Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Marketing Plan Development Framework (63-slide PowerPoint presentation). A marketing plan is a comprehensive blueprint, outlining an organization's overall marketing efforts. This PowerPoint presentation is a guide to developing a comprehensive marketing plan.
Marketing Management topics include:
Marketing Management Process
Market Segmentation
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Also, if you are interested in becoming an expert on Strategy Development, take a look at Flevy's Strategy Development Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can you stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.
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Whatever line of business you are in, you must drive customers to your company if you want to be successful. But with so much competitiveness in so many sectors and every company vying for space online, finding creative ways to target and attract customers can be a challenging task. That is especially true if you have a tight marketing budget. However, there are several excellent ways in which you can gain customers. Read on to find out more.
Offer Discounts or Free Promotional Items
Limited-time offers have been proven again and again to be excellent ways of driving new customers. But still, not enough companies make use of this excellent strategy. Give discounts on specific products or services, and you are sure to see new customers come your way. As well as offering monetary discounts, you can also provide free trials for something like a software package or a gym membership. You could even provide a product or service for free in exchange for a customer’s testimonial.
Another great idea is to give away free promotional products that are printed with your brand’s logo or name. They act as fantastic marketing methods and are inexpensive to purchase. It is best to give away useful items so that your brand will continually be noticed. Promotional tote bags are perfect. With a wide variety of colors, materials, and prices to choose from, you are sure to find one that is to your taste, style, and budget.
Place Online Ads That Target Your Ideal Customer
If you do not advertise, you cannot drive customers to your business. You could explore traditional advertising methods like leaflets and billboards, but it is vital you advertise online. However, finding the right platform to use can be challenging. There is no point in wasting your time and money on targeting people who do not fall into your customer demographics.
With Snapchat’s Footprints feature, you can gain access to the consumer behavior of the site’s most active users. For example, you can learn whether Snapchat-users frequent restaurants or gyms, or whether they like to travel. If your business falls into one of those categories, placing a Snapchat Ad is a sensible choice to make.
Run User-generated Campaigns
Using social media is a must for any business. But you must utilize it in the right way if you want to drive new customers. One way of getting creative with your social media channels is to run a user-generated campaign. For instance, you could run a competition in which you reward the best comments or photos for getting the most shares and likes.
UGCs are fun ways of getting existing and new customers involved with your brand. You will quickly get exposure for your business for little or no cost. You could also invest a bit more into your UGC by purchasing sponsored posts on sites like Facebook.
Get onto Google My Business
If you have a local business, like a store, a restaurant, or a beauty salon, you need to get your company onto Google My Business. Most people search for local products and services on Google, and studies have shown again and again that the majority of people who search for local businesses online end up visiting those businesses within the next 24 hours. So, getting your company onto Google My Business is vital.
Google tends to give local listings prime placements in its search results, so this option should be a no brainer. Furthermore, Google My Business allows you to post photos and offers to your profile page to show potential customers what makes your business unique.
71-page Word document
This 71-page template is a comprehensive template for a Strategic Marketing and Sales Plan. It is based on the Systems Thinking Approach, and guides the development of the strategic marketing and sales plan in the context of the bigger picture corporate strategies. Using this template will allow
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For effective Strategy Development and Strategic Planning, we must master both Strategy and Tactics. Our frameworks cover all phases of Strategy, from Strategy Design and Formulation to Strategy Deployment and Execution; as well as all levels of Strategy, from Corporate Strategy to Business Strategy to "Tactical" Strategy. Many of these methodologies are authored by global strategy consulting firms and have been successfully implemented at their Fortune 100 client organizations.
These frameworks include Porter's Five Forces, BCG Growth-Share Matrix, Greiner's Growth Model, Capabilities-driven Strategy (CDS), Business Model Innovation (BMI), Value Chain Analysis (VCA), Endgame Niche Strategies, Value Patterns, Integrated Strategy Model for Value Creation, Scenario Planning, to name a few.
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