|
Product Spotlight
Essential Elements for Researching & Writing a Business Plan
Monday, March 08, 2010When researching and writing a business plan, the focus of the Market Analysis section is critical and a thorough examination of your target market needs to take place first. Target market are those people that you intend to sell your products or services to.
The first step is to define your target market. If you want to know more about how to do this, see my new book titled Full BRAIN Marketing that is available on www.amazon.com and www.fullbrainmarketing.com.
Even if you intend on selling a product or service only in your own city or state, you're not selling that product or service to everyone who lives there. The first step is to identify exactly what the people who might be interested in buying your product or service are like, and how many of them there are.
The next step is to make some projections about your target market, in terms of how much of your product or service they may buy, and how the target market may be affected by trends and policies.
When developing a business plan, research is the key. Before writing the market analysis section of the business plan, use these general questions to start your research:
Target Market
• How old is the identified target market?
• What gender are they?
• Where do they live?
• What is their family structure (number of children, extended family, etc.)?
• What is their income?
• What do they do for a living?
• What is their lifestyle?
• How do they spend their spare time?
• What motivates them?
• What is the size of your target market?
Don’t stop here. To define a target market, ask the specific questions that are directly related to your products or services. For instance, if you plan to sell computer-related services, identify such things as how many computers prospective customers own.
If you plan to sell garden furniture and accessories, what kinds of garden
furniture or accessories have they bought in the past and how often?
Projections About the Target Market
• What percentage of your target market has used a similar product?
• How much product or service might the target market buy? (Estimate this in gross sales and/or
in units of product/service sold.)
• What proportion of the target market might be repeat customers?
• How might they be affected by demographic shifts?
• How might they be affected by economic events (e.g., a local manufacturing plant closing or a
large retailer opening locally)?
• How might they be affected by larger socioeconomic trends?
• How might they be affected by government policies (e.g., new bylaws or changes in taxes)?
Writing the Market Analysis Section of the Business Plan
All of the above information may feel overwhelming. When writing a business plan with a market analysis section, it needs to be a thorough examination of your target market, those people to whom you intend to sell your products or services. This is the time to determine target markets in terms of how much of your product or service they may purchase and how they may be affected by trends and policies.
Once you have all this information, write the market analysis in the form of several short paragraphs that are clear and precise. Use appropriate headings for each paragraph. If there are several target markets, consider numbering each or identifying each by a subcategory under the main target market category.
Properly cite sources of information within the body of the market analysis. This will help you and others reading the plan to know the sources of the statistics or opinions gathered from others.
DJ Heckes, CEO & Author
Full BRAIN Marketing
Bookmark this on Delicious
Marketing Channels for Your Business
Monday, February 22, 2010There are four channels of marketing efforts that most businesses use when promoting their brand, product or service.
• Internet Marketing (SEO, viral, blogs, forums, social media)
• Publishing (articles)
• Public Relations
• Face-to-Face Network/Trade Shows
First, consider how many different methods of marketing are you currently using to reach out to customers. Is it possible to integrate different methods of marketing that are focused on the information preferences of your target audience? Integrated marketing communication is the planning process of marketing tools, approaches, and resources a company uses to maximize the impact of their brand for a particular product or service and the method of delivery of that brand. However, in today’s information-driven technology world, customization and original content are a must.
Quantitative Delivery Methods or Not?
These are the most common delivery methods:
Stop Worrying about Your Competition and Find the Blue Sky Opportunity
Monday, February 08, 2010If there’s a little something to the “your brand sucks” idea, it’s that there is a pretty good chance there are some areas of importance to buyers where everybody – you and your competitors – totally sucks. When companies do not offer a solution to a seriously irritating problem or at best give a middling response to something buyers say they really need or want, these areas are the blue sky, white space – whatever-the-going-catch-phrase may be – marketing messages.
This is your area for big marketing opportunities. If ever there was a time when people are aware of their problems, pains, and areas of dissatisfaction, and are willing to talk about them, it’s now when the economy is really questionable and everyone is wondering what the future will hold. Ask buyers what they aren’t getting from your brands and others instead of calling out your competitor’s deficiencies. Figure out what people are missing in the category in general and determine if you can deliver it to them profitably. Don’t waste your breath (and precious advertising dollars) explaining how and why your competitors can’t get something (or anything) right. Instead, explain how and why your brand is uniquely qualified to solve their real problems in your advertising. Very importantly, give people a reason to listen and you will break through – now in these tough times and when happy days are here again. When you do this, be sure to do it right. Don’t make a promise to solve a problem and then fail to follow through. For example, take Coke Zero®. It used a great execution depicting Coke® executives suing Coke Zero® executives because Coke Zero® tastes so much like Coke®. However, it doesn’t – not by a long shot.
It is important to keep in mind that brand awareness is an important way of promoting commodity-related products. Commodity-related products have very few factors that differentiate one product from its competitors’ product. Therefore, the product that maintains the highest brand awareness compared to its competitive product will usually get the most sales.
A great example of this is in the soft drink industry. Very little separates a generic brand soda from a brand-name soda, in terms of taste. However, if you were to ask the consumers, they are very aware of the brands Pepsi and Coca Cola, in terms of their images and names. This high rate of brand awareness equates to higher sales and also serves as an economic moat that prevents competitors from gaining more market share.
On one of my business flights, I was flying back east and an airline steward asked me if I wanted something to drink and I said “Yes, may I please have a Pepsi.” When he delivered the soda, he did not say anything to me about switching the product and handed me Coca Cola in a cup with ice. I happened to be reading a book, paying no attention to the glass of soda in front of me. Later, he walked by and made the statement, Wow, can you really tell the difference in Pepsi versus Coke? I said yes I can. With humor, he asked if he could bring me one of each and place the glasses of soda in front of me and I pleasantly agreed. He did just that and YES, I was able to tell the difference!
So the next time you worry about your competition, look to the blue sky opportunity and realize that people live life in four dimensions. Within those four dimensions, we have functional needs, but we also are social creatures, and have self-expressive needs, in addition to craving content that we find to be both entertaining and informative. Thinking this way reveals new ways of making your brand relevant in the mindset of your consumer:
• Functional Needs: These needs go from "product feature" (items that provide added functionality to products) to "solution-based" thinking (identify and capitalize on resources).
• Social Needs: Be sure your brand becomes a celebrity that has fans, friends, and is followed. Even better, create a thematic environment around a value shared by your brand and its customers. (ex., Dove, "The real meaning of beauty.")
• Self-expressive Needs: Your brand must stand for something that is clearly understood and is a cultural currency.
• Content Needs: Become the logical, reasoning, and top of mind source for content centered on what your brand is about and what it represents.
DJ Heckes, CEO & Author
djheckes@fullbrainmarketing.com
www.fullbrainmarketing.com
Whether or Not to Enter Into the More-for-Your-Money Race
Friday, February 05, 2010Often, a natural response to cutbacks by your customers is to drop your prices, advertise more for less, and give great deals. Companies across the board are dialing up the more-for-your-money messaging in an effort to entice cash-strapped customers into opening their wallets. Price cuts and promotions are creating a domino effect as companies chase the best-deal status. The assumption that lowering prices will motivate people to buy may miss the mark and hurt brand equity in the process.
While management intuition suggests that most buyers and business-to-business decision makers are price sensitive, marketing research has shown that price is the primary consideration for only 15 to 35 percent of buyers in most product and service categories, even during a recession or stalled economy. Price may become a more important consideration as household and corporate budgets get tighter, but it is not necessarily – or even customarily – the most important consideration. The majority of buyers are simply not as obsessed with price as many companies seem to be. What’s more, price cuts can cause serious problems if they reset buyer expectations about prices or go against a brand’s image. The halls of marketing history are littered with brands that dropped their pants to make a sale in a recession only to find they couldn’t pull them back up again once it was over.
One great example is McDonalds. In the mid to late 1990s they offered the Big Mac sandwich for only $.99. When McDonalds decided to raise the Big Mac back to the standard price, they had issues with their customers and Big Mac sales declined; they had to continue the price for some time until a steady increase was accepted and other marketing combinations could be offered.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Flat or Stalled Economy Marketing
Monday, February 01, 2010It may have been the onslaught of the 2008 presidential election and of negative, spiteful political attack ads running that got companies thinking about using this approach to spur their sales stemming back from 2008 forward. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, “As the economy gets ugly, marketers are getting nasty too. From soup companies to pizza chains, marketers
are stepping up their so-called attack ads, calling out rivals by name, comparing products and poking fun at competitors.” The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus – aka, the ad police – has seen complaints jump substantially; business owners and marketers are alleging they are the victims of misleading comparison ads. We have never used this strategy; it is best to market your differentiation and actually prove the differences.
“In a downturn (or stalled) economy, people are being more and more careful about how they are spending their money, and more than usual you have to make sure you are breaking through and giving your customer a reason to buy you,” explains Patrick Doyle, president of Domino’s USA.
He’s got a point, but “their brand sucks” is not going to do it. First of all, it’s not exactly a defensible positioning – it’s likely quite easy for your competitor to come right back and say, “No, no, YOUR brand sucks.”
Then the back and forth starts and pretty soon buyers have no idea who the ads are for or why they should buy either brand. Why go this route just to confuse the customer? “Attack ads,” says the Wall Street Journal, “when they get too intense, can confuse customers.” If your advertising
raises more questions than it answers, you’re going to get tuned out and lose in the marketing and sales battle.
What’s a responsible business leader to do? Perhaps the questionable economy has made an impact on your company. Or maybe you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but aren’t sure exactly when and how to recover. In either case, the most important thing is to keep your wits about you and not succumb to five common mistakes companies often make when times are questionable.
1. Be smart and thrifty, but don’t panic.
The economy goes through cycles of expansion and contraction as seen throughout history. It’s what we all learned either in college economic courses or through reading economist outlooks. While we love the expansionary times, the contractions can be painful. If you’re smart, you have managed your balance sheet well and can ride out a period of slow or stalled growth. If not, you may have to make some cut backs. Just be careful to trim fat and avoid cutting muscle as much as possible.
2. Marketing is muscle, not fat.
Just as the savviest investors view downturn or flat markets as a time to buy when everyone else is selling, the savviest marketers know this is a great time to pick up market share. They understand that by maintaining budgets (or even increasing them) they may not come out ahead during the down or stalled times, but they can pick up market share that will pay off in the long run. Marketing dollars during this time are like gaining more oxygen on Mt. Everest. The less there is in the surrounding environment, the more valuable the amount you possess becomes. Cutting your marketing spending is a sure way to give ground to competitors who may be more aggressive during this time.
3. Don’t lose focus by chasing business you may not really want.
When customers get nervous about the economy, they cut back on their spending. For a company, that could mean fewer transactions, smaller purchases, or possibly both. If you try to broaden your core product or service appeal to please a wider target audience, chances are you will make your best customers even less satisfied, giving them one more reason to spend less. There is a reason why you don’t pursue certain types of customers when times are good, and that reason probably has not changed. Do your best to stick to your plans and enhance the value you provide to your best customers. They may decide to make their cutbacks in areas other than yours.
4. Avoid the Discount Game.
While it is easy to rationalize discounting during a questionable or flat economy, avoid it if at all possible. For your company’s sake - it helps to drive business - as well as for the sake of your customers as they may be struggling and need the help. But whether times are good or bad, discounting your product or service in the eyes of your customers may not be the best thing to do. There was a time in the late 1990s when McDonald’s and Burger King put their Big Macs and Whoppers on sale so often that they trained their customers never to pay full price. This created a profit margin problem from which it took years
to recover. If you need to make your products more affordable to generate volume, goodwill, or both, do so carefully and deliberately. But lower the price instead of offering a discount.
5. Don’t forget about the elephant in the room.
We live in a 24-hour, 7 days a week, information cycle. When news breaks, people know it, and economic news breaks every day. You don’t have to be an economist to know the business environment is still questionable right now, and the point is brought home in a personal way every time we go to the grocery store or fill up our gas tanks. Even if your company’s revenues have held up, your employees still feel the pressure of attrition and are nervous. Make sure your employees know you are on top of things and have a plan. There is no telling what lies ahead over the next several months or years. We may pull out of our economic rut more quickly than anticipated, or we may be in for a prolonged rough ride. Customers will still need to eat; they still need transportation, and still seek entertainment, clothing, vacations, equipment, pet food, perfume, office supplies, computer servers, and machinery. As the market tightens up, the best positioned players will survive and thrive. Avoid the mistakes above and you’re more likely to be one of them.
Whether or Not to Increase Your Marketing Spending
Monday, January 25, 2010As business owners, if we had a dollar for every time we’ve heard someone tell us that his or her best piece of advice (for thriving in a recession or stalled economy) is to raise the marketing budget, and spend more, then we would not have to pop an antacid after checking our 401(k)s and watching what the consequence of spending right now may be.
While it is not smart to stop your marketing, watch where you put your marketing budget dollars and be sure to measure everything spent. Metrics have now become even more relevant. There are inherent risks in holding the marketing budget steady and even more to cutting it all together. When businesses stay in “safe mode,” budget cuts are common. In contrast, risk taking
companies take advantage of every opportunity to solidify and build a stronger brand. In fact, some companies are increasing their lead in the marketplace by spending more on marketing, which may be the wiser thing to do.
No matter what the condition of the economy, the buyer target, the brand’s positioning, the ad copy and execution, and the media vehicles (a specific print or electronic medium used in an advertising campaign) are more important than the budget in driving revenues. In a recession or stalled economy, put a hold on spending more money on marketing communications if you don’t have all your strategic elements lined up. Once the strategic elements are in order, a focus on a great strategy can be put in place with metrics set up to test market and measure the results. Have the metrics in place for at least six months before deciding to keep the strategy or pull it. My practice is to question anything and measure everything.
Try looking at marketing channels such as social media as it is low cost and represents the future of marketing. While other marketing channels are looking at cutbacks, social networking and electronic media is on a growth path due to being cost effective and it works! It represents the future of marketing.
Compared to a typical advertising campaign, article writing, blogs, social networking, forums, wikis and other tools are incredibly inexpensive to implement and administer, ranging in price from free to economical if managed correctly.
In addition to low costs, social media platforms have been proven to get results that can't be realized with other marketing media. Many traditional marketing communications are 99.9% geared towards boosting awareness of a brand and its products or services. During a flat or stalled economy, simply building awareness loses its effectiveness as the average consumer is less likely to jump from brand awareness to purchasing behavior.
Social networking tools step beyond awareness to actual engagement with the consumer. Global giants such as Electronic Arts, Dell, AT&T and others have come to realize that customers remain customers 50 percent longer if they are community members than if not. During flat or stalled times, deep engagement with a target audience is much more likely to result in customer evangelists and increased sales versus just brand awareness.
Companies that slash their social networking investments during a flat or stalled economy do so at their own peril. No matter how the economic outlook is, consumer’s behavior will continue to move away from traditional media to this new way of reaching out to one’s target audience.
his is particularly true if Gen Y is your target audience, those between the ages of 18 and 27. This generation is incredibly Internet savvy and live in the social computing universe on a full-time basis. They are consistently creating content on top of other’s content and expect to be heard. The companies that attract this generation the best are those that understand and keep up with social computing trends. Gen Y consumers may be a small percentage of your target audience today, but they will grow in significance over the next 10 to 20 years.
Today's economic outlooks will come and go. By refocusing your cinched marketing budget on channels that provide the biggest return and can actually measure a return on investment, also known as ROI, (i.e., social computing tools and business intelligence software), the impact of your digital marketing spent will set you up for rapid growth and position you ahead of your competition.
Marketing Cutbacks Affecting Consumers and Businesses
Monday, January 18, 2010Marketing has taken a hit on both sides with cutbacks by their companies and their customers. For example, on the business side, a great example would be Estée Lauder reflected in 2009 what’s happening at companies across the country. William Lauder, CEO, told Business Week last year that he prepares for the worst by asking every brand manager, “What must you have? What would you like to keep going? And what can you give up?” These are all important strategies to keep in mind as companies are watching their bottom line costs without sacrificing their marketing messages to the right target audience.
Many other companies have implemented drastic changes. AT&T and General Motors slashed their 2008-2009 marketing budgets, while Visa consolidated its ad account at one agency to save money in 2009. What does all this mean to a business in today’s economy? According to a 2009 article in the New York Times, “Cowed by the financial crisis, American customers are pulling back on their spending.” Business buyers are following suit, as Sam Rovit, a partner at Bain & Co., noted, “Many companies will be forced to cut expenses that in normal times you would not touch” – less money to spend to get customers and businesses to spend what little money they feel they have to spend which is not a good scenario.
There are many articles, blogs, and newsletters that offer advice for what business owners should and should not do to grow their businesses in tough or stalled economic times. We seem to come across a trend article or tips piece at least once every day. We sift through all the hottest trends in recession and stalled marketing tactics and the rash of strategic opinion articles to come up with our own suggestions of what we should “do” or “not do.”
As an Entrepreneur or Senior Level Manager responsible for growth strategies and cost cutting, become a researcher and do your homework to be in the know of what is really going on in the economy. Subscribe to economist articles from sources you trust. Take steps to improve marketing effectiveness without spending more in 2010. To do so, be sure to employ significant tactical changes such as:
• Shift some of the marketing investments from traditional to digital media;
• Shift advertising investment from brand-building initiatives to promotional marketing;
• Shift into lower-cost media, such as local vs. national TV or radio spots, 15-second versus 30-second, etc.
With marketing accountability, processes have become strategic imperatives. The more strategic and focused a business is when determining marketing strategies and, implementing metrics along the way, the more confident they feel that their dollars are being spent in the right place.
Share Bookmark this on Delicious
Many other companies have implemented drastic changes. AT&T and General Motors slashed their 2008-2009 marketing budgets, while Visa consolidated its ad account at one agency to save money in 2009. What does all this mean to a business in today’s economy? According to a 2009 article in the New York Times, “Cowed by the financial crisis, American customers are pulling back on their spending.” Business buyers are following suit, as Sam Rovit, a partner at Bain & Co., noted, “Many companies will be forced to cut expenses that in normal times you would not touch” – less money to spend to get customers and businesses to spend what little money they feel they have to spend which is not a good scenario.
There are many articles, blogs, and newsletters that offer advice for what business owners should and should not do to grow their businesses in tough or stalled economic times. We seem to come across a trend article or tips piece at least once every day. We sift through all the hottest trends in recession and stalled marketing tactics and the rash of strategic opinion articles to come up with our own suggestions of what we should “do” or “not do.”
As an Entrepreneur or Senior Level Manager responsible for growth strategies and cost cutting, become a researcher and do your homework to be in the know of what is really going on in the economy. Subscribe to economist articles from sources you trust. Take steps to improve marketing effectiveness without spending more in 2010. To do so, be sure to employ significant tactical changes such as:
• Shift some of the marketing investments from traditional to digital media;
• Shift advertising investment from brand-building initiatives to promotional marketing;
• Shift into lower-cost media, such as local vs. national TV or radio spots, 15-second versus 30-second, etc.
With marketing accountability, processes have become strategic imperatives. The more strategic and focused a business is when determining marketing strategies and, implementing metrics along the way, the more confident they feel that their dollars are being spent in the right place.
Share
Bookmark this on Delicious
How to Thrive in a Stalled or Changing Economy
Monday, January 11, 2010After listening to the media talk about economic outlooks throughout 2009 and the volatile stock market, business survival has become a major concern for many business owners for 2010 and forward. Companies should be focused on strategies that can allow opportunity for growth, even though the economy may appear stalled or changing.
After the historic bank sell-offs and companies folding and/or filing bankruptcy, the stock market volatility, and all the media coverage regarding the state of the economy, it is no wonder business owners are unsure about the future growth of their businesses. Instead of being concerned about how long a recession or stalled economy is predicted to last, businesses should be focused on what could be a good outcome with the money that the federal government is putting back into the economy. What effect will that have? Nobody knows for sure but it will do something. At least businesses shouldn’t see the value of almost every asset class continue to come down. So, rest assured, everything should work out, and business will go on. There are opportunities all around – let’s seize the moment!
I spend a lot of time reading articles related to marketing, leadership, and economic outlooks. While some economists predict a short economic downturn and are optimistic, other economists are stating the downturn is likely to be steep, long, and turbulent. How do successful businesses adjust, position themselves, and play on their strengths with such an unsure future?
Now is the time to determine where you stand. A tropical storm viewed from a weather satellite looks more or less uniform, as if every area is affected with equal force. However, on the ground, the picture is much different. I remember when my parents’ home was hit with a tornado in Pinellas Park, Florida, in October 1992. Their home was hit hard. Many in the neighborhood lost roofs, walls, and entire homes – yet others remained intact. It is not unusual for one community to be devastated while another one a mile away escapes unscathed.
So it is with business storms – a sharp downturn affects everyone differently. Analyze strengths and vulnerabilities. Each business owner will have different answers to three critical questions:
1. How would a slowdown affect the industry in which you compete?
2. What is your company’s overall strategic position within that industry?
3. From what financial resources can the company draw to weather a downturn or stalled economy?
The best strategy depends on where the company stands in the areas set out above. For example, if a company is strong financially and has a positive financial position, then the strategic and industry position allow a variety of options. One may want to out-invest competitors in marketing to increase customer loyalty. One could also attack or even acquire weaker competitors, and price products to gain a greater share of the market. One may be well positioned to lead consolidation within the industry, or to dominate critical market niches by concentrating on financial and marketing strengths.
Bookmark this on Delicious
After the historic bank sell-offs and companies folding and/or filing bankruptcy, the stock market volatility, and all the media coverage regarding the state of the economy, it is no wonder business owners are unsure about the future growth of their businesses. Instead of being concerned about how long a recession or stalled economy is predicted to last, businesses should be focused on what could be a good outcome with the money that the federal government is putting back into the economy. What effect will that have? Nobody knows for sure but it will do something. At least businesses shouldn’t see the value of almost every asset class continue to come down. So, rest assured, everything should work out, and business will go on. There are opportunities all around – let’s seize the moment!
I spend a lot of time reading articles related to marketing, leadership, and economic outlooks. While some economists predict a short economic downturn and are optimistic, other economists are stating the downturn is likely to be steep, long, and turbulent. How do successful businesses adjust, position themselves, and play on their strengths with such an unsure future?
Now is the time to determine where you stand. A tropical storm viewed from a weather satellite looks more or less uniform, as if every area is affected with equal force. However, on the ground, the picture is much different. I remember when my parents’ home was hit with a tornado in Pinellas Park, Florida, in October 1992. Their home was hit hard. Many in the neighborhood lost roofs, walls, and entire homes – yet others remained intact. It is not unusual for one community to be devastated while another one a mile away escapes unscathed.
So it is with business storms – a sharp downturn affects everyone differently. Analyze strengths and vulnerabilities. Each business owner will have different answers to three critical questions:
1. How would a slowdown affect the industry in which you compete?
2. What is your company’s overall strategic position within that industry?
3. From what financial resources can the company draw to weather a downturn or stalled economy?
The best strategy depends on where the company stands in the areas set out above. For example, if a company is strong financially and has a positive financial position, then the strategic and industry position allow a variety of options. One may want to out-invest competitors in marketing to increase customer loyalty. One could also attack or even acquire weaker competitors, and price products to gain a greater share of the market. One may be well positioned to lead consolidation within the industry, or to dominate critical market niches by concentrating on financial and marketing strengths.
Bookmark this on Delicious
Developing a Strategic Planning Process
Tuesday, December 08, 2009When planning strategically, it is imperative to look at both internal and external factors that may impact the company, both positively and negatively.
Internal/Positive: These are considered the company’s overall strengths and what the company is doing well.
Internal/Negative: These are the company’s weaknesses or what the company could be doing better.
External/Positive: These are opportunities, what are the company’s biggest prospects for growth and success?
External/Negative: These are the obstacles, the company’s roadblocks to growth and success.
All of this is also known as a S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis to evaluate your company. This analysis specifies the factors that are favorable and unfavorable relative to a specified objective. When used in conjunction with the specified objective S.W.O.T analysis can help define a strategy which can then be developed into a business plan that includes overall marketing strategies for growth.
Here’s an example of a Marketing S.W.O.T. analysis:
Strengths: Attributes of a company helpful to achieving the objective. These give the company a competitive advantage. Ex.: trade secrets, patents, brand names, reputation, resources, creativity, cost advantages (from experience).
Weaknesses: Attributes of a company which are harmful to achieving the objective, the absence of certain strengths. Ex.: Lack of trade secrets, patents, weak brand names, poor reputation, high cost structure.
Opportunities: External conditions which are helpful to achieving the objective, a change in the market that should provide profit and growth. Ex.: Unfulfilled customer needs, new technologies, market trends and changes.
Threats: External conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective may represent a threat to a company. Ex.: Change in customer wants and needs, new competitors.
Internal/Positive: These are considered the company’s overall strengths and what the company is doing well.
Internal/Negative: These are the company’s weaknesses or what the company could be doing better.
External/Positive: These are opportunities, what are the company’s biggest prospects for growth and success?
External/Negative: These are the obstacles, the company’s roadblocks to growth and success.
All of this is also known as a S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis to evaluate your company. This analysis specifies the factors that are favorable and unfavorable relative to a specified objective. When used in conjunction with the specified objective S.W.O.T analysis can help define a strategy which can then be developed into a business plan that includes overall marketing strategies for growth.
Here’s an example of a Marketing S.W.O.T. analysis:
Strengths: Attributes of a company helpful to achieving the objective. These give the company a competitive advantage. Ex.: trade secrets, patents, brand names, reputation, resources, creativity, cost advantages (from experience).
Weaknesses: Attributes of a company which are harmful to achieving the objective, the absence of certain strengths. Ex.: Lack of trade secrets, patents, weak brand names, poor reputation, high cost structure.
Opportunities: External conditions which are helpful to achieving the objective, a change in the market that should provide profit and growth. Ex.: Unfulfilled customer needs, new technologies, market trends and changes.
Threats: External conditions that are harmful to achieving the objective may represent a threat to a company. Ex.: Change in customer wants and needs, new competitors.
Become A Strategic Thinker
Tuesday, December 08, 2009The strategic thinking business owners and marketers think, plan, and act strategically. Inexperienced business owners and marketers make the mistake of focusing only on stopping things; therefore becoming reactive to situations versus becoming proactive. Their only action is reaction. They maintain the status quo and actually lose in the long run because the rules never change and there are all sorts of things not being stopped.
Strategic action is necessary in situations where an adversary blocks the way to an objective. In such cases, sharp business owners and marketers use strategic thinking to identify where an adversary is vulnerable, and then determine a way to exploit that vulnerability. Strategic thinking can be used to solve problems before they happen, while examining the pros and cons of various moves in order to identify the best course of action.
CREATING A STRATEGY
Creating a strategy for a company’s best results involves:
Defining goals with intermediate and short-term objectives
Identifying competitors
Carrying out a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis
Imagining and playing out scenarios
Identifying primary and secondary target markets
Identifying alliance business partners
Deciding what resources are required (salaries, expenses, etc)
Devising tactics
Drawing up an action timetable
Developing and implementing a systematic process for making decisions and managing work will guide everyone in the company toward desired outcomes. Decisions need to be made with an awareness of the future and the implications if the decisions are not well thought out before implemented. Organize teams and individuals to carry out those decisions and measure the results against expectations. Remember - Pareto’s Law: 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results!
Strategic thinking is the ability to step back from day-to-day activities and develop a long-term plan for sustained growth and development. This involves the ability to evaluate and understand the competition, keep a close eye on industry trends and have a strong grasp of basic business concepts.
Strategic thinking is called for when considering company goals, management plans, staffing issues, career planning and the long-term development of people. Using strategic planning allows you to systematically and efficiently plan for the company and team.
People often confuse strategic thinking with tactical thinking. Strategic thinking is focused on the long term while tactical thinking is focused on short-sighted “urgent” action items. Strategic thinking is the big picture. It challenges the status quo and looks at the future payoff by taking into account the preparation needed to reach the long-term goals. Tactical thinking, on the other hand, is “in the moment”, often the safe and conservative solution and it looks for the immediate payoff and involves automatic and routine execution of a task, the immediate “what to do and how to do it.”
Bookmark this on Delicious
Strategic action is necessary in situations where an adversary blocks the way to an objective. In such cases, sharp business owners and marketers use strategic thinking to identify where an adversary is vulnerable, and then determine a way to exploit that vulnerability. Strategic thinking can be used to solve problems before they happen, while examining the pros and cons of various moves in order to identify the best course of action.
CREATING A STRATEGY
Creating a strategy for a company’s best results involves:
Defining goals with intermediate and short-term objectives
Identifying competitors
Carrying out a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis
Imagining and playing out scenarios
Identifying primary and secondary target markets
Identifying alliance business partners
Deciding what resources are required (salaries, expenses, etc)
Devising tactics
Drawing up an action timetable
Developing and implementing a systematic process for making decisions and managing work will guide everyone in the company toward desired outcomes. Decisions need to be made with an awareness of the future and the implications if the decisions are not well thought out before implemented. Organize teams and individuals to carry out those decisions and measure the results against expectations. Remember - Pareto’s Law: 20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results!
Strategic thinking is the ability to step back from day-to-day activities and develop a long-term plan for sustained growth and development. This involves the ability to evaluate and understand the competition, keep a close eye on industry trends and have a strong grasp of basic business concepts.
Strategic thinking is called for when considering company goals, management plans, staffing issues, career planning and the long-term development of people. Using strategic planning allows you to systematically and efficiently plan for the company and team.
People often confuse strategic thinking with tactical thinking. Strategic thinking is focused on the long term while tactical thinking is focused on short-sighted “urgent” action items. Strategic thinking is the big picture. It challenges the status quo and looks at the future payoff by taking into account the preparation needed to reach the long-term goals. Tactical thinking, on the other hand, is “in the moment”, often the safe and conservative solution and it looks for the immediate payoff and involves automatic and routine execution of a task, the immediate “what to do and how to do it.”
Bookmark this on Delicious
Recent Posts
- Using Customer Focus to Build Long-Term Relationships Part 1 of 2
- Using Customer Focus to Build Long-Term Relationships Part 2
- Using Customer Focus to Build Long-Term Relationships Part 1
- The Collaborative Marketing Process
- The Emergence of Collaborative Marketing
- Using Technology to Gain Market Share
- Develop a Confidence for Writing Online Content
- What Blogging and Social Media Can Do for You and Your Business!
- Put YOUR Brand to Work for YOU in LinkedIn with a Company Page.
- Check Out NEW Google+ App for Organizations
Tags
competition online reputation Prospect application directory Klaut Edgerank online Small Business Marketing Blog writing Twitter content publisher homepage Social Media, Networking Facebook insights collectible rewards posting blogging social media tips Relationship Building Process full brain marketing content Public Relations social brand Google+ | Google Apps | Google+ Circles | PROSkore | Google+ Application Customer Service business content strategy images Facebook apps Google+ fan page Competitive Intelligence Strategies media management Effective Communication Animoto Tweet discounts Business Leadership managing business page internet marketing Brand Association Business Management Online Marketing Retweet social media Target Market Facebook fans people search LinkedIn. Lead Generation. Customers. Profile. google alerts social media strategy LinkedIn LinkedIn Profile Flyte: grapics social business planning reputation management networked blogs Personality Type Google Google Features social business marketing Google Apps Facebook engage your followers Valuable Content
- Animoto (1)
- application directory (1)
- Blog writing (13)
- blogging (16)
- Brand Association (13)
- business (9)
- Business Leadership (16)
- Business Management (2)
- business page (3)
- collectible rewards (1)
- competition (1)
- Competitive Intelligence Strategies (2)
- content (2)
- content publisher (1)
- content strategy (2)
- Customer Service (4)
- discounts (1)
- Edgerank (1)
- Effective Communication (1)
- engage your followers (2)
- Facebook (3)
- Facebook apps (1)
- Facebook fans (2)
- Facebook insights (2)
- fan page (2)
- Flyte: grapics (1)
- full brain marketing (3)
- Google (2)
- google alerts (1)
- Google Apps (1)
- Google Features (1)
- Google+ (1)
- Google+ | Google Apps | Google+ Circles | PROSkore | Google+ Application (1)
- homepage (1)
- images (1)
- internet marketing (2)
- Klaut (1)
- LinkedIn (4)
- LinkedIn Profile (4)
- LinkedIn. Lead Generation. Customers. Profile. (2)
- managing (1)
- marketing (2)
- media management (5)
- networked blogs (1)
- online (2)
- Online Marketing (2)
- online reputation (1)
- people search (1)
- Personality Type (1)
- posting (3)
- Prospect (1)
- Public Relations (1)
- Relationship Building Process (1)
- reputation management (2)
- Retweet (1)
- Small Business Marketing (1)
- social brand (3)
- social business (2)
- social business planning (3)
- social media (6)
- social media strategy (4)
- social media tips (5)
- Social Media, Networking (4)
- Target Market (1)
- Tweet (1)
- Twitter (1)
- Valuable Content (2)
Join us on