Getting ahead in the business world can be easier said than done
. There are a lot of businesses out there who do very similar things as you and therefore there is a lot of competition. The truth is that without an adequate marketing plan there is no way that you are going to come out king of the hill. This article is going to go over the fundamentals of any good marketing plan and how they apply to any business.
First of all you will need to pay attention to your product. This is probably the most important function of marketing as if you don't have something that people want to buy then no matter how good your price, advertising, and distribution channels are you will not sell anything. The product is more narrowly defined as the cumulative experience that consumers have with the product.
This can be the way they perceive the brand as well as the way that they buy the product. Many companies are able to successfully distinguish themselves from their competition simply by offering better customer service. Never underestimate the power of things like warranties and packaging. These can all play a vital role in the way people think about your product.
The second thing is price. If people don't think the price reflects the quality or status of your product then they will downplay its quality and importance. You need to make sure that if you are advertising your product as high or low quality that the price matches. Don't be afraid of this as people expect to pay more for more.
The third issue is with promotion. The key here is to achieve a fully integrated marketing connection. This means not only that you do magazine and print ads but you also do other things so that people can interact with the company and the product more than they otherwise would. For instance, you might hold a competition in relation to your product or perhaps offer an interactive web site. All of these things will help to promote your product beyond the simple advertising campaigns that most companies do.
The last thing that will drastically help you to sell your product is to consider the marketing channels that your product goes through. If you sell a retail product then a good example of this might be to ask yourself whether or not selling your product in a store such as wall-mart is really your best option.