To grow the business, attracting new customers and retaining a well-established base of existing customers is critical. Successful businesses recognize the true value of the customer and understand that delighting the customer must be atop their business’ goals.

Effective marketing requires timely and relevant market information. Businesses with a significant amount of knowledge in the following areas are best positioned for long-term market growth:

 

 

1. Who in the market does my product or service best serve? What customer group is most likely to use my product/service? Customer Research & Targeting
2. What are the “unmet” needs of my core customer? Product/Service Research
3. What key characteristics of my product or service provide me a competitive advantage in the market? Competitive Advantage
4. How do I identify market trends that affect my sales and profitability? Market & Sales Analysis
5. How do I tailor my product design and pricing to capture the greatest market share, while gaining acceptable profitability? Marketing Strategy

Dedicating resources to acquiring a strong understanding of the customer, market and competition will provide the foundation needed to create product, promotion, pricing and distribution strategies.

• product strategies – designing the features and benefits most appealing to the customer;
• promotion strategies – identifying ideal sources to reach and communicate the product/service value to the customer;
• pricing strategies – pricing the product/service to ensure a balance between optimizing market penetration and profitability;
• distribution strategies – making the product/service available at the “right price, at the right time.”