The Best Way to Promote a Catering Business

By Lanee’ Blunt

Marketing your catering business can be challenge because a lot of caterer’s operate as a home-based business or from a shared commissary kitchen. Most small businesses are looking for more ways to promote their catering services offline and online. Getting visibility is hard work, but it’s something that has to be done often. It may be a challenge to brand your business if you work from home or a shared commissary kitchen because you don’t have a storefront to hang a welcome sign.

Promotional items

There are some really cool gifts that you can give away that will help you market your business. You can provide shopping bags with your name, address, phone, email and website address. The bags can be so nice that customers will keep them instead of throwing them away. Promotional gift items may include pens, key chains, mugs, and calculators. There is a large list of items that you can use and this will keep your companies name in front of your prospects.

Direct mail

This is another offline marketing technique that you can use that is effective. Use sales letters, postcards, and brochures. Send out your direct mailers to a list of qualified prospects, insert a reply card where they have to fill it out if their interested and after they have received your sales message give them a call. Ask if they would like more information on your catering business: an information kit or a sales visit.

Business cards

Everyone in business probably has a business card, but you can use it as a postcard by putting a sales message on it. Think about what you offer your customers not what they do for you. What is a benefit that you offer that none of your competitors are doing? Add that benefit to your business cards. Put your web address on your business cards also.

Packaging and receipts

Use your receipts to market your business by putting your address and website URL to build awareness. You can do the same thing with packaging; instead of using disposal shopping bags provide a heavy duty decorative bag. People will not only save it but they will use it over and over. You can put your company name and URL on them for future calls or referrals.

Listings

You can list your local business with Google and Bing, but you must claim and verify the accuracy of your local verify the accuracy of your local listing. Include your website and email information. When you list your company the search engines you can get local customers.

List your company with online directories a lot of them are free. Make sure you write an attention getting summary because most will let you write a description about your business.

Social Media

Create a profile and pages for your company. Get a Twitter account, a company Facebook Page, Google+ Page, and LinkedIn Page. Become active by getting your name out there.

Website

Most small businesses’ have a website but some don’t. If you have a home business you should still have a website. Buy a domain name and get a hosting site. Most people will want to come to your website and look around before giving you their business. Make sure you have photos of your food, testimonials, your menus, a list of services that you provide, and email address and phone number. 

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Marketing Ideas for a Small Business

By Lanee’ Blunt

Marketing is an integral part of any business.

Small businesses depend on other forms of marketing to market their product or service and don’t use direct-mail exclusively to advertise their business. Marketing campaigns allow you to contact your customer by email promotions, interactive consumer websites, cellular messaging, fliers, catalog submission, salesletters, direct mail packages, and online banner ads.

Samples

Free samples will always be an effective benefit within marketing. Using samples is a marketing tool that will assist to build consumer awareness about your product. Giving out samples will help you get repeat business as well as create brand loyalty. Free trial offers allows your small business to gather the names and addresses of individuals that are interested in your product. Your company will obtain high quality leads that may be converted by using additional marketing campaigns.

Email Marketing

Email advertising involves sending a sales letter to several people on a subscriber list. Capture your prospects current email address on your website after which send your online e-newsletter by email. Sending an online newsletter is a good form of promotion since it keeps your name and message before your prospect and when they decide to purchase they may think of your company. Do not send spam.

Post cards

Postcard advertising is fantastic for the small business owner on the budget. Postcard advertising allows the small business to keep prospects informed on services, or to announce unique sales to customers. Postcards pave the way to invite the prospect to go to your website, come in to your store, come in and service their vehicle, or to call a person. You can use a time sensitive statement such as, call within the following two days and get a special bonus offer.

Promote

Write an ad for your service or product to produce some leads. Try launching the ad promotion for a few days and then cut the ad if you have enough leads. Although, advertising has a high cost you still have a high level of control.

Direct Mail

Direct mail marketing reaches prospective buyers on an individual basis. Direct mail has certain benefits. It can be controlled and sent to a target market. The material could be addressed to lawyers, accountants, physicians, or farmers. When direct mail is used properly, being addressed to the right target market it has the ability to do the selling for you. The results of the mailing can be studied and controlled so that you'll be able to improve your results with each mailing.

See also

• Tips on Direct Mail Marketing
• Direct Marketing
• Start a Small Business Newsletter
• Creating a Marketing Brochure

[Image of a marketing graph].  (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.broward.edu/academics/programs/marketing/Pages/default.aspx

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Lead Generation

By Lanee’ Blunt

Marketing benefits from lead generation.

Brokers and life insurance companies advertise that they will send you a free information kit without any obligation to interested persons concerning their special market letter or insurance information. The purpose of such offers is that certain types of services and products are not easy to sell and may need a sales person to complete the order. Lead generation is used to get names of people that may be interested in your product or service to be used for list building, and e-newsletters list.

Prepare for the salesperson

The goal of your business may be to sell your product or service, but the actual sale may come in the sales meeting. If you are an independent contractor or your business has a sales team, mail-based generation offers a way to create a demand for the product or service or pave the way for the sales meeting and it offers many advantages. You can create a demand for the product or the advertisement may pave the way for the salesperson to make a sales presentation.

Targeted

The buyer has requested information from your business that they were interested in. You have the opportunity to send information to a qualified buyer that is interested in what you are selling or your service.  This is an advantage because you do not have to cold call on prospects that are not interested in what you are selling these prospects have given you permission to send them information. The conversion rates are higher when leads that you receive through lead generation.

Cost Effective

A mailing program to generate leads is cost effective and profitable. An advantage of using lead generation is that you are not going to have to knock on doors or cold call because you will use a qualified mailing list of likely buyers and have a free offer. You can offer them a free information kit, eBook, brochure, demo, fact sheet or software. They respond by mailing in a reply card, by phone, or through your website. After you get a response from them you call or have your staff call to set up a sales meeting or information meeting.

Disadvantages

A disadvantage is that some prospects may not become customers.

Unqualified list building may be a disadvantage. It can be very pricey to send mail to a list of prospects that are not interested in what you are selling. You may have the finest copy, layout, and artwork but if the list is not right your efforts and money will be wasted. The mailing list can determine the success or failure of direct mail advertising done by a company. Another disadvantage is not keeping the mailing list updated.

See also

• Advertising with Direct Mail
• How to Advertise a Small Business
• Pros and Cons of Online Marketing
• Benefits of Direct Mail

Reference:

MarketingDoc:The Advantages of Lead Generation

[Image of lead generation services].  (n.d.). Retrieved from http://proserviceconnect.com/leadgeneration/

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Sales Leads for a Small Business

By Lanee’ Blunt

Gain more sales leads--
Image by GraphiteBP.

Gaining leads are important for your small business survival. It is a numbers game; you must convert, and keep leads coming in always. Small businesses can also use the internet to gain leads. Long-term lead generation is the best method and is a balance between advertising and promotion.

ASUS Transformer Prime TF201-B1-CG Eee Pad 10.1-Inch 32GB Tablet

Advertising

You can write an ad for your product or service to produce a certain amount of leads. When you create the ad try not to give the full story, to get the full story the prospect must call, mail in a coupon, write, or go to a website. Try the ad promotion for a certain amount of days and then cut the ad when you have enough leads. Although, advertising has a high cost you still have a high level of control.

Rented List

Get a mailing list from a list broker or media company to use for a specified length of time, or for a certain number of communications. Decide who your best customers are so that you can clone them and send direct mail or an email.

Social Media

Small businesses can now afford the same media like big corporations with social media. Social media is an inexpensive tool to reach and communicate with large numbers of prospects. Know your audience and show them the best way that your business can solve problems and give solutions. Create a good way to capture data and maintain information about customers and prospects. This is a great way for small businesses to get out there and get noticed for example, use the Facebook fan page to showcase different products or services. Invite interaction by asking prospects for feedback in Facebook messaging.  Twitter can be used to pull customers into your company blog post.

Reference:

Entrepreneur; Gaining the Lead; John Jantsh; 2008

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Pros & Cons of Direct Marketing

By Lanee’ Blunt

Direct Marketing--
Image by JayLopez.

Direct marketing is a form of direct advertising that is sent through direct mail letters, email, mobile messages, interactive consumer websites, catalog distribution, and postcards. Marketers use direct mail to reach prospects on an individual level. Many small businesses and consultants should take great care in creating quality messages so that their messages are not considered spam.

There are very few businesses that rely solely on direct mail advertising in marketing their product or service. They use direct mail as a supplement to the periodic and mass advertising.

Targeted

Direct mail distribution can be regulated and targeted to a specific group of people. For example, the mailing can be addressed to doctors, lawyers, or people in a certain geographical area. When the direct mail is done properly it is capable of selling to a selective market.

Reach

It will reach the prospects on your mailing list. If the list is updated, no one will coldly dismiss the mailwoman by opening the door and telling her to go away. In most cases the mailing will be opened. If your sales letter or your sales message is written properly most prospects will not only read it but also respond and take action in purchasing.

Proper Sales Message

The preparation of the sales message has a disadvantage because the writer may not have created an offer.  A successful direct mail package should sell the offer and not the product or service. If the marketing piece is to be of value it must be well developed and should attract attention, favorably arouse interest, and create a desire for the product or service.

Reference:

Wikipedia:Direct Marketing

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Small Business Marketing

By Lanee’ Blunt

Marketing can be done on a budget--
Image by Duchesssa.

There are many benefits of using small business marketing that will help you advertise your business. It allows you to communicate with your customer by email campaigns, interactive consumer websites, mobile messaging, fliers, catalog distribution, sales letters, direct mail packages, and online display ads. Advertising can be done on a budget, but it requires some time on your part.

Postcards

Postcard advertising is ideal for the small business owner on a budget. Print all the labels on your computer; the other side of the postcard should have an offer, for example, announce a sale, a discount, or two for the price of one. Create a tempting offer, and it should improve your response rate.

Email Advertising

Do not send spam. Email advertising involves directly marketing a message through electronic mail to a group of people or a mailing list.  Send your messages to an opt-in list of people that have told you they want to receive email messages from you.  Sending an online newsletter is a great form of promotion because it keeps your name and message in front of your prospect and when they decide to buy they may think of your small business. Capture your prospects email address on your website and then send your online newsletter by email.

Advertise

Write an ad for your product or service to produce a certain amount of leads. Try launching the ad promotion for a certain amount of days and then cut the ad when you have enough leads. Although, advertising has a high cost you still have a high level of control.

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How to Attract Customers to Your Product

By Lanee’ Blunt

Encourage referrals--
Cherrychil

Advertising your product to a targeted market will help you get more customers. Focus on satisfying your current customers and focus on encouraging referrals and attracting new business. What is your unique selling point? What does your product offer that is different from your competitors?

Benefits

Identify the benefits of using your product. People usually buy a product for the benefit of what they are going to get from using it.  Most small businesses articulate the features of the product to their customers. That's fine to talk about your features but people usually want to know what is in it for them. A benefit is "something that promotes well-being, an advantage," according to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. On the other hand, a feature is "a distinctive or characteristic part of a thing." You must understand the distinction between the features and benefits of using your product. When you write an ad, brochure, or create your website always lead with the benefits of using your product.

Referrals

Referrals are very important. Encourage referrals from your customers because it is the best way to get new customers to buy your product. If you have satisfied customers ask them for a referral. Think of a referral system where you can offer a special discount if your customer gives you the names, and phone numbers of three of their friends.

Quality

Make sure that you offer your customers quality products. They must feel that they are getting a great value and high quality. Provide high quality and customer service. Treat your customers with the highest respect.

Reference:

Business Link: Marketing on a Tight Budget

The Prosperous Healer; How to Attract Clients by Expressing the Benefits of Your Offerings; Admin; 2012

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Advantages of the Marketing Mix

By Lanee’ Blunt

4 Ps of Marketing Mix--
Duchessa

The marketing mix has benefits for a small business that wants to market their business. The marketing mix consists of the choices and decisions that a business must make to bring their product or service to the market. All small businesses should spend a certain amount of their finances on marketing. There is some work to do to find out what your customers want and how your company can produce the product or service at a price that will represent a value to them.

Product

Your product or service should be looked at in terms of how customers will experience it. Think about the features and does it meet their needs. How is your product branded? How are you different from your competitors?

Place

Access the right distribution channels to sell your product or service. Attend trade fairs, make online submissions, or should you send samples to customers.

Price

Pick a price for your product or service that will add value to the buyer. How does your price compare with the competition? 

Promotion

Promote your product or service to your target market. Reach your audience with advertising, direct mail, TV or radio, and through public relations. Build a website. Look at your competitors and how they promote their business.

The marketing mix is known as the 4 Ps because each ingredient affects the other. The marketing mix is the way in which a business uses price, product, place, and promotion to sell its product or service.

Reference:

 Mind Tools: The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps

Tutor2u: The Marketing Mix 

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Advantages of Online Marketing Over Traditional Marketing

By Lanee’ Blunt

A small business has many advantages of marketing their company online. Many small businesses are having less of a return from traditional marketing like the Yellow Pages, and newspapers. They are looking for new ways to market their business. Marketing online helps to stretch your marketing budget. There are many benefits to marketing online that traditional offline marketing doesn’t offer.

Demographics

Marketing online allows you to specifically target and measure the response from demographics such as gender, age and location. It allows you to target income levels, occupation levels and education levels. The same demographic research can be done in traditional marketing but with online marketing it is easier.

Cost

Placing your product or service on a TV commercial can be expensive depending on the time it’s shown. Internet marketing is much cheaper because a free listing on Google Local is just as effective as a listing in the Yellow Pages. A search engine optimization campaign can offer long-term result and a small ad with Pay-Per-Click is very effective. When a person is searching for a product or service your ad may be on the first page of the Google results for that keyword.

Conversion

Online marketing has the ability to convert customers instantly by capturing the customer’s email address, contract information, and it also gives them the ability to buy from you with the click of a mouse. On the other hand, when you send direct mail you have to get the right mailing list, send reply cards and follow up on leads.

Reference:

Marketing Smart: 10 Advantages of Online Marketing vs. Traditional Media; Martin Wong; 2009

Techie Buzz; The Advantages of Internet Marketing Over Traditional Marketing; Guest Post; 2011

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Lead Generation Strategies

By Lanee’ Blunt

Lead generation is not a new concept. Large corporations and brokers often advertise that they will send a booklet of information concerning income tax or their special market letters free of charge. The purpose of the free offer is to get names of people of a certain financial standing that is interested in the offering. Gaining leads for your small business is a numbers game.

Advertising
An ad can be written for your product or service to produce a certain amount of leads. Ads that are aimed to generate leads do not give the full story, to get the full story the prospect must call, mail in a coupon, write, or go to a website. You can launch the ad promotion for a certain amount of days and then cut the ad when you have enough leads. Although, advertising has a high cost you still have a high level of control.

Referrals
A referral is a low cost method of lead generation. Be creative in obtaining referrals. You can create a referral program by contacting your customers within 30 or 45 days and ask them for three names and phone numbers of someone they know that can use your product or service.

Lead Generation Agencies
They specialize in providing leads for your company. These leads are usually qualified for your product or service. Your product or service is advertised and promoted on a website. The consumer finds the informational website or directory and then they are able to complete an online quote or form which is submitted to the agency. The new lead’s information is verified and sent to the appropriate provider in an email.

Reference:
Entrepreneur; Gaining the Lead; John Jantsh; 2008
About: Marketing Benefits of Using Lead Generation; Laura Lake

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What is Direct Response Advertising?

By Lanee’ Blunt

Direct response advertising is used by large corporations, small businesses, consulting firms and companies of all sizes. Direct response advertising is not as expensive as traditional advertising, it can be tracked and it offers a lot of different media outlets. It allows you to communicate with your customer by direct mail campaign, infomercial, radio, magazine, mail order, and email.

In direct response advertising the prospect is urged to call the advertiser right away to receive the offer. Direct response methods include coupons to cut and mail, reply cards in direct mail, and toll free telephone numbers. For example, if you are sending direct mail you can send a reply card and ask the prospect to mail it back with their phone number if they want more information.

Direct response advertising works because it requires a call to action. You can use a time sensitive statement in your in your call to action. For example, call now for a free gift and if you call within the next twenty minutes you’ll get the second item free. Direct response advertising can be tracked. This type of call to action allows the advertiser to track the offer and run similar offers and track which one received the best response.

Reference:

Business Dictionary: Direct Response Advertising

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Principles of the Marketing Mix

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Direct Marketing Sales Leads Tips

By Lanee’ Blunt

Direct marketing works if it is done the right way. It is effective if you research your target demographic. There are companies that you can hire to conduct a market research for you, or companies that offer paid memberships that give you access to market research. It is important that you know your market because you can have the best direct mail package, or email campaign and if your mailing list is wrong you won’t profit from the campaign.

House List

A house list is a mailing list that is made up of customers and prospects. It is very important for you to keep accurate records of customers, prospects, and referrals that you have received. One of the best lists available to you will be your house list which is a list of customers and people that have already responded to your ads and have bought from you in the past. They may still be interested in your product or service. A response rate is higher when you call the prospects on your house list. They are already familiar with your business and they may be members of your newsletter or maybe you have met them networking or at trade shows.

Rented List

You can purchase a mailing list from a list broker or media company to use for a specified length of time, or for a certain number of communications. Before you order your mailing list you should be clear of who are your best customers and clone them.

Reference:

Find More Buyers: How to Order the Most Profitable Marketing List

Entrepreneur Connect; How to Boost Direct Marketing Sales Leads; Candy Lee; 2011

Marketing Direct; Lead Generation Response Rate Winner; George Clay

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Direct Marketing

By Lanee’ Blunt

Direct marketing is used by large corporations, small businesses, consulting firms and companies of all sizes. Direct marketing may boost your business by winning you quality customers.  It allows you to communicate with your customer by email campaigns, interactive consumer websites, mobile messaging, fliers, catalog distribution, sales letters, direct mail packages, and online display ads. It is designed to obtain orders directly by mail. It is not just advertising, but the combination of advertising and selling.

Direct marketing is the combination of contacting and influencing a chosen set of prospects by using direct mail, telemarketing, and etc. The marketing messages are addressed to the prospect and focuses on the target market. A mailing list that has been qualified for the target market is tested and used. For example, if you are sending emails you would purchase an opt-in email list from a list provider. The specialized list purchased from a commercial list house may be developed for lawyers, dentist, nurses, college professors, teachers, and accountants, etc.

It may take several approaches before you may turn a prospect into a buyer. Direct marketing is an alternative to cold calling and attracts qualified leads to your business, and keeps them in the loop until they are converted into customers. It will provide you with a set of clients that can give you referrals. Direct marketing can be measured which will help you stay on target if your campaign was successful. For example, if a business sends out 1,000 sales letters and 100 prospects respond to the promotion, the business knows that campaign led directly to a 10% direct response rate.

Reference:

Business Dictionary: Direct Marketing

Systematic Direct Marketing: Direct Marketing

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Product Branding Principles

What is a Promotional Mix?

Four Types of Marketing Channels

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What is the Marketing Mix?

By Lanee’ Blunt

The Four P's of Marketing--
svilen001

Marketing is very important for your business because it helps you attract new customers and keeps former customers coming for repeat business. The marketing mix helps you determine how to satisfy your customers, and it can be planned, controlled and adjusted until you get the results that are best for your company.

Marketers use the marketing mix to create a value for their product. The elements in the marketing mix are product, place, price and promotion. The four-elements of the marketing mix are used and adjusted until the marketer gets the results that he wants. For example, pricing decisions are used in the form of cash discounts which convince customers to buy.

The product is analyzed for its ability to compete better than your competition. For example, quality and safety can be used as a benefit. Price includes decisions that you would make to price your product competitively. Place includes the distribution decision for example, how to reach your customers in what geographic location. Promotion decisions are strategies that you will use to get more customers, such as coupons and sales.

Reference:

Business Dictionary: Marketing Mix

Net MBA: The Marketing Mix

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What is a Promotional Mix?

By Lanee’ Blunt

Sales promotions are inducements that a business uses to encourage the purchase of a product or service. The promotion mix includes sales promotion, advertising, direct marketing, publicity, and personal selling.

What is Promotion Mix?

The promotional mix is the coordination of marketing activities which includes publicity, sales promotion, advertising, direct marketing and personal selling. It is a coordination of activities that you will do to directly interact with your customers. For example giving sales presentations helps you to interact with the customers’ one-on-one to answer their questions and demonstrate your product.

The promotional mix’s goal would be to inform persuade and remind your customer about your product or service. Sales promotion is inducements with the purpose of encouraging customers to buy for example, cents off coupons. Merchandising is used in the store to stimulate sales. For example displays, signs and posters. The promotional mix uses advertising which is a paid form of non-personal presentation. Public relations are firms communicating with their customers, employees and stockholders. It is important that a business have a solid reputation with customers. For example, one way firms communicate is by sending out newsletters or press releases. Personal selling is used either by phone or face-to-face to the prospect, for example, to address your customers concerns and answer their questions directly.

Reference:

Brooklyn CUNY: Advertising Publicity and Sales Promotions

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Developing a Marketing Plan

By Lanee' Blunt

Developing a marketing plan for your company can help you define your market. Marketing is more that advertising. A marketing plan helps you focus your efforts toward what will get the best results for your company. Your strategy is to try and understand your customers and take action toward delivering your product or service to them.

Set your objectives. What is your goal for the marketing plan? Establish marketing objectives that will accomplish your business goals.

Create a vision statement. This is a mission statement for your company that will specify exactly what your long term vision is. Identify the attributes of your product or service that define the brand and its long-term position.

Create a marketing budget. Your budget information is what you have set aside either per quarter or per annual for marketing your business. Set your prices for your product or service as a competitive rate. Evaluate the process of the marketing plans effectiveness. Measure your results against the standards that you set when you made or set your goals. Develop a schedule for which gives a timeline for each of your marketing actions.

Reference:

Inc; How to Write a Marketing Plan; Darren Dahl; 2010

AAFP; Nine Steps to a Strategic Marketing Plan; Rebecca Anwar, PHD and Judy Capko; 2001

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What are the Benefits of a Marketing Plan?

By Lanee' Blunt

A marketing plan is a plan that helps you define your market. Many small businesses operate their businesses without giving much thought to preparing a marketing plan. Sometimes they luck up and do things right, but most times they don’t know what worked and what didn’t work. A marketing plan will put in place a strategy for attracting more customers and it helps to anticipates changes.

A benefit to having a marketing plan is that it helps you understand your target market, what you propose to do to reach that market, and how you plan to differentiate yourself from your competition.

It puts in place an outline of the cost of how you are going to achieve your marketing goals within a certain timeframe. Each activity in the marketing plan is based on solid research and specific goals. It serves as a road map to help you achieve those goals. When you are working from your marketing plan it doesn’t mean that you can’t change things and that it’s set in stone. Consider the tactics that worked well and the ones that didn’t work at all. For example, an ad you put in the paper gave high results, opposed to one you put in a directory that didn’t pull a high response.

Reference:

SBA: Developing a Marketing Plan

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What Content to Include in a Marketing Plan

By Lanee' Blunt

A marketing plan is important because it is the best way to help you prepare yourself. It will ensure that you stick to your schedule and that you are spending your money wisely.

It will serve as a road map to making you achieve your company goals.

Marketing Audit

Take a look at your marketing collateral materials. You will need to review all of your marketing activities that have occurred in the past three years. Review every announcement, advertisement, phonebook ad, brochure, flyer, and evaluate if it were successful.

Situation Assessment

Under this section you will write the market analysis and segmentation. Write a competitor analysis. For example, what are the similarities of your company and your competitors? What sets your company apart from the competition? What are the major trends in the environment? What are the internal capabilities and current position in served markets?

Financial Summary

Write a cost and profit analysis. Write your budget information the amount that you have set aside either per quarter or per annual for marketing. Set your prices for your product or service as a competitive rate. For example, price your product or service at a higher rate than your fixed or variable cost. Evaluate the process of the marketing plans effectiveness. Measure your results against the standards that you set when you made or set your goals. Develop a schedule for which gives a timeline for each marketing actions.

Reference:

AAFP; Nine Steps to a Strategic Marketing Plan; Rebecca Anwar, PHD and Judy Capko; 2001

SBA: Developing a Marketing Plan 

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Types of Contractual Vertical Marketing Systems

By Lanee' Blunt

It is a distribution channel where companies come together to achieve channel economics by integrating their efforts which makes them operate on a greater functional marketing level than they would have achieved alone. It consists of producers, wholesalers, and retailers intergrading to achieve maximum economies. Vertical marketing systems are professionally managed marketing channels that are designed to achieve greater efficiency and marketing impact.

Contractual Vertical Marketing System

A contractual vertical marketing system is a system where firms at different levels of production and distribution work together to achieve greater economies or sales than they would on their own. These firms coordinate their strategies through contractual agreements in order to eliminate channel-conflict that may arise out of individual objectives.

Wholesaler-Sponsored Vertical Marketing System

A chain of retailers organized by a wholesaler unite into a voluntary chain of stores. The stores are owned independently but they sign an agreement to work in the chain and they all agree to use the same name. The wholesaler buys large quantities of merchandize for the retailers, it ensures buying economics for products, and enables this chain of retailers to compete with large organizations. A wholesale sponsored vertical system is a system which works to unite voluntary chains of stores to compete independently with large organizations. For example, Coca-Cola bottler’s is a manufacturer-sponsored wholesaler.

Retailer Cooperatives

Retailers join together to organize a new wholesaling business. The new jointly owned wholesaling company renders their service to the members. The retail members must accept to purchase their goods from this wholesaler. The members in the retail organization use a name that is common among all of the retailers so that they can have their own private product brands and jointly advertise their brands. For example, retailer cooperatives are popular for food industries corporations.

Franchising

A franchise is a contractual company that makes an arrangement between a franchisor, a parent company and a firm or an individual, a franchise allows the franchisee to run a business under the parent companies name. This franchisee must follow the rules of the franchise and is granted rights to sell certain goods and services in their specific area. The franchise obtains distribution at retail level and through their dealers, but maintains control over how the service will be merchandised. For example, Ford Motor Company is a manufacture sponsored retail franchise system.

Reference:

Idea Today’s: Vertical Marketing Systems; The Wisest; 2011

University of Texas at Dallas: Marketing Channels and Wholesaling

Business Dictionary: Vertical Market System

Nashville State Community College: Channels of Distribution, and Wholesaling

Google Books; Strategic Marketing: Making Decisions for Strategic Advantage; Musadiq A. Sahaf; 2008

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How to Build a Sales Territory Plan

By Lanee' Blunt

Your sales plan does not have to be long with complicated business jargon, and complicated graphs and charts, but short and simple. Your sales territory plan for your new company will be revenue-driven, and help you to avoid unforeseen problems. A sales territory plan is a strategic and tactical plan for getting new business and building a business that will meet and exceed a sales quota. Having a well-constructed sales territory plan allows you to spend more time growing your new business.

Difficulty

Challenging

Things You’ll Need

Mailing list

Write a sales letter that introduces you and your new company to prospects. Send a reply card with the letter that includes your contact information and has a space for the customer to write their phone number if their interested in your product or service.  Send fifty letters a week to new prospects.  Make fifty cold calls introducing your new company to prospects. Instead of using a script try using “talking points” that will allow you to answer customer questions and concerns.

Knock on twenty doors. Contact twenty people that you can have a face-to-face meeting with each week.  Set a quota of at least five sales presentations a week.

Evaluate your results for the month.  Track your progress at the beginning of a three-week period, so that you can strive for realistic goals. Set a monthly goal to stay on target instead of waiting until the end of the year.  Setting monthly goals helps you to get a sense of achievement when you meet them.

Write articles and white papers.  Writing articles is good public relations. Write about topics that address the interest and concerns of your customers in your field. 

Obtain referrals from new customers. Ask for at least three referrals from all your customers within 30 days of delivering your product or service. Tell the customer to give you three names and phone numbers of a person that may have use of your product or service. Offer a free gift if the customer gives you a referral that leads to a new customer or client.

Tips

Read your plan often and take notes on your progress and concerns.

Keep a detailed timeline for performing your sales tactics.

Reference

Entrepreneur: The Elements of a Successful Sales Plan; Tony Parinello; 2004

Inc: Managing: How to Work More Like a Start-Up; Darren Dahl; 2009

Irie Auctions: Sales Territory Plans

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