A marketing strategy is a plan that will show how your marketing objectives are going to be fulfilled. When coming up with a marketing strategy you will want to consider the following factors: naming, competition, the product, markets, packaging, pricing, and advertising. The following notes can be applied equally well to services/solutions.
Naming Strategy
If your company is planning on releasing a new product, you will need to give a route for the name of the new product. This means that if it is a new product do you want to try and include the name of the product as an offshoot of another product from your company that is already on the market or do you want the name of the product to be something that makes it a stand alone product? Additionally, you will have to decide if the name is something that will keep current customers using your company’s products or if you want to give the product a name that will attract a new target market.
Competition Strategy
Competitive strategies can focus on one main competitor or your closest group of competitors. When using a competitive strategy it is best to find something that your company does well and focus on the aspect of your business to set yourself apart from your competition. You may also find that you will be forced to use a competitive strategy when one of your competitors tries to move into a market that your company has been dominant. Think of this as a boxer that is a counter puncher, so when your competition tries to hit you first, your company knows what is coming and reacts hard and fast knocking out the competition before they know what’s hit them.
Competitive strategies can also be used when introducing a new product where you can incorporate packaging, product improvements, and merchandising to help you gain advantage over your competition.
Product Strategy
Another marketing strategy that you will have to consider is product strategy. When your company is introducing a new product or a product that goes with an already established product line, you will have to make a decision on how to ensure that the product makes an impact when it gets to market.
If you start to notice things like your product is not selling as well as it used to and consumer confidence appears to be slipping about your company you have to make the decision on how to turn public opinion around so you can reach your sales objectives. If you have a product that might have limited use, you can look to try to find alternate uses for your product and introduce them to your target market.
Packaging Strategy
You might think that if you have a good product that does what you say it will do and does it well is all that you would need to make your product a success. However, that is not the case. Many products will be chosen from store shelves just because of their packaging. When it comes to packaging your product there are certain factors that you need to address. The packaging is first and foremost a way to protect the product. Second, packaging should add some value to the product. If a consumer sees the care that the company has taken in packaging the product they will understand that the company feels that they have a quality product and they will feel the same way. Packaging is also a great way for your company to get its message across and perhaps entice other markets than your main target market to try the product.
Pricing Strategy
When you are looking at marketing strategies, you should look at pricing as an option. You will have to decide whether you want to attack your competition by either pricing your product higher or lower than them. You will have to keep in mind that pricing has a direct affect on the sustainability of the business and you will want to make sure that your pricing does not interfere will the chance of turning a profit. Geography also has to be taken into account when using a pricing strategy. The decision has to be made if the product is going to have the same price across each market or will prices vary. Finally, your previously done research should be able to tell you if price is an important factor for your target group to purchase your product.
Advertising Strategy
When you are coming up with a marketing strategy and are looking at what to do with advertising the important thing to remember is that the advertising message should have a consistent message. The main reason for having a consistent message is to show direction for all marketing plans that will derive from your strategies. Therefore, when you make the decision to advertise make sure that in whatever types of media you choose the message is consistent and addresses your target market.
Perhaps the most important part of your product being in the best position to succeed is naming and packaging. The name of the product along with the packaging is most likely what your target market is going to come into contact first so they must be enticing to them.
Notes on Product Naming
When you name you product, you are giving it an identifying mark that separates it from its competition. The name of the product is there for the consumer to be able to separate like products from each other and they will hopefully associate the name of your product with quality. If this is the case, when they return to the store the will look specifically for your product avoiding your competition. When you are developing the name for the product, you need to take into account what the product does, the age range of the target market. The name should be kept as simple as possible so that it is easy for consumers to remember. Stay away from names that could be perceived as negative, the name should evoke something positive in the mind of consumers when they hear it or read it. It is a good idea when it comes to naming your product to have some variations of what you think good names are for the product when you conduct the initial focus groups. This way you will have direct feedback from potential consumers and you will know if you are on the right direction or not. Another interesting way of generating names for your product is to include your employees/vendors/partners, this is a great way of getting the whole organization involved and taking ownership of the product and you could give a prize or bonus to the employee who comes up with the name that is chosen.
Notes on Product Packaging
Packaging your product goes hand in hand with your marketing strategy. When the package is being designed the colors of the package, the graphics, and the material used to create the package all has to be in concert with how you want to position your product.
You should think of the package as part of the product. Without having an interesting looking package your product might be entirely overlooked by consumers. As stated previously, the package is many time the first contact that you will have will consumers so it needs to be able to grab their attention. Most importantly, the packaging must appeal to your target market. So take into account the age range of your target market because the same type of graphics and packaging will not appeal to all age ranges.
Perhaps one of the most important parts of packaging is that has a direct impact on consumers attitudes towards your product. If you packaging is memorable, consumers will know your product without even seeing the name. That does not mean that the packaging should be something bizarre and outlandish but it should be something that is functional and adds value to your product. For example, consumers know a Nike brand of shoes just by the color of the shoebox and the swoosh logo; they do not have to see the word Nike to know what it is. They know that they are going to get a quality shoe just by the packaging.