marketing mgt. notes and planning template for smes

Prepared by

Kofi Kyeremateng Nyanteng

[email protected]

[email protected]

Tel: +233501377013

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING

MANAGEMENT

SMEs Marketing Management Manual

MODULE 1

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING

Module objectives

By the end of this module, participants will be able to:

Understand marketing

Know the importance of marketing

Understand the consumer buying process

Module content

Definition of market

Definition of marketing

The importance of marketing for small businesses

The consumer buying process


What is a market?

A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and

infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange.

Market

The customer who needs what you are buying

The customer who is able to buy what you are selling

The customer who is willing to buy what you are selling

Marketing

1. Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to

customers. Companies create value for customers and build strong customer

relationships in order to capture value from customers in return.

2. Marketing is the process of satisfying business customers and creating value for them.

3. Marketing consists of the strategies and tactics used to identify, create and maintain

satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and

the marketer.

Strategies and Tactics - Strategies are the direction the marketing effort takes over a

period of time while tactics are actionable steps or decisions made in order to follow

the strategies established.

Identify – The utmost important marketing function of the business encompasses

desirable efforts to gain knowledge of customers, competitors, and markets.

Create - Competition in the market invigorate businesses to be creative. When a

business starts, it is often grounded around something that is new (e.g., a new product,

a new way of getting products to customers, a new way of using a product, a new

solution to a problem etc.). But once something new is launched innovation does not


end. Competition puts pressure on business owners/managers to develop strategies

and tactics in order to stay in business.

Maintain - In the present day, business owners/managers work hard to ensure their

customers coming back to buy from them over and over.

Satisfying Relationships – Marketing aims at providing products and services that

customers really want. It makes customers feel that their contact with the business is

helping build a good relationship between the two. In this way the customer turns out

to be a partner in the business, not just a source of revenue.

Value for Both Customer and Marketer - Value refers to the opinion of benefits

received for what someone must give away. For customers, value is most often

measured by how much benefit they feel they are getting for their money, though the

value one customer feels may vary from what another customer feels even though

they purchase the same product.

In summary, marketing is;

Finding out what the customer wants

Producing and selling the things that people want

Letting people know about your products/services

Selling your products in the right places

Making your products/services unique and more attractive than of other similar

businesses

Setting the right price so that people will buy your products

Giving customers value for their money


The consumer buying process

The buying process is the set of steps that a customer chooses to go through with the goal of satisfying

a need. The selling process is the set of steps that a company uses to organize and optimize the way

that it sells its products.

1. Identify the problem (Need identification)

The first stage of the decision-making process is that people can feel the difference between

current and desired situation, so trying to resolve these differences.

2. Data collection (information search)

For solving this problem collect information. This information can be internal (experiences) and

external (family, exhibits, product advertisement, etc.)

3. Assessment Options

After gathering information, the consumer is ready to make a decision. At this point, he should be

able to evaluate different options and choose products that meet the demands of him.

4. Purchase

This stage is the stage that all marketing activities are the result. Consumer at this stage, according to

the information already obtained, Select a product that feels satisfy his need and buys it.

Figure 1: The consumer buying process

Purchase Evaluation of alternatives

Information Search

Need identification


The importance of marketing

Marketing offers significant benefits. These benefits include:

Developing products that satisfy the needs of customers

Providing information to customers about their needs

Creating a competitive environment that helps lower product prices

Developing product distribution systems that offer access to products to a large

number of customers and many geographic regions

Building demand for products that require organizations to expand their labour force

Offering techniques that have the ability to convey messages that change societal

behavior in a positive way.


MODULE 2

SMALL BUSINESS MARKETING

STRATEGIES & MARKETING PLANNING

Module objectives

By the end of this module, participants will be able to:

Identify their market

Understand Small Business Marketing Strategies

Develop a marketing plan

Module objectives

Market research

Small business marketing strategies

Marketing planning


Knowing your market (Market research)

Every business must understand the market in which it operates. The 4Cs model is used as a

tool in understanding the market for a business or product.

a) The 4 C’s of Market Research

i. Customers: (Who are your customers?)

Who are they?

What do they do?

How many of them are there?

Where are they located?

What will they pay?

ii. Commodity: (What product do you offer to the target market?)

What are you offering?

What is the gap in the market?

What are the benefits of your commodity?

Is it there demand for it?

iii. Cost: (What is the cost of producing the product).

Fixed cost (Rent, Insurance, Wages, etc.)

Variable Cost (Raw materials, etc)

iv. Competition (What other businesses are operating in my target market?)

Who are they?

Where are they?

What are their prices?

How do they promote their product?


The Marketing Mix (4 Ps)

The Marketing Mix

Marketing is the process used to get customers to buy your product/service. The goal of

marketing is to increase sales. The considerations used in designing marketing plan are called

‘marketing mix’. The marketing mix can be summarized as the four P’s (4Ps)

i. The PRODUCT itself(that is, its nature, design, brand-name, packaging),

ii. The PRICE at which it is to be sold,

iii. The PLACE at which it is sold,

iv. The PROMOTION (that is, the means and style of advertising and selling).

Product: The Product management and Product marketing aspects of marketing deal with the

specifications of the actual good or service, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and

wants. It includes all the attributes of the product or service offered by the marketer.

Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts and

price-cuts.

Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, and

refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or business.

Placement or distribution refers to how the product gets to the customer or where the product

will be; for example, point of sale placement or retailing. This P has also sometimes been

called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or service is sold (e.g. online vs.

retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young adults, families,

business people), etc.


Ten (10) Commandments of Small Business Marketing

1. Identify your target audience

2. Don’t make promises unless you will keep them

3. Listen to your customers

4. Deal with complaints

5. Be Courteous

6. Make your customer feel important

7. Empathise with customers

8. Let them have their way

9. Be mindful of your attitude

10. Use a pleasant tone


Marketing

Plan Name of Business

______________________


Name of Business

Vision (What do you want your business to become?)

Mission (Why does this business exist?)

Objectives List at least 3 SMART objectives for developing this plan)

E.g. Increase Sales by 30%

1._______________________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________________

Situational Analysis (What is happening in the business?)

SWOT (List at least 3 in each quadrant)

Strength Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats (What


Industry Analysis (What is happening in the industry?) Answer “Yes” or “No”

Answer

Barriers to entry

There are barriers to entering the industry (e.g. Capital requirement, government

policies, qualification)

Bargaining power of suppliers

There are few suppliers

Threats of substitutes

There are available close substitutes

Bargaining power of buyers

There are few buyers in the industry

Threats of potential entrants

There are obstacles for potential businesses to enter the industry

Market Analysis

Customers (Who are my customers?)

_________________________________________________________________________

Commodity (What product am i offering to the customers?)

_________________________________________________________________________

Cost: (What is the cost of producing the product?)

_________________________________________________________________________

Competition (Who are my competitors?)

_________________________________________________________________________


Marketing Mix

PRODUCT: What should I do to my product (s) in order to achieve the set objectives? (List at

least 3 things you can do to make your product attractive)

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________

PRICE: How should the price of the product (s) be so that it will give value to the customer and

my business (List your pricing strategies)

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________

PLACE: Where will I sell my product (s)? (List at least three places where customers can easily

find the product and purchase)

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________

PROMOTION: How will people know that I am selling my product (s)? (List at least five ways

you can use to communicate your product (s) to your target market)

1. ___________________________________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________________________________

How much money do I need to achieve these objectives?

(Revise notes on budgeting and develop a budget for this plan.)

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