires obtained by the opinions of marketing experts, it has been determined that marketing audits are a paramount factor in business success.[1] A marketingĀ audit can be an important tool in discovering potential risks within your business’s activities. Within the marketing industry, understanding how or why to market to a certain demographic is a key component to creating a successful marketing plan. To conduct an effective marketing audit, the method should have four major characteristics which include it being comprehensive regarding function, environment, and productivity; independent from decision-making managers; completed using a structured, systematic approach; and that it should be carried out on a periodic basis. A marketing audit can improve your marketing managementĀ and business problems by helping to assess and evaluate your business’s marketing ability, strategies, performance and effectiveness, problematic areas, and opportunities.

Having the ability to find and understand your customer, competitor, and product potential will make the process of marketingĀ your product or service much easier. A problem often found in businesses is that they don’t develop marketing strategiesĀ or perform preemptive audits. These businesses come to realize, in the middle of their marketing efforts, that they have no real plan or a way to monitor the effects of their marketing campaigns. Having a plan of action serves to pace and organize your marketing efforts. Regular audits can help you identify business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks specific to your industry and market. Furthermore, marketing audits can be used to direct the vision of your business, the value of products offered, and the effectiveness of current, previous, and future marketing efforts and organizational efficiencies. A good marketing audit should also assist with the implementation of a marketing strategy, and help in generating brandĀ awareness and sales.

 

[1] LipnickĆ” D., Ďaďo J. (2013). Marketing Audit and Factors Influencing Its Use in Practice of Companies (From an Expert Point of View). Journal of Competitiveness, 5 (4), 26-42.Ā doi: 10.7441/joc.2013.04.02

Quick and Easy Marketing Methods

Newsletters should be branded if you intend to share company news and not get lost amongst the spam. Temper the marketingĀ tone of your messages by integrating stories about your staff and customers.

Transactional emailsĀ are emails that directly promote products, promotions, and include emails sent to confirm an order or new account sign-up. Keep these emails succinct, but write with flair.

Videos are a great way to bring your brandĀ to life. They are the perfect vehicle to introduce your products and services. Be sure to keep them short and snappy, perfect for social mediaĀ sharing.

Business cards are pocket-sized promotional opportunities. Make sure they include relevant details like your social mediaĀ handles and links to your website. Loyalty cards are also good for encouraging return visits to your store and should reflect your brand. Postcards are a fun way to raise brand awareness. Whether you choose to mail them, add them to your packaging, or distribute them at local businesses, they must be attractive if you want customers to view and keep them.

Most agencies know how to leverage their own email marketingĀ skills to attract and nurture new business. However, they often overlook email as a communicationĀ channel post-sale. Email can be used to entice your customers in a scalable way as it provides the means necessary to continuously deliver added value over the course of your relationship. While many would argue that no one is looking forward to more emails, your emails should be relevant and thoughtfully written to ensure you don’t add to the SPAM issue.

Relationship Marketing

Strong customer relationships are essential for your business if you desire to increase salesĀ and generate a positive brandĀ reputation. Customers frequently recognize their relationships with businesses similar to personal connections. In analyzing whether customers looking for relationships with businesses actually desired a genuine personal relationshipĀ with the business, it was found that a majority of business-to-customer (B2C) relationships were inauthentic when contrasted with genuine person-to-person relationships.[1]

The foundation of relationshipĀ marketingĀ includes four essential elements of relationshipsĀ that include commitment, trust, comprehension, and quality. In an examination of 306 online surveys, researchers confirmed that each of the four elements of relationships influenced customer loyalty. Nevertheless, the customer’s perceptionĀ and comprehension of quality and value influenced the relationship and purchase intentions. [2]

As a business, you need to identify your target customers by analyzing their lifestyles, psychographics, income, spending capabilities, and mentalities so that you may offer them relevant products and services. For example, knowing that individuals from lower income groups would never be interested in, or have the means to buy, expensive and luxurious products is beneficial in that it allows your business to focus its attention on the likely buyers of your product or service. Trying to sell a Mercedes or a luxury watch to someone who finds it difficult to make ends meet would definitely be a disastrous marketing technique.

 

[1] Bettencourt, L. A., Blocker, C. P., Houston, M. B., & Flint, D. J. (2015). Rethinking customer relationships. Business Horizons, 58, 99-108. doi:10.1016/j.bushor.2014.09.003

[2] Jussila, J. J., KƤrkkƤinen, H., & Aramo-Immonen, H. (2014). Social media utilization in business-to-business relationships of technology industry firms. Computers in Human Behavior, 30, 606-613. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.07.047

Online Marketing Success

Content Marketing

Whether you’re a local business, an ecommerce site, or a nationwide franchise, your website goal(s) is what defines content purpose. Most of all, your website should be enjoyed by the consumer and tour guide visitors through a funnel to reach your website goal.

Keyword Copy Storylines

Content storylines need to answer a site visitor’s reason for pulling your website. It’s not convincing the visitor that they need your help by creating letters and words; instead, your words along with images narrate for visitors and convince them that your product/service will temper their hurdles so to purchase.

With that being said, many websites fail to have an objective. Keyword copy is then created for the sake of SEO, and disconnection of reality occurs on the premise that it leads to money. This belief though is only true when a website has a defined goal, and Web content storytelling is created for formal marketing strategies. For this reason, building brand awareness without a goal, while lacking marketing strategy, is a recipe unmindful of how to market a brand on the Web.

Buy Me Website Design

Serious Web businesses demand and press into service methodical online marketing strategies. Target audiences are analyzed, segmented, and character cross-sectioned. The result is a website with content that:

  1. Connects with
  2. Bewitches,
  3. Embraces,
  4. Influences, and
  5. Herds wanted goal action(s).

This course leaves no generic storyline driveways, and keeps your content focus revolving around your marketing strategies.

Consumer Leads

Marketers From Mars exposed that consumers’ love content storytelling and want it through:


This means that content has to be tweaked for each cross-sectioned audience silo. In other words, getting the copy storyline right depends on where and how the consumer encounters your brand within their unique shopping cycle.

What does this means for Web based businesses? Your brand’s storyline is keyword scripted, optimized as well as distributed for a consumer’s unique shopping cycle to accomplish your website’s purpose.

The Impact of Marketing

Marketing firms should focus their campaigns on what generates sales. The best campaigns are those that influence product purchases. If consumers dislike the campaign, but it sells product better than favored campaigns, then the advertisement would be considered a success. The goal of any campaign is to generate sales. The ideal campaign should build trust, influence sales, and generate brand awareness. Businesses should target and adapt their marketing strategies to focus on what consumers want and will purchase. The consumer is the ultimate power broker within any organization. Organizations should structure their marketing efforts on identifying and meeting their consumers’ individual needs. Those needs must be met within all aspects of the business, including price, customer support, and sales.
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My opinion is that marketing both reflects and shapes the needs of consumers. For instance, Apple Inc. is introducing a new watch to the market in a few days. I want a watch, but I do not want to spend $400 on an apple watch. Because of the price, I will not get the watch without being convinced that it can offer me something worth the price. In this sense, the idea/marketing of the watch is reflecting what I know based on the information I have. However, if apple markets the watch effectively, I can convince myself that I need the watch even if I do not really want to spend the money. In this sense, the marketing is shaping my needs and wants. The reality is that effective marketing can convince me of something that is outside of my desires.Ā 
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The implication is that marketing agency’s can capitalize off my internal weakness and pursued me to purchase without me desiring to do so. Though I may not need or want the product or service, the marketing campaign could create the campaign to be attractive by targeting it toward solving my hesitations to purchase. In addition, marketing is generated to serve the needs and wants of consumers. If the purchasing item is something that I already know I want, but have not purchased it for whatever reason, the marketing should influence my decision by resolving my concerns.
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From a personal perspective, I purchase based on three factors; Whether or not the item will help me become more productive, can it satisfy the things or people I love, or will is satisfy a fetish. I love electronics and tools that make me more productive, so if I give a salesperson my daily schedule, I expect them to convince me as to how their product can fit into that schedule and make it better. From there, I will take care of the third factor to convince my wife about why I “need” it.
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If the marketing firm can convince me that their product or service can enhance my productivity and quality of life, then I will make the purchase. The issue with this is that marketers can sell ideals that are not necessarily good for individuals. For example; unhealthy eating habits, weight loss goals, and purchasing items that are not financially responsible. The result is that the consumer should make the right decision.
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Marketing audits are crucial to achieving business success. Having the ability to find and understand your consumer, competitors, and product potential will make the process of marketing your product or service much easier than if done without it. A problem that I often see being in the marketing industry is that organizations don’t get audits, and within the middle of their marketing efforts, they realize they have no real plan or way to monitor the effects of their marketing campaigns. Having a plan of action helps pace and organizes the marketing efforts. Marketing audits help organizations identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks specific to their industry and market. Marketing audits can also satisfy the vision of the organization, the value of products offered, and the effectiveness of current, previous and future marketing efforts and organizational efficiency’s. A good marketing audit should assist with the implementation of a marketing strategy, which should help in generating brand awareness and sales.Ā 

Marketing Research Methods

Marketing and advertising has a direct affect on sales by reducing price sensitivity. If a customer likes and is satisfied with a product, they are more likely to recommend that product to a friend. Marketing is best when it delivers a value to customers efficiently and effectively. Researchers agree that qualitative techniques define and describe, while quantitative techniques estimate and quantify. Marketing metrics are an important part of evaluating the control process of marketing. When creating a new marketing strategy, neither qualitative nor quantitative measures are more important than the other when determining value and sales. Testing both measures will generate the most affective results.
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According to the evidence from the Coca-Cola Company, taste was considered the most important factor for their declined sales between the 1970s and 1980s. The New Coke was developed to enhance the flavor and generate sales. With the approval of more than half of the 200,000 blind product testers, the New Coke was introduced to replace the original flavored Coke. Because of the unfavorable results and backlash from consumers, the New Coke was withdrawn from the market and the Coke Classic was introduced with the original ingredients. In regards to the Coca-Cola Company’s quantitative study and the New Coke, the test provided inconclusive results because of the lack of information given to the participants. Though the participants enjoyed the flavor of the New Coke, it did not outweigh their desire and loyalty of the original Coke.
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Objective-based research is called quantitative research, and subjective-based research is considered qualitative research. Quantitative is considered hard marketing metrics, while qualitative is soft measures. Quantitative evaluates assets with monetary value, such as sales, gross margins, and profits. Qualitative evaluates intangible assets that indirectly derive from value such as loyalty, likability, and satisfaction. When gaining feedback from consumers, the appropriate questions must be asked in order to produce valuable and affective results. Quantitative objects are ideal for businesses that desire to increase their return on investment. Much of qualitative research is used only in subjectivist-type research, which uses either communication or observation. An example of communication-based research includes the simple form of asking questions to participants. To effectively measure qualitative research, there needs to be a means of recording and measuring behavior and reactions.
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I do not believe that marketers should choose between quantitative and qualitative research methods. Both measures are important and produce valuable insight into consumer behavior and value. The New Coke’s example of relying on only one type of study displays poor predictive validity. A consumers’ like toward an item is not a good predictor of purchase. Had the Coke Company taken a segmented approach and kept both products on the store shelves, they could have had a better idea of which the users liked best and which would generate the most sales in a side-by-side comparison.
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QuantitativeĀ research focuses on similar topics as qualitative,Ā such as how people feel, think, and behave. However, instead of asking participants directly, it uses structured data to test the information and conclude a hypothesis. QuantitativeĀ research can be used to objectively analyze information using calculations raw data and statistics. This type of research often test its methods using experiments, segmenting, and surveys, which can be used to collect the data. While qualitative research is not structured in nature, quantitativeĀ is very structured and based solely on factual data and calculations. A quantitativeĀ research survey would include closed questions. QuantitativeĀ research results are usually numerical, and data used to obtain the information includes phone calls, face-to-face, mail, and surveys.
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the best solution is to use both qualitativeĀ and quantitative approach.Ā QualitativeĀ research focuses on analyzing the in-depth details of why consumers behave the way in which they do. It searches for the barriers in place that may affect their reasoning. For instance, a new company may want to know things about their product in conjunction with how it feels, smells, and taste. Using a qualitativeĀ approach would assists in finding the appropriate marketing or product solution. A qualitativeĀ research type setting would be used to collect user information and explore the reasoning for their responses. In addition to those responses, details could be collected to determine how they arrived at their conclusions. Those details could include motives, emotions, and mental triggers. A focus group type setting is perfect for conducting qualitativeĀ research. Focus groups allow for in depth interviews with the participants that can be used to gain valuable product insight.

Mobile Marketing – Why you need it

Case Study:

  • The goal of thisĀ marketingĀ plan is to have potential and current clients subscribe to receive special discounts on products and services from CompanyEC via text messaging to theirĀ mobileĀ devices.
  • Customers will be able to access the website either by clicking on a link within the text to go to CompanyEC’s website or they can access the website via another computer.
  • CompanyEC will create aĀ mobileĀ website where customers will be able to access from theirĀ mobileĀ devices. ThisĀ mobileĀ website will have 3 buttons which consist of a portfolio, free quote, and button to dial CompanyEC’s phone number.
  • customers can subscribe to thisĀ marketingĀ plan via the websiteĀ where they will sign up by placing a checkmark in a box on the quote request form and the contact form.

ļ‚•Ā WhyĀ will customers care?

  • Customers will want to get involved with thisĀ marketingĀ plan to find the best deals and upcoming events that that CompanyEC may be holding.
  • The idea of thisĀ marketingĀ plan isn’t very original or unique from many competitors. However,Ā it’s aĀ marketingĀ plan that works and currently doesn’tĀ needĀ a fix a betterĀ it.

ļ‚•Ā Contextual RelevanceĀ oĀ Hard‐selling doesn’t work in digital channels. Bring to The time that theseĀ marketingĀ messages will be sent to the subscribers phone will be approximately 3:00p.m. CST on selected Thursdays.

  • The reason for this timing is that customers of CompanyEC normally contact the company for their services at the beginning of the week and having thisĀ marketingĀ plan later in the week will draw in customers at that time.

UsingĀ mobileĀ marketingĀ will allow CompanyEC to stay in contact with their customers and will allow customers to always consider CompanyEC when needing creative services asĀ mobileĀ marketingĀ helps keep customers thinking of the company.

  • 100% of thisĀ marketingĀ plan is focused on sales. The idea is to have subscribers receive a text message from CompanyEC and then either contact the company for more information or login to the websiteĀ and gather further information on the company and then complete the ā€œFree Quote Requestā€ form.
  • All customers and potential customers who purchase the marketed product from CompanyEC will receive the discount with or without receiving a text message with the special.
  • TheĀ marketingĀ text message is meant to be informative only and will also be posted on the home page of the website. The idea is to market to customers who haven’t been to the website on that particular date on which the special was started.

Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization for a Small Business

MarketingĀ is necessaryĀ forĀ anyĀ smallĀ businessĀ if they want to buildĀ aĀ strong online presence. While bigger businesses are going to be successful because of their nameĀ andĀ more money invested,Ā smallĀ businessĀ owners can still compete in the growingĀ InternetĀ market. There are many different non-expensive ways to make an onlineĀ businessĀ haveĀ aĀ big presence. The keys to understanding how an onlineĀ businessĀ works is by researching the industryĀ andĀ the target audience. ā€œOnce you know what you should be looking at, your onlineĀ businessĀ will thrive with justĀ aĀ little effort. You’ll be less ā€˜in the dark’ about what isĀ andĀ isn’t workingĀ forĀ youā€ (Hill, 2009, p. 4). There are many freeĀ andĀ non-expensive tools to help anyĀ businessĀ within the onlineĀ andĀ offline market. Along with knowing the industryĀ andĀ the target audience, an online marketer must also know where to findĀ marketingĀ venuesĀ andĀ an effective audience.

InĀ aĀ research done by writer Carrie Hill, she mentions that there are at least four important metrics when it comes to understanding the how to gain new online customers. The first of those metrics is understanding conversion rates. ā€œBy measuring your conversion rate, analyzing sticking points,Ā andĀ clearing the paths toĀ andĀ through your sales pages, you’re making sure your conversions are on their way to being the best in the industryā€ (Hill, 2009, p. 7). The next metric mentioned is referring sites & keywords. This consists of using popular relevant affiliate sourcesĀ forĀ marketingĀ to new customers. It also consists of knowing what keywords to use in order to create an effective advertisement. Bounce rate is also mentioned as the third of the four metrics. Bounce rate is used to determine ifĀ aĀ page is being effective.Ā AĀ great example to understanding bounce rate is someone going ontoĀ aĀ website, not seeing anything they likeĀ andĀ immediately leaving the site without clicking on any link within the site. The final metric mentioned is measuring the number of unique visitors. This ā€œgives youĀ aĀ better idea of the ā€˜people visits’ to your Web site versus the number of pages they viewed on the siteā€ (Hill, 2009, p. 18).

Writer Michel Martinez mentionsĀ searchĀ engineĀ optimizationĀ tactics consisting of Visibility, which he mentions ā€œis an intangible aspect ofĀ searchĀ engineĀ optimizationā€ (Martinez, 2006, p. 2). Another mention is organizing the websites content to help the visitorsĀ andĀ searchengines better understand the site. Almost all websites have embedded keywords in themĀ andĀ Martinez mentions that keywords are relevant but that they are ā€œmeaningless until you know how they fit into the big pictureā€ (Martinez, 2006, p. 4). He continues by stating that ā€œkeyword research is fundamental to understanding what potential visitors need to draw them intoĀ aĀ siteā€ (Martinez, 2006, P. 16). His study also shows that site links are most importantĀ andĀ should be organized just as well as the site content. He mentions segue points as being incidental content that is not indexable. This includes images, tablesĀ andĀ boxes, which can clutterĀ aĀ web siteĀ andĀ drive potential customers away.

Michael Rappa hasĀ aĀ great article on the topic of runningĀ aĀ businessĀ on the web. His article discusses that ā€œaĀ businessĀ model is the method of doingĀ businessĀ by whichĀ aĀ company can sustain itself — that is, generate revenue. TheĀ businessĀ model spells-out howĀ acompany makes money by specifying where it is positioned in the value chainā€ (Rappa, 2009, p. 2). His research further states that many web marketer’s work together to createĀ aĀ broader range of customers. This includes using affiliate programsĀ andĀ advertising on one another’s site. An example of this would be one site owner beingĀ aĀ web design companyĀ andĀ the other beingĀ aĀ searchĀ engineoptimizationĀ company. They can both offer the others services to their customers.

According to writer Jon Rognerud, he believes that social mediaĀ marketingĀ isĀ aĀ great way to better market an onlineĀ business. He mentions how getting out in the social network arenaĀ andĀ interacting with potential customers isĀ aĀ great way to getĀ aĀ businessĀ name out on the market. ā€œSocial mediaĀ marketingĀ (SMM) isĀ aĀ form ofĀ internetĀ marketingĀ which seeks to achieve brandingĀ andĀ marketingcommunication goals through the participation in various social media networksā€. Rognerud believes that ā€œyou can convert traffic if you target appropriately (research needed),Ā andĀ do not spamā€ ( Rognerud, 2008, p 10). This method can be very time consumingĀ andĀ can ultimately beĀ aĀ fulltime job with the extensive maintenanceĀ andĀ updates that need to be made.

AĀ Writer from Thomas Reuters website says that ā€œBusinessĀ owners should carefully plan theirĀ marketingĀ strategiesĀ andĀ performance to keep their market presence strongā€ (Reuters, 2009, p. 1). Without planning, there could potentially be lots of timeĀ andĀ money wasted targeting the wrong audience or not targeting effectively. ā€œMarketingĀ is based on the importance of customers toĀ aĀ business,Ā andĀ has two important principles.

1. All company policiesĀ andĀ activities should be directed toward satisfying customer needs.

2. Profitable sales volume is more important than maximum sales volumeā€ (Reuters, 2009, p. 2).

ā€œMarket research will also identify trends that affect salesĀ andĀ profitability. Population shifts, legal developments,Ā andĀ the local economic situation should be monitored to quickly identify problemsĀ andĀ opportunities. It is also important to keep up with competitors’ market strategiesā€ (Reuters, 2009, p. 4). Keeping up with competitors strategies can be very effectiveĀ andĀ can save from potentially wasting timeĀ andĀ money. This can be affective, not only by studying what competitors are doing right, but also what they are doing wrong.

There are plenty of ways to better market anyĀ businessĀ online. Most programs that can help do this are free of chargeĀ andĀ haveĀ aĀ very reliable technique that can only help anyĀ business. These methods aren’t just used byĀ smallĀ businesses, but they are used by anyone who is looking to better market their onlineĀ business. Even with the amount of tools to help market these businesses, it is very time consuming. There is no one method to use to createĀ aĀ flawless onlineĀ marketingĀ plan. The most effective method that anyĀ businessĀ can use to better theirĀ businessĀ is to take the time by researchingĀ andĀ staying updated on the marketĀ andĀ the target customers.

 

Credits

Hill, C. (2009).Ā Taking the fear out of web analyticsĀ forĀ yourĀ smallĀ business. RetrievedNovember 8, 2009, from http://searchenginewatch.com/3634179/

Martinez, M. (2006).Ā Four fundamental principles of seo. Retrieved November 15 2009, from http://www.seomoz.org/blog/four-fundamental-principles-of-seo

Rappa, M. (2009).Ā BusinessĀ models on the web. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html

Rognerud, J. (2009).Ā Social mediaĀ marketingĀ beginner’s guide. Retrieved November 14, 2008, from http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/04/social-media-marketing-beginners-guide.html

Thomson Reuters. (2009).Ā MarketingĀ basics. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from

Analyzing a Marketing Plan

The goal of theĀ tourism strategic marketing plan forĀ ConnecticutĀ is to direct and coordinate marketing efforts. The levels in which a marketing plan operates are strategic and tactical. Strategic focuses on target market and the company’s value proposition. Tactical market plans specify marketing tactics such as product features, promotions, pricing, sales channels, and service.Ā The salient features of the Connecticut marketing plan include its overall goals and objectives. The State is looking to gain visitors by introducing awareness of its history, activities, and art and culture. Additionally, the marketing plan has a solid understanding of its desired consumer and marketing goals.
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Overall, the plan has a good idea as to what is needed to generate awareness. The objectives are simple and seem achievable by the company. The plan, however, has no detailed strategy for achieving the desired results. Marketing implementation should address the who, where, when, and how of a marketing goal. To address the desired segment of users, the plan suggest building the brand through marketing efforts and industry partners.Ā The goal of the plan is to influence visitors to the State by increasing the State’s relevancy and attractiveness to potential visitors.Ā The plan suggests that in order to communicate to the desired market segment, the company should focus on markets that have the greatest visitor potential. Those markets include women who are between the age of 25 and 54, individuals who live within surrounding areas, and individuals with a household income of $80,000 or more.Ā 
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To improve the current marketing plan, the marketing company should create an actual strategy that can be followed to implement the plan. Marketing implementation is the process that ensures the strategy accomplishes the stated objectives.Ā For instance, the plan refers to building search engine optimization into its production. However, it does not mention which keywords to optimize for and why those keywords are best suited for the task. Additionally, the plan has no mention why this plan will be effective at producing positive results. Furthermore, there is no mention of competition and market potential.Ā A marketing strategy should address the what and why of marketing activity.
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Marketing plans are the starting points for successful companies, and the plan often includes dozens to hundreds of pages worth of data analysis. The difference between a marketing plan and a business plan is that a business plan focuses mainly on defining the company, its history, mission, and goals. A business plan includes more than just a marketing plan or strategy. It also includes discussion regarding staffing, locations, finances, and strategic alliances. A marketing plan focuses on creating keys to success. Additionally, the marketing plan tells the story of how to achieve goals and generate success. Each of the company’s leaders and managers should see the plan and give insight into whether the plan is achievable. Marketing plans are best when there are many people involved in its creation. Gaining feedback is important considering most all ideas will affect each department within the company. Leaders and managers can provide realistic data, experiences, and share insight into market opportunities.Ā 
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Marketing plans are crucial for starting and growing a business. A good marketing plan will help organizations identify there target customers, and generate a plan to reach and retain those customers. The marketing plan is the roadmap to gain customers and improve organizational success if done properly. A Key section of the marketing plan includes the executive summary, which is helpful for providing an overview of the organization and the plan. Additionally, the plan describes the desired customer by targeting their precise needs based on their demographic profiles. This is helpful for identifying targeted customers and creating pinpointed advertisement aimed directly at those prospective customers.Ā 
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An additional crucial point of the marketing plan is its plan of distribution. The distribution plan details how customers will purchase or buy in to the organization. The promotional strategy of the plan is considered one of the most important sections of the plan. The promotional strategy details how new customers are to be reached. Examples of an affective promotional strategy include distribution and promotional tactics on television, at trade shows, and through online advertising. A marketing plan includes everything from understanding the desired customer, to determining how to outperform and strategize the competition. A marketing plan is paramount to achieving business success and the time taken to develop a marketing plan, is an investment worth making considering it defines who to connect with customers and generate sales.Ā 

Analyzing the Context of Internet Marketing

Mobile vs. TraditionalĀ InternetĀ Context:Ā 

CompanyECĀ (CEC) currently does not have a mobile based website. While its current website does fit a normal touch screen mobile device, it is not built for mobile devices at all.Ā TheĀ biggest concern from some mobile device users who have tried to viewĀ theĀ CEC website, is that they are getting slow loading times forĀ theĀ website. What CEC should do to fix this issue is create a website made specifically for mobile devices (FairWinds Partners, 2007). What this mobile website should include is a link toĀ theĀ about us, testimonials, portfolio, contact us and make a payment. EachĀ ofĀ these pages should also be optimized for mobile browsing to allow for faster speed, better graphics and a small amountĀ ofĀ clicks to help navigateĀ theĀ user quickly. In addition to creating a mobile website for consumers mobile devices, creating a newĀ marketingĀ plan aimed at mobile devices could also benefit CEC’ mobileĀ marketingĀ (Fairchild, 2009).

Cultural Uniformity Within a Country vs. Cultural Variation within your country:Ā 

I believe thatĀ theĀ United States does have cultural differences. These differences include consumers locations, lifestyle, income and many other psychographics and demographics. Being that CEC is an online business located in Dallas, TX, we have to direct ourĀ marketingĀ toward consumers withinĀ theĀ area. These consumers are normally different form those within other partsĀ ofĀ theĀ country. Being that I have personally lived up north and now down south, I have seen many differences inĀ theĀ cultureĀ ofĀ these consumers. Our normal consumers from up north are normally focused more on design and price, while our consumers fromĀ theĀ south are concerned about building a relationship and trust with our company. We have had to changeĀ theĀ way that we did business once we moved locations. Nonetheless, being that we work with customers all throughoutĀ theĀ country, we try to keep our business practices universal to all customers.

I believe thatĀ InternetĀ Marketers target specific ethnic groups. While I believe this, I believe that sometimes, it is necessary based onĀ theĀ target market thatĀ theĀ particular business would like to attract. For example, CEC has never had a Middle Eastern customer. Knowing that mostĀ ofĀ our consumers are African American, Hispanic or White, we target ourĀ marketingĀ efforts toward these individuals and businesses because it has a better chance at success as it is proven. Nonetheless, being that we do want all customers and ethnics to purchase services from our company, we may need to look into ourĀ marketingĀ strategy and find out a way to make it attractive toward all ethnicities.

Credits

Fairchild, T. (2009). Matching mobile ads to consumer intent. Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://searchengineland.com/matching-mobile-ads-%20to-consumer-intent-24647

FairWinds Partners LLC. (2007). Mobile web: what is the mobile web? Retrieved May 28, 2010, from http://www.fairwindspartners.com/en/newsroom/perspectives/vol-2-issue-7/mobile-web

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