MARKETING AND SALES TIPS for Start-Ups and Product Launches Hosted - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

MARKETING AND SALES TIPS for Start-Ups and Product Launches Hosted by Norma A. Mendoza, Ph.D. President MerKadoTeknia Research and Consulting LLC

OUTLINE  Defining Marketing Goals and Sales Objectives  Defining And Reaching Your Target Market  Mapping Strategy to Achieve Goals  Reaching Your Target Market  Evaluating Your Strategy – The Feedback Loop  Worksheet – Self Evaluation  Concluding Thoughts, Q&A

DEFINING MARKETING GOALS AND SALES OBJECTIVES Customer orientation Determine target market’s needs and wants – satisfy needs and wants more efficiently and effectively than the competition DOES YOUR PRODUCT SERVICE SOLVE A PROBLEM? (Be it perceived or real)

DEFINING AND REACHING YOUR TARGET MARKET WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO SELL TO? Who needs your solution? Map their consumer decision making process • 1) PROBLEM/NEED RECOGNITION • 2) SEARCH FOR INFORMATION • 3) EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVES • 4) CHOICE • 5) POST-CHOICE EVALUATION THIS IS THE STARTING POINT FOR YOUR STRATEGIC PLANNING

MARKETING RESEARCH Should guide 12-18 months of decisions • Consumer behavior patterns, demand – Primary data • Competition • Industry trends Secondary data • Legal developments • Sourcing- stability of prices IT NEEDS TO BE PART OF YOUR OPERATING BUDGET 5

MAPPING A STRATEGY TO ACHIEVE GOALS AWARENESS PREFERENCE TRIAL REPEAT SALES LOYALTY • Each of the above requires a different strategic approach – MARKETING MIX • Requires long-term planning

MARKETING MIX 7

BRANDING, POSITIONING AND DIFFERENTIATION Brand equity is the sum of consumers’ perceptions and feelings about: • A products ’ attributes and how they perform • A brand name and what it stands for • The company associated with the brand Positioning desired perception of your product/service when seen against competitors Differentiation Unique Selling Proposition consumers’ perception versus reality

REACHING YOUR TARGET MARKET • Traditional Media planning o Resource allocation based on objectives o 12-month schedule minimum • Marketing 2.0 - Social media and guerilla marketing o Low-cost but time consuming o Planning and scheduling o Content is KING – engage! o Requires a clear brand image – single voice • The role of a sales team

EVALUATING YOUR STRATEGY – THE FEEDBACK LOOP The ROI of marketing efforts Evaluation should be based on initial objectives • Pre- and post analysis Levels of analyses o Short-term o Long-term o Product-specific, region specific, market specific Resource allocation based on outcome

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK • Customer satisfaction surveys • Gap analysis of expectations versus experience • Mystery shoppers • Customer complaint analysis • Analysis of customer defections ONGOING PROCESS o MONTHLY o QUARTERLY o YEARLY

Worksheet • Complete based on your own situation • Start up • Product launch • Existing business • What areas were you able to answer confidently? • What areas were you struggling with? WHAT’S NEXT?

Q & A nmendoza@merkaconsulting.com www.merkaconsulting.com info@merkaconsulting.com @Merkaconsulting