Key part of the general corporate strategy
A marketing strategy is most effective when it is an integral component of corporate strategy, defining how the organization will successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in the market arena. It is partially derived from broader corporate missions, and corporate goals. As the customer constitutes the source of a company's revenue, marketing strategy is closely linked. A key component of marketing strategy is often to keep marketing in line.Sectorial tactics and actions
A publishing strategy can serve as the foundation of a marketing plan. A marketing plan contains a set of specific actions required to successfully implement a marketing strategy. For example: "Use a low cost product to attract consumers. Once our organization, via our low cost product, has established a relationship with consumers, our organization will sell additional, higher-margin products and services that enhance the consumer's interaction with the low-cost product or service." A strategy consists of a well thought out series of tactics to make a marketing plan more effective. Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives[3]. Plans and objectives are generally tested for measurable results. A marketing strategy often integrates an organization's marketing goals, policies, and action sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. Similarly, the various strands of the strategy , which might include advertising, channel marketing, internet marketing, promotion and public relations can be orchestrated. Many companies cascade a strategy throughout an organization, by creating strategy tactics that then become strategy goals for the next level or group. Each group is expected to take that strategy goal and develop a set of tactics to achieve that goal. This is why it is important to make each strategy goal measurable. Marketing strategies are dynamic and interactive. They are partially planned and partially unplanned. See strategy dynamics.Types of strategies
Every marketing strategy is unique, but can be reduced into a generic marketing strategy. There are a number of ways of categorizing these generic strategies. A brief description of the most common categorizing schemes is presented below:A more detailed scheme uses the categories:
Strategic Models
Marketing participants often employ strategic models and tools to analyze marketing decisions. When beginning a strategic analysis, the 3Cs can be employed to get a broad understanding of the strategic environment. An Ansoff Matrix is also often used to convey an organization's strategic positioning of their marketing mix. The 4Ps can then be utilized to form a marketing plan to pursue a defined strategy.Marketing Practice
In practice, as opposed to theory, research has indicated that the outstanding problems facing marketers lie in the use of specific functions. Most senior managements have committed to the philosophy, even though their junior managers may be cynical about the degree of that commitment. Unfortunately, there is little evidence to show that this new-found belief has led to positive action. Indeed, there is little evidence that marketing practice (as opposed to the theory) has been widely embraced. In particular, pricing is largely on a cost-plus or competitive basis, promotional budgets are small (and spent more on sales promotion than advertising or PR), 'place' is - in any case - not relevant, and marketing research is almost all second-hand.Coarse Marketing
The marketer, in real life, does not face each decision with a copy of a text-book in his or her hand - ready to work through the various lessons. The marketer starts with a quite specific environment, which will immediately limit the range of relevant factors. To the perceptive marketer the range of options to be explored is usually obvious. Beyond this, the position is further constrained by the available resources. For instance, theory always says that the first step is marketing research, but if a competitor has just made a major change in strategy, a company may have just days to react - where research may take months.Real-life marketing primarily revolves around the application of a great deal of common-sense; dealing with a limited number of factors, in an environment of imperfect information and limited resources complicated by uncertainty and tight timescales. Use of classical marketing techniques, in these circumstances, is inevitably partial and uneven.
Thus, for example, new products will emerge from irrational processes and the rational development process may be used (if at all) to screen out the worst non-runners. The design of the advertising, and the packaging, will be the output of the creative minds employed; which management will then screen, often by 'gut-reaction', to ensure that it is reasonable.
For most of their time, marketing managers use intuition and experience to analyze and handle the complex, and unique, situations being faced; without easy reference to theory. This will often be 'flying by the seat of the pants', or 'gut-reaction'; where the overall strategy, coupled with the knowledge of the customer which has been absorbed almost by a process of osmosis, will determine the quality of the marketing employed. This, almost instinctive management, is what is sometimes called 'coarse marketing'; to distinguish it from the refined, aesthetically pleasing, form favored by the theorists.
http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Marketing_strategy
Outline of the Simple Online Business Plan Steps
- Sit down in front of your computer. Bare with me on this one. You are looking at your monitor. Ask yourself this question: can you be focused enough that when you are at your computer (whether it be an hour or 8 hours a day) you will be 100% focused on business. I am not talking about those occasional family or friend interruptions. I am talking about playing solitaire or surfing the net.
- Decide what you want to sell. This applies to both the new online business person as well as those who have been online for a while. You may have an idea for a product. Or you may decide to sell someone else's product(s). The next step is to do research to find out if people are buying the same or similar product on the Internet. Or you will definitely need to find a source that has already found the successful markets (niche) on the Internet and can provide you with a proven formula to determine whether or not any product can be successfully promoted. Side note: If you have an idea, before you go running around asking people's opinion do what I tell people who call or email me to get my opinion about their ideas. Write down your idea on a piece of paper. If you have photos or a drawing of it , that's great. Then mail the idea description and anything else to yourself. Keep the envelop sealed. This will help you prove it was your idea if anyone tries to steal it.
- Decide on a domain name and web hosting. Skip free hosting services. They have more drawbacks than I can write in this short article. Here are a few drawbacks: they have other people's advertising when someone visits your site, pop up and pop under advertising, reliability of up time on the Internet, and are not popular with search engines.
- Setting up how you are going to sell your product.. Most hosting services offer what they call a cPanel. Included will be a service called Fantastico that offers such things as free shopping carts, guest books, free blog software, and more. Then decide if you want to apply for a merchant account to accept credit cards. Or you could find many services on the Internet that will offer to process the credit cards for you for a fee. Make sure you investigate at least 8 of these services. You will find the service fees vary widely.
- Get a proven and thorough simple online business plan. I am not talking about one that is specifically listed as designed for the type of business you plan on starting. And I am not talking about one that is complicated. Remember the title of this article: "Simple Online Business Plan". You want a business plan that comes with manual(s), both video and audio discs (so you can listen while you drive). Look for a business plan that gives you the option of hard copy (as I call it) shipped to you or for a less cost an area where you can download everything and print and copy to disc yourself. Once you get the business plan make sure it has some type of checklist. A checklist will help keep you focused. A simple online business plan checklist will make sure you follow the steps in the proper order. Proper order completion is a key to your success. This is not picking up a new mystery novel and first reading the last chapter to see who did it.
My Final Advice
I could have just provided a just a list what I consider the complete steps to a simple online business plan above. But in my experience people who look for business plans that are just major headings miss the necessary ingredients (explanation and sub-steps) that make each step simple and successful. Simple headlines or bullet points are just too simple and incomplete.
Money Guidelines
To accomplish the above steps it should cost you around $100 to $500 (domain, hosting, business plan). If you ever think of going over $500 my suggest is: cut up your credit cards before you spend another dime. I have seen business plans, by themselves, that cost well over a $1,000. I find them filled with material that has nothing to do with setting up a online business. A simple online business plan means you could take that same business plan and set up any type of online business you choose. And come with simple, easy to read complete explanation of what you need to know.
Now that is simple.
http://www.thebusinessplans.info/index.
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