Learning Activity # 01
In the contemporary business settings, the purpose of marketing is to make your product available where your customers are. Apparently, your target customers are dispersed everywhere due to the emergence of several information transmitting mediums. Modern business requires a holistic marketing approach, which facilitates reaching the target market customers by all means while ensuring that the right message is communicated to the right audience. Nowadays, people have advanced technological gadgets like smart phones, tablets, and laptops, and have greater accessibility to information. Therefore, apart from newspapers, magazines, television, and radio, they are also frequently using social media, web pages, chat forums to acquire and disseminate information. This is the era of Omni-marketing channels and therefore, businesses that are still relying on one marketing medium are nothing but losing the potential opportunities to reach their target market and eventually their profitability (O'Dwyer et. al, 2014).
According to modern research, most of the small businesses fail due to inadequate financing, lack of planning, inefficient management, and poor marketing. Marketing plays a significant role in every business no matter what size it is. Most of the small businesses fail in terms of marketing for that reason that they usually don’t conduct a comprehensive marketing research and therefore, fail to identify and understand their target market, their customer needs, and buying patterns. Most importantly, they fail because they have to market their products/services against established and renowned brand, as well as, intense competition. This requires them to invest a bigger amount of money to promote their product through right marketing channels. Apparently, with the limited budget, they fail to reach their customers and the product/services or business flop because of no brand awareness and no demand (Gilmore et.al, 2012).
I believe that some of the most efficient marketing methods include social media advertising, training sales personnel, and running a content campaign. Social media adverting would bring drastic change. Today, people are preferring internet options more frequently. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter can help increasing brand awareness among the target market (Reijonen, 2010). For sponsored posts, it will cost around $300. I would suggest using another $700 in training and development of sales staff making them more efficient to reach a greater target of one-to-one selling. Last option that I would prefer is content marketing campaign. This will include some newspaper ads, magazine featuring, sending thank you and shop again cards to the regular customer, and distributing brochures all of which will cost around $1000. This would also include sending emails which would cost nothing.
Learning Activity # 02
Since the business has been in the market for the last six months and it is lagging behind in developing substantial customer base, as well as, reaching its estimated target, I would recommend following the below mentioned break-up of marketing budget in order to efficiently use different marketing channels for enhancing the brand awareness. Apparently, using multiple mediums of marketing such as social media, newspaper, electronic media etc. will help to explore and understand the needs and demand of the target customers and would also assist in acquiring feedback that is imperative to improve the quality and services.
Marketing Plan for Spending $ 2000
Social Media Adverting (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter) = $ 300
Training and Development of Sales Staff = $ 700
Newspaper Ads = $ 400
Magazine Featuring = $ 300
Thank you Cards = $ 150
Brochures = $150
Emails
= $ 0
Total = $2000
References
Gilmore, A., Gallagher, D., & Henry, S. (2012). E-marketing and SMEs: operational lessons for the future. European Business Review, 19(3), 234-247. Retrieved on September 7, 2016
O'Dwyer, M., Gilmore, A., & Carson, D. (2014). Innovative marketing in SMEs. European Journal of Marketing, 43(1/2), 46-61. Retrieved on September 7, 2016
Reijonen, H. (2010). Do all SMEs practice the same kind of marketing?. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 17(2), 279-293. Retrieved on September 7, 2016
