This unit deals with developing marketing strategies designed to help you achieve your business objectives and build competitive advantage. You will learn how to conduct market research, forecast potential sales opportunities, and develop a marketing plan. In turn, the marketing plan will outline the actions that must be carried out in order to persuade consumers to purchase the products and services you offer. This plan can be part of the business plan or a stand-alone document.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 41 hours.
Read this chapter for a definition and discussion of the role of marketing and international marketing.
This article explains the importance of gathering information about your market.
Listen to this webinar on the importance of primary market research.
Take note of the four main uses of secondary data under Key Takeaways as a way to differentiate primary and secondary research.
This chapter will introduce you to the marketing research process. This chapter may take you a number of hours to read, so do not feel like you have to finish it all in one sitting!
Marketers must be aware of the business cycle and react appropriately according to which stage of the cycle the economy was in. By the end of this article, you will be able to illustrate how fluctuations in the economy influence consumers' willingness to and ability to buy products and services and list the four stages of the business cycle.
The CPI and CCI are measures of the strength of the economy, and perceptions of businesses and individuals toward the economic future. This article illustrates the relationship between consumer and purchasing power, pricing, and the economy, and distinguishes between the consumer price index (CPI) and consumer confidence index (CCI).
Companies doing business outside of the US should be aware that the political environment can differ greatly. By the end of this article, you will be able to give examples of how government policies can influence marketing programs.
Companies must abide by existing laws and regulations when doing business in a country; these laws may influence marketing activities. By the end of this article, you will be able to discuss the various legal issues that impact marketing decisions.
Whether doing business abroad or locally, marketers must understand the cultures that govern customers' buying habits and ethical norms. By the end of this article, you should be able to describe how cultural beliefs, values, and customs influence marketing campaigns.
Marketers must understand the different demographic groupings that exist and the demographic changes that are constantly occurring. By the end of this article, you will be able to discuss the demographic changes affecting the current marketing environment and identify common demographic traits used by marketers.
Read this section, which discusses the product life cycle and the stages of growth potential.
This section discusses the importance of identifying external market factors to anticipate trends and be prepared to adapt to market changes. By the end of this article, you will be able to explain the different types of external factors or trends used in creating marketing strategies and discuss how technological advancements can impact marketing trends.
This section discusses marketing trends and potential barriers. This chapter also covers niche marketing, which you will learn more about later.
Listen to this podcast on identifying the target market. It will help you figure out the target market for products and services, and it includes information on segmentation and sizing your market.
This chapter will help you learn about innovating, evaluating new products, and assessing new product failure.
Read this section to learn about the criteria that companies use when choosing a market segment and the many ways in which businesses may segment markets. A market segmentation is developed based on one of two strategies and several consumer identifying characteristics like demographics and behavior.
Read this section to learn about the importance of a proper competitive analysis. By the end of this section, you will be able to classify the use of competitive data from an internal and external viewpoint.
This section discusses how marketers can understand how consumers feel about their particular product relative to the competition. By the end of this section, you will be able to evaluate the concept of perceptual mapping as part of competitive perceptual positioning.
This article explains how companies choose their markets and the types of approaches companies use to communicate their marketing messages to those consumers. You should be able to explain the types and psychology of target market selection.
This section discusses some of the tools that are at marketers' disposal. By the end of this section, you will be able to describe promotion as one type of marketing tool, name the five subcategories of promotion, and describe how promotional tools work together to educate consumers and generate sales.
Promotional tactics are frequently used by companies to persuade consumers to choose their products over competing brands. By the end of this section, you will be able to describe the techniques used to persuade consumers to purchase products over competing brands.
These slides explain how pricing for goods and services is determined and its effects on consumer behavior.
By the end of this article, you will be able to describe the factors that affect a firm's channel decisions; explain how intensive, exclusive, and selective distribution differ from one another; and explain why some products are better suited to some distribution strategies than others.
Read this entire chapter. It may take up to three hours to read this material, so don't feel like you have to finish it all within one study session.
A marketing plan's elements may vary based on the organization and its industry, but readers still expect to see certain common elements. By the end of this article, you will be able to review the elements of a marketing plan and its relationship to the company operations.
A formal marketing plan provides a clear reference point for activities throughout the planning period. By the end of this article, you will be able to identify the purpose and use of creating marketing plans.
Read the Executive Summary section. The executive summary is the opening section of a marketing plan whereby the contents of the plan are outlined.
Managers can use various methods of analysis to understand the firm's own capabilities, customers, and business environment. By the end of this article, you will be able to outline the process and types of situational analysis methods.
There are five steps you can follow to define your target market and become positioned to reach your potential customers. By the end of this article, you will be able to compile the information that is necessary in order to define a target market.
Value-based marketing allows organizations to create and sustain differentiating values that enable them to compete within their markets. By the end of this article, you will be able to state what is important when shifting to a competition based on value marketing perspective.
By the end of this section, you should be able to understand the types of selling relationships that firms seek and select the selling strategy needed to achieve the desired customer relationship.
Environmental scanning is one technique used by organizations to monitor the environment. By the end of this article, you will be able to give examples of the six environmental factors used within the PESTEL analysis approach.
Read this chapter, which discusses market segment components, how to approach different market segments, and how products are positioned to reach their target markets.
Read Chapter 2 to learn about the steps in the marketing planning process, the elements of a marketing strategy, and the external factors that impact strategic decisions.
Listen to this podcast, which discusses where to spend your marketing dollars and the costs associated with different types of marketing vehicles.
These sections focus on the importance of communicating a unified and coordinated message throughout all marketing messages. Attempt the review questions that appear on slides 13 through 22.
Listen to this podcast, which discusses trade shows, events, seminar selling, and more.
By the end of this section, you will be able to describe the activities performed in channels and explain which organizations perform which functions.
Complete the discussion questions and activities in this section. You will write a simple marketing plan by picking a product with which you are very familiar. Focus on one market segment. If you would like to share your responses to the discussion questions with other students or elicit feedback on your marketing plan, check out the discussion forum.
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.