How To Start Your Marketing Strategy

When discussing a marketing strategy, the first thing that comes to mind is to think about how and where to start. Therefore, we will give you the steps that will lead you to success: Before thinking about a sales process, you need to know who your main competitors are, what methods they use to attract customers, and what their pricing strategies are. We could say that we should not fear the competition, but love it, since it will give us information of great value.

In addition to the market performance of the competition, it is essential to know your target audience. Well, not all products and services are for everyone. Discover their tastes, needs, purchasing habits, sociodemographic profile, interests, and other aspects that you consider necessary.

Stand Out From The Competition

All companies have competition, even the largest ones. The secret to success is to stand out from them by being different. Therefore, you need a unique value proposition and strive to enhance it since it will be what will distinguish your business and the reason why customers will choose your products and services. To achieve this, you must make them see that it is something they need because it solves a problem for them.

Create Your Marketing Calendar

Once you have created your strategy, you should think about making a calendar to follow the guidelines to publish the content and make those related to special days such as Black Friday or Valentine’s Day, among others. Remember that these are when users spend the most, and you should plan your marketing strategy to promote the products or services that best suit you.

Make A Simple Purchase Process

Faced with a world in which there is so much competition, the customer appreciates that the purchase process is simple and without difficulties because if not, they will give up the purchase. Studies have revealed that 87% of consumers abandon the purchase if the process is too complex and more than 55% say they would never return to that web page. Inserting popular payment methods such as Bizum or PayPal will allow customers to find the purchase process much more pleasant and secure. These are just some ideas you can follow to create your marketing strategy and attract new customers, increase sales and make the customers you already have loyal. Talk to us, and we will help you create a safe and effective marketing strategy.

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Product

The product can be tangible like a vehicle, a mobile phone, some shoes, etc., or intangible like a consultancy service, software, hosting, etc., and that can be perceived only indirectly. In any case, the product that hits the market will go through different stages: initial growth, stability and a drop in sales. Hence the importance of investigating its life cycle before putting it up for sale.

What Should We Ask Ourselves About The Product

When developing and introducing a product on the market, we should ask ourselves some questions that will help us bring to fruition what we want to sell:

• What does the customer receive from the service or product?
• How and when will you use it?
• What features will the product have to satisfy the customer?
• Have we added all the features?
• Have we added any more, and that is unnecessary?
• Do we have a catchy name for the product?
• How do we visualize it (sizes, colors and other characteristics?
• What differentiates us from the competition?

Point Of Sale

Another of the four P’s of marketing applied to an online store is the point of sale or the place where we will sell the product. Obviously, the point of sale for an online store is the Internet. However, if we also have a physical store, conducting a market study of the area would be advisable before opening our business.

Distribution Strategies

There are many distribution strategies, for example:

• Extensive. It is the one that tries to cover the most significant number of points of sale. Ideal for basic or first need products.
• Intensive. It is the one that seeks the distribution of the product in an equivalent commercial branch.
• Exclusive. Carefully choose the points of sale to increase the prestige of the brand. We have more control and more margin. It is often used for high-end products.
• Selective. Restrict the number of products, either by philosophy or company image, or based on geographical perspectives.

What Should We Ask Ourselves About The Point Of Sale

To develop our distribution strategy, we could ask ourselves these questions:

• Where do customers look for our service or product?
• Is it possible to sell the product online?
• How do we access distribution channels?
• How does the competition distribute?

Price

The price is the final cost the user will pay for the product, and it is one of the main items for sale and determines our company’s profit. The advantage that we have, being an online store, is the considerable savings in some expenses that will influence the final price of the product, especially those related to marketing, since we do not need to hire vendors nor pay the rent of the physical establishment. If we are a new business with new products, it is unlikely that customers will pay a high price for them, so adjusting their prices should be part of our marketing strategy.

Strategies

Here are the top five pricing strategies:

• Market penetration. It aims to conquer potential clients by offering more contained prices on the products or services we offer initially.
• Premium. This strategy sets a price above the average market price and makes consumers think that our product has added value compared to the competition.
• Skimming. The first phase consists of entering the market with a high price, attracting the less price-sensitive segments, lowering it considerably and reaching the rest of the segments. This is more effective if you have little competition.
• Psychological prices. It is to fix a product and that the client acts by emotion rather than logic. For example, instead of setting a total price, set a lower price with decimals: €99.99 instead of €100.
• In a batch. They sell a group of products at a lower price than when purchased individually.

What Should We Ask Ourselves About The Price

The questions we should ask ourselves before setting a price could be the following:

• How much does it cost us to produce the product or service?
• What value does the customer perceive in the product?
• If we lower the price, could we increase the market share?
• Can we maintain the product’s price compared to that of our competitors?

Promotion

Finally, promotion is another of the four Ps of marketing applied to an online store. This is the way to communicate the sale of a product or service, intending to disseminate the product and persuade the consumer to make a purchase.

Promotion Elements

The promotion consists of elements such as:

• Sales organization. It deals with the sale and distribution of a product or service.
• Public Relations. Manages relations with the public through favorable publicity, good corporate image, controlling everything that is said about our company.
• Advertising. Any paid way to present and promote the product by an identified sponsor.
• Sales promotion. Short-term incentives that encourage the purchase of a product or service.

What Should We Ask Ourselves About Promotion

We should ask ourselves some questions if we want to create a good product promotion strategy:

• How do we send promotional messages to our potential buyers?
• When is a good time to promote our product?
• Through what means can we reach our clients (radio, television, AdWord)?
• Would we include the RRSS in our promotion strategy?
• What does our competition do to promote the product?

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This is the objective of Six Sigma, to provide a methodology that responds to organizational needs. It is an improvement strategy whose aim is to detect and eliminate the causes responsible for the failures or defects in the processes that affect the critical characteristics of the products or services that are of vital importance for the clients. Its engine is the powerful DMAIC improvement cycle: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control.

From a functional point of view, Six Sigma is based on analyzing empirical data and statistical tools to reduce the risk of error in production processes, something fundamental to measure a company’s operational efficiency. Six Sigma is a disciplined, structured, and quantitative management system that increases customer satisfaction, reduces costs and optimizes manufacturing processes. A management system that goes hand in hand has many meeting points with Lean Management, where continuous improvement from workgroups solves problems and drives value flows.

But How Does Six Sigma Work?

In statistics, the Greek letter “Sigma” (Σ, σ, or ς, depending on its location within a word) represents the deviation from an expected result. There are different levels of Sigma in production processes, depending on the number of defective products per million units delivered to the end customer (DPMO). The objective of the Six Sigma methodology is to improve the procedures of the company until reaching a Sigma 6 (3.4 DPMO). This implies a degree of efficiency greater than 99%. Hence, the “Sigma” concept is associated with efficiency.

Six Sigma Techniques: DMAIC And DMADV

The Six Sigma methodology is usually used to improve processes or products that already exist in the company. It is based on the DMAIC method (Define, Measure, Analysis, Improve, Control), which consists of 5 phases:

Define (Define)

It consists of finding the problem, defining it in detail (which areas it affects, what processes are involved, who could be in charge of improving these processes, etc.), and validating it.

Measure

In this second phase, all the activities carried out during the erroneous process are recorded to understand the operation of the problem (studying variables such as customers, product characteristics, etc.) and check if the company can find a solution.

Analyze

The objective of this phase is to analyze the natural causes that have caused the problem or defect. Data and figures related to the processes that are to be optimized to find cause-effect relationships are studied.

Improve

The extracted cause-effect relationships make it possible to determine what improvements are necessary and optimize each phase of production. It is required to test various options to find the optimal solution.

Control (Control)

It’s about preventing the same mistakes from being made again. This last phase of the Six Sigma method includes taking the necessary measures to guarantee the continuity of the improvements implemented.

Apply the DMADV method

When Six Sigma is applied to processes or products that do not yet exist, they have based on the DMADV (Define, Measure, Analysis, Design, Verify) method, which differs slightly from the previous one. Its phases, in this case, are:

Define (Define)

It consists of defining the process that we want to implement.

Measure

That is, calculate how the process will develop according to all possible variables.

Analyze

It is about establishing criteria to measure and design the new process, analyzing each phase, verifying if they add value, and locating possible errors to find preventive solutions.

Design

Thanks to the previous analysis, it is possible to establish the parameters that help us design a production model according to our needs and objectives.

Verify

To verify the design, it is necessary to analyze each phase, paying attention to the metrics and the established parameters.

What Advantages Does Six Sigma Offer

The main advantage of Six Sigma as a methodology for the quality control of processes and products is that it is oriented to the end customer. In addition, it is a proactive method because it establishes how to make improvements even before defects in the processes are detected. This is especially important for small companies and SMEs, making quality a differentiator against their competition. The Six Sigma methodology also seeks profitability and the highest return on investments. This aspect is reinforced because it involves all the professionals and areas of the company, obtaining global results.

Finally, Six Sigma is compatible with the Lean methodology, a working method that, having the appropriate indicators, helps to achieve business success. The success that works with the organization’s people helps to optimize efficiency through the simplification and automation of production. There is a hybrid methodology called Lean Six Sigma and based on the constant improvement of the company’s production processes in a simple way.

These methodologies, together with a culture change, can be decisive elements in an organization. And it is that Peter Drucker said that culture has breakfast for strategy. The management team drives change, goes from me to us, from control to trust, from guidelines to responsibility, from avoiding mistakes to trying and learning, and transformation comes.

Also Read: Different Approaches To Managed Services In The Placement Market

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So, What Strategies Should You Be Looking At To Grow Organically?

Know Your Target Client

Every businessperson who aspires to succeed is advised to adopt the KYC (know your customer) strategy. However, the best time to gather information about a client is before you do any transaction with him or her. So, you must research on your target client. According to past studies, this strategy is likely to lead to 10 times faster growth and two times more profitability. Research exposes you to information you might not be aware of and enables you to better present your marketing efforts. You will also come up with better service packages to satisfy your client’s preferences.

Develop Clear, Strong Differentiators

What makes you stand out from your competitors? If you want organic growth, you must have a competitive advantage. In that case, you need a clear, strong differentiator – the thing that makes you unique from the competition. For example, you are a web designer who focuses on building websites for lawyers. That is your differentiator.
When you have a unique differentiator, it will be easy for you to communicate your value to potential customers. You will set yourself above the competition and win more business. However, for you to experience organic growth, you need a differentiator that offers direct benefits to the customers.

Have an All-Round Marketing Strategy

If you want your firm to experience fast organic growth, you should create a balance between traditional and digital marketing. But that doesn’t mean choosing the first marketing method you come across. Essentially, the method you select should go hand-in-hand with your target audience. Using the information you have on your clients, you will come up with the best ways to reach them. The good thing with digital marketing is that you can easily check whether it is working or not. You can use parameters such profitability, revenue, and new clients to know if a marketing method is effective or not.

Have the Right People for the Job

No matter how small the business is, it will be more successful when it has the right people working for it. An example of a position that you must fill with the right candidate the leaders, the fractional executives. You may hire one either on full-time or part-time basis. The work of a fractional executive, particularly a fractional CFO, will involve financial forecasting, analysis, and preparation of due diligence reports. He or she will create systems to monitor how you spend the finances coming into the business. By maintaining accurate records, the CFO will help the business to be more tax compliant, thus creating room for organic growth.

Showcase Your Expertise

Clients are likely to trust you more if they understand what you can do for them. So, what’s your expertise? Is it the provision of accounting services? Or, is it web design? No matter your area of expertise, clients have no way of knowing it since it is intangible. That’s why you must find ways of showcasing your expertise. Possible ways to do that include public speaking, social media conversations, and blogging. The more you showcase your expertise the more trustworthy your business will be.

Define Your Niche

Once you understand the needs of potential clients, it will be easier for you to create a niche for your business. Narrowing down to a specific niche reduces competition, lowers marketing costs, and increases market share. It will be easier for your business to grow in terms of market size and profit if you deal mainly in specific line of business. I a way, you get to define your own terms of engagement if you are concentrating on a specific niche.

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