Four Essential Marketing Plan ComponentsWritten by Cavyl Stewart
Preparing a Marketing Plan for your product or service is a real eye-opening experience. While we all hope that our product or service will appeal to masses, truth is, that may not happen. Assembling a Marketing Plan first and foremost forces you to clearly define what you are selling. From there, you define demographics of market for your product or services. You research on-going or upcoming trends in industry, your existing and potential competition and whether or not market is already saturated. And time to analyze this valuable information is before you spend money opening door to your new business venture. A marketing plan is one valuable tool that will help your business survive. Analyze Market This section plays an important role in determining who will purchase your product or service, and why. You need to identify such attributes as gender, age group, where they live, their buying habits and their social values. This section also has you look at current economic climate including upcoming changes in laws or technology that might impact delivery and/or reception of your product or service. It’s also important to take a close look at your competition whether it’s around block or around globe. The more you know about your competition better prepared you are to deal with it. Know their hours of operation, their organizational structure, their promotions, their advertising outlets, whatever you can find out. Identify Marketing Goals and Objectives With information about your target market and your competition in hand, you can better outline your marketing goals and steps to take to achieve these goals. Identify what you think are your company’s strength and weaknesses, and resources you have available including staff and finances. Committing your goals and steps to a calendar will help keep your marketing efforts on track and provide you with direction.
| | Building Brand Awareness Through TradeshowsWritten by Susan Freidmann
Building Brand Awareness Through Tradeshows by Susan Friedmann, CSP Branding is a basic marketing concept that is designed to set your products/services apart from competition. By using a particular name, phrase, design, symbol or a combination of these, you can create a unique identity. When choosing a brand name, consider following five criteria: 1. It should suggest product/service benefits. 2. It should be simple, memorable, and unique. 3. It should fit image of company. 4. It should have positive connotations for target market. 5. It should be easy to pronounce and to pictorialize. Branding is not a sales and marketing gimmick. Instead it refines and defines corporate culture and identity. A brand must have meaning to its consumers, its organization and its employees. Brand is an emotional link between you and your customer. It is what people buy when they buy your product or your company. The most important part of a brand’s identity is promise it makes to customers. The essence of branding is simplicity and timelessness. Integrating Brand Awareness Into Your Exhibit ProgramSince exhibiting is a powerful extension of your company’s advertising, promotion, public relations and sales function, that automatically means it is an excellent way to enhance brand awareness. Everything your company stands for, no matter how large or small, is being exhibited on show floor. This means there needs to be total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus in every aspect of your exhibiting program, before, during and after show. Here are three important points to consider as you plan to integrate brand awareness into your tradeshow program. 1. Consistency and repetition is vital in creating brand awareness. People buy brands they know and they trust! A brand is a promise that companies make to their customers. Strong branding requires all levels of communication to agree with one another. 2. Ensure all your marketing and promotions are consistent and that they have your logo, colors, typeface, slogans and characters. Everything you develop should have same look and feel. 3. Peoples’ perception about your company, products, and services is a major factor in their choice of brand preferences and their buying behavior. All perception is subjective and based on experience. Individuals tend to interpret information according to existing beliefs, attitudes, needs and mood. The following is a 10-point checklist to act as a reminder for many of questions you need to ask and answer as you plan brand integration into your exhibit program: 1. What needs to be done to ensure that your booth conveys total consistency, congruity, clarity and focus of your company image and brand? Consider: - booth size - location - graphics - demonstrations - staff - handouts and giveaways - lead management
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