How to position yourself in the marketplace
The purpose of business is to get and keep customers - something that's difficult to do without a marketing plan. Such a document provides you with direction. It tells you how to develop products or services that will satisfy customer demands, communicate the benefits of your products and services to customers, and guarantee satisfaction. In essence, it is a plan that enables you to encourage people to do business with your organisation. Here are some important aspects to consider...
1. Remember: marketing is everybody's job.
Everyone in your organisation is involved in marketing your company's products or services. They may not actually work in the marketing department, or be directly responsible for finding customers, but they will all in some way be in a position to contribute to the organisation's success in gaining and retaining customers. For this reason, you, and your key employees, should have some understanding of what the process of marketing involves as it applies to your organisation…
2. Generate marketable products or services.
Do you have products, ideas, concepts, or services that you have screened and tested to ensure they will satisfy customer need and that are potentially profitable? Have you analysed your product's life cycle in order to predict its sales pattern over a period of time? Do you continue the search for new products and services? If you don't have a durable, marketable product, you won't build up and hold a customer base.
3. Profile your competition.
How well do you know those organisations that compete for your customers? Who exactly are your competitors? What are their strong and weak points? Gather as much information as you can on their marketing and communication strategies, types of advertising, their product, price and markets, and how they take advantage of changes in the industry. Identify any areas in the market that are not filled by your competitors' products or services, and that could be exploited by yours. Remember, your competitors will probably be watching you also.
