developimg a market strategy part 1

WHAT IS A  MARKETING STRATEGY AND MARKETING PLAN? 

A  MARKETING STRATEGY  in general sets a target market  and a marketing mix.  It  is  a  "big picture" of what a company  will do in  some market  in order to  gain  a competitive advantage. A  MARKETING PLAN  is  a detailed breakdown of  your marketing strategy.   It  is a written  statement of  a  marketing strategy  with the time - related details  as well as  the 

By now you should already: 

•  have decided  on the nature  of your business and  you know that  your business  idea  is
 • feasible;
•  have also  identified your market and decided on your target market;
•  know what  the  needs  of your customers are  and you have  identified and assessed your
• Competition.

Now you need to decide on:  

•  the  Product  and Service  to  offer your customers;
•  how you will make your  Products available to customers;
•  how you will communicate  the benefits  of  your Products  and persuade  customers  to  buy  them;
• the price you will charge.

These four  decision variables are  the ingredients of  the so-called  marketing  mix.   Your task is  to create  these elements effectively in order  to  market your product/service to the  target  market  in  an optimal way.

CREATE AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING MIX 

 The  MARKETING  MIX  consists  of  all  the controllable variables the  company puts together  to  satisfy  its  target  market.  A typical MARKETING  MIX  includes  decisions regarding  the product,  the price of  the product, how to promote the product  and how to  get  the product  to  the  right  customer  at  the right time and place.

All these  variables  are controllable elements in the  marketing  mix and can be  reduced  to four basic  ones, each starting  with  a P (also  known as the four Ps):

 •  Product.
 •  Place.
 •  Price.
 • Promotion.

 The four  Ps  are those  factors that  you can control  directly, for example,  you develop your product,  you  decide how  to  get  it to  the customer, you  determine  the price and you choose the promotion  mix.   The four  Ps are, as you  will  realize now,  with  the selection of your target  market  are the basic ingredients of your marketing strategy.

All four  Ps  are  needed  in a marketing mix  and should therefore be tied together. When  a marketing mix  is developed,  all final decisions about  the P's  should be  made.   All four  Ps should be in harmony and aimed at satisfying the customer's needs in an optimum way.

You  do  have  control  over the marketing mix and can vary  it  to suit  the needs of your customers and the  resources of your  business. Customers are continuously matching  their needs with  the products offered by you  and your competitors.

  You should now know your target market  and the  needs  of  your potential  customers.  From analyzing your  competitors,  you can  identify what they offer the  target consumer through their marketing mixes. This determines what your marketing mix and  your competitive advantage will  be. All of  the marketing  mix elements  must  reinforce the image of the product or service  that  the  business portrays to the potential customer.

Let’s  discuss  each  P  in  the  marketing  mix in more detail.

Pls state in the comments box if you need the part 2