Friday, December 30, 2011

Tips for Mobile Marketing to Engage Customers

Today's apps-savvy consumers want business information delivered concisely and available for reading on the fly. Thanks to the explosion of Internet-enabled mobile devices, you and your customers can communicate on the go. Here are six easy ways to deliver on mobile devices marketing that encourages customer interaction.

 Tips for Mobile Marketing to Engage Customers:

1. Make Your Emails Mobile-Friendly
Whereas delivering email marketing that can be read on mobile devices used to be optional for a business, now it's essential. Keep a message's subject line short and place high up in the message your brand name, the offer, and the call to action.

2. Give Mobile Customers What They Need
Forty percent of U.S. smartphone owners compare prices on their mobile device while shopping inside a store, according to HubSpot, an Internet marketing firm in Cambridge, Mass. If you do not optimize your site for mobile users, you may miss sales opportunities. The most sought-after information (a company's hours, locations, and directions) and popular features should be front and center where customers can easily find them. If mobile consumers cannot find the information they need to guide their purchasing decisions, they may click -- but then take their business elsewhere.

3. Invite List Sign-ups via Text Message and Quick-Response Codes
Customers entering into your retail establishment probably are carrying their cellphones on them. Build your contact list by inviting patrons to send a text message (if your email service provider offers this feature) or scan a QR code. Put a sign at your cash register to encourage such activity while the shopping experience is still fresh.

4. Tap Location-Based Services
If you run a brick-and-mortar business or host an event, encourage people to check in on location-based services like Foursquare, Gowalla, or Where. You will gain information about your regular customers and how often they visit you. It also lets your customers share information and tips about your business with others. A unique special offer can encourage these regulars to check in more often.

More mobile technologies are springing up, enabling businesses and customers to stay connected, regardless of location. Remember: All these gadgets and apps can support your marketing but they should not drive it. You still need to focus your message on how your company provides great products and services. Know who and where your customers are. Then bring the goods to them. Mobile strategies let you package your marketing to better reach them.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Planning For Learning online marketing

Process in fulfilling the requirements and wishes of people in general that is that the promoting concept. ranging from the fulfillment of the merchandise (product), value (the price), transportation (place), and promoting product (promotion). somebody who works in promoting is termed promoting. Marketers should have data in promoting ideas and principles for promoting activities are often achieved in accordance with human wants and wishes of shoppers, significantly those supposed.

online world could be a complicated world where numerous parameters that we tend to should perceive. What appearance within the eyes of our success, not essentially successful after we compare with different cases. On the contrary. major steps to beat them is to either set a transparent goal before we tend to act. you'll be able to sell virtually something on the web. you'll be able to build an outsized ad sales business to different sites. there's only 1 to be remembered by you, most of the autumn - never created a brand new product or service.


During now, the overall public typically believes that the success of a web site is calculated from the quantity of hits. however actually, the quantity of hits doesn't forever indicate success. Now, the question is "How does one market a product that you just have by means of on-line promoting excluding understanding the offline promoting mentioned higher than. 1st verify your goals first" Why wish to interact within the World on-line "Then. You produce a spread of ways say, ok.


What ought to be done is to line the main target on existing market, realize what they need to shop for, and then produce one thing which will meet their wants. Once you'll be able to do it, will simply be for you to create them tuned in to your presence currently. Once you'll be able to show your presence and there'll be demand that you just sell, your product or service can by itself sold. Following this, many ways of on-line promoting (internet marketing). and therefore the author expects you to reach the net world. The authors congratulate those that wish to vary the pattern of offline promoting, to online, and sensible luck!

1. through newsletter
Dissemination of knowledge through newsletters are terribly effective, as a result of it directly toward the target. however it's a weakness, sometimes the recipient won't wish to open emails from senders who don't apprehend him.

2. through the classifieds
There are numerous websites that offer advertising service line, you'll be able to place through a sort of ad. Automatic no value, as a result of it's sometimes free sales promotions. however this kind of ad conjointly has shortcomings. sometimes folks are going to be lazy to browse one by one, from a series of ads that are listed. during this style of advertising there's no single image is displayed. however the tendency of individuals just like the image.

3. through banner ads
You can use this kind of ad. There are differing kinds of banner ads primarily based on their form. Typically, banner ads are interactive, and makes folks curious to click on it. value in fact you pay is directly proportional to the advantages you get through banner ads.

4. through advertorial ad sort
Website where you place an advert can offer a special column that's used for the advertiser. From begin of content together with imaging / image of a full column with you as an advertiser. Content theme of one thing helpful to society however indirectly you have got to try to to promotion within the content, still as through banners. Never stop promoting for him, notwithstanding its type. whether or not offline or on-line. as a result of but it should be admitted there's no successful business while not it.

5. through ad sponsorship
The concept of advertising on this one could be a sponsor. You because the advertiser sponsoring the content column printed by a web site where you advertise. Featured content is content created by the web site. however the imagery or imagery very filled with your property. Banners around is your own.

Citing the opinion of the author Rick Randall 1001 ways in which to plug Your Services: although You Hate to Sell, that the definition of promoting is something that's done to hunt, receive and keep the buyer or client. this implies that the foremost necessary factor in promoting is client service. Hopefully, through on-line promoting, you'll be able to target a way to build relationships with customers and prospective customers.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Industrial market segmentation

The goal for each industrial market segmentation theme is to spot the foremost vital variations among current and potential customers which will influence their purchase choices or shopping for behavior, whereas keeping the theme as straightforward as attainable (Occam's Razor). this can permit the economic marketer to differentiate their costs, programs, or solutions for max competitive advantage.






Industrial market segmentation could be a theme for categorizing industrial and business customers to guide strategic and tactical decision-making, particularly in sales and selling. whereas government agencies and trade associations use standardized segmentation schemes for statistical surveys, most businesses produce their own segmentation theme to satisfy their explicit wants.

While like client market segmentation, segmenting industrial markets is completely different and tougher owing to bigger complexity in shopping for processes, shopping for criteria, and therefore the complexity of commercial merchandise and services themselves. additional complications embrace role of financing, contracting, and complementary products/services.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Plan For Targeting and Positioning


Croft quotes Friestad, Write, Boush and Rose (1994) as stating that because the purpose of advertising is to persuade, consumers become sceptical of its methods and approaches [and indeed intentions]. However, while this may be entirely true in consumer marketing, the level of trust and reliance on marketing communication by industrial customers is fairly high due to the professional experience and knowledge of the industrial buyer. Some even appreciate advertising because it keeps them informed of the products and services available in the market. 


One of the most significant uses of industrial market segmentation schemes is to make targeting and product positioning decisions. Companies chose to target some segments and downplay or avoid other segments in order to maximize their competitive advantage and the likelihood of success.


“There is a critical difference in emphasis between target market and [target] audience. The term audience is probably most useful in marketing communication”. (Croft, 1999) Target markets can include end user companies, procurement managers, company bosses, contracting companies and external sales agents. Audiences, however, can include individuals that have influence over purchasing decision, but may not necessarily buy a product themselves, e.g. design engineers, architects, project managers and operations managers, plus those in target markets.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Tips Location-Based Marketing

There are basically only four different types of location-based marketing tactics that allow you to deliver location-relevant messages:
  1. You can detect someone's location using the GPS or triangulation technology built into a mobile device. You can also detect a more general location when someone logs on to a local internet connection using a computer or laptop. For example, a customer who has opted-in to a location-based coupon service is walking by a store and instantly receives a text-message with a coupon that says, "Hi John, come on in and show this text-message for 25 percent off any in-stock item."
  2. You can request someone's location by asking for an address, city, zip code, or other location information when people interact with your website or a search engine. You can also ask people to select a location from a map or a list of locations. For example, a customer on a mobile phone goes to a restaurant chain's website and the website asks for a zip code in order to display special offers, maps, and contact information from the nearest location.
  3. You can infer someone's location when someone searches using location-dependent search terms like "Mexican Restaurant Denver." You can also infer location when you have location information in your customer database. For example, someone visits a website for the first time and provides location information, and then automatically sees location-relevant information on every repeat visit to the website.
  4. You can invite interaction by placing interactive messages at points of interest. You can enable interaction with scan-able barcodes, Bluetooth and even keywords that are only known if you're standing in a specific place. For example, a customer in a retail store uses her mobile phone to text a keyword listed on a product display to receive a link to a mobile website explaining the most current local incentives on the product featured in the display.
All of the aforementioned tactics are capable of delivering valuable and relevant marketing messages, so choosing one or the other depends more on the nature of your customers than the nature of your business strategy. The most important thing to keep in mind is that proximity isn't necessarily an indication of purchase intent. Your location-based marketing will be much more effective if your tactics can also identify impulsive shoppers versus those who are just researching. That way, you can deliver a "buy-it-now" message to impulsive shoppers or a "learn more, buy later" message to researching shoppers.

Also remember that the more invasive your tactics, the more likely you'll need to build a permission-based strategy. If your plans include interrupting people with messages when they happen to be passively in the vicinity of a buying opportunity, it's a good idea to ask your customers to opt-in to receiving those types of messages so they aren't annoyed when the messages come and they aren't ready to buy. Even if your plans involve responding to customer-initiated activity, it's a good idea to include opt-in messaging at some point in the process.

Location-based marketing technology is one of my favorite marketing trends, because it has such great potential for improving the way small businesses can advertise, communicate and stay competitive in their local communities. According to Forrester Research, the number of in-store sales influenced by web and online research accounted for 42 percent of total retail sales in 2009, and that number is expected to grow to 53 percent by 2014. Make sure your local business has a plan for driving all those online researchers to your local business.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Marketing researchers use statistical methods


Marketing researchers use statistical methods such as quantitative research, qualitative research, hypothesis tests, Chi-squared tests, linear regression, correlations, frequency distributions, poisson distributions, binomial distributions, etc. to interpret their findings and convert data into information. The marketing research process spans a number of stages, including the definition of a problem, development of a research plan, collection and interpretation of data and disseminating information formally in the form of a report. The task of marketing research is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information.

Marketing research involves conducting research to support marketing activities, and the statistical interpretation of data into information. This information is then used by managers to plan marketing activities, gauge the nature of a firm's marketing environment and attain information from suppliers.


A distinction should be made between marketing research and market research. Market research pertains to research in a given market. As an example, a firm may conduct research in a target market, after selecting a suitable market segment. In contrast, marketing research relates to all research conducted within marketing. Thus, market research is a subset of marketing research

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Information the Financial Statements

The financial statements can be prepared using information from the ledger accounts. Because some of the financial statements use data from the other statements, the following is a logical order for their preparation:
  • Income statement
  • Statement of retained earnings
  • Balance sheet
  • Cash flow statement

Income Statement

The income statement reports revenues, expenses, and the resulting net income. It is prepared by transferring the following ledger account balances, taking into account any adjusting entries that have been or will be made:
  • Revenue
  • Expenses
  • Capital gains or losses

Statement of Retained Earnings

The retained earnings statement shows the retained earnings at the beginning and end of the accounting period. It is prepared using the following information:
  • Beginning retained earnings, obtained from the previous statement of retained earnings.
  • Net income, obtained from the income statement
  • Dividends paid during the accounting period

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet reports the assets, liabilities, and shareholder equity of the company. It is constructed using the following information:
  • Balances of all asset accounts such cash, accounts receivable, etc.
  • Balances of all liability accounts such as accounts payable, notes, etc.
  • Capital stock balance
  • Retained earnings, obtained from the statement of retained earnings

Cash Flow Statement

The cash flow statement explains the reasons for changes in the cash balance, showing sources and uses of cash in the operating, financing, and investing activities of the firm. Because the cash flow statement is a cash-basis report, it cannot be derived directly from the ledger account balances of an accrual accounting system. Rather, it is derived by converting the accrual information to a cash-basis using one of the following two methods:
  • Direct method: cash flow information is derived by directly subtracting cash disbursements from cash receipts.
  • Indirect method: cash flow information is derived by adding or subtracting non-cash items from net income.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Set pricing Strategy objectives

While there is no single recipe to determine pricing, the following is a general sequence of steps that might be followed for developing the pricing of a new product:
  1. Develop marketing strategy - perform marketing analysis, segmentation, targeting, and positioning.
  2. Make marketing mix decisions - define the product, distribution, and promotional tactics.
  3. Estimate the demand curve - understand how quantity demanded varies with price.
  4. Calculate cost - include fixed and variable costs associated with the product.
  5. Understand environmental factors - evaluate likely competitor actions, understand legal constraints, etc.
  6. Set pricing objectives - for example, profit maximization, revenue maximization, or price stabilization (status quo).
  7. Determine pricing - using information collected in the above steps, select a pricing method, develop the pricing structure, and define discounts.
These steps are interrelated and are not necessarily performed in the above order. Nonetheless, the above list serves to present a starting framework.

Pricing Objectives

The firm's pricing objectives must be identified in order to determine the optimal pricing. Common objectives include the following:
  • Current profit maximization - seeks to maximize current profit, taking into account revenue and costs. Current profit maximization may not be the best objective if it results in lower long-term profits.
  • Current revenue maximization - seeks to maximize current revenue with no regard to profit margins. The underlying objective often is to maximize long-term profits by increasing market share and lowering costs.
  • Maximize quantity - seeks to maximize the number of units sold or the number of customers served in order to decrease long-term costs as predicted by the experience curve.
  • Maximize profit margin - attempts to maximize the unit profit margin, recognizing that quantities will be low.
  • Quality leadership - use price to signal high quality in an attempt to position the product as the quality leader.
  • Partial cost recovery - an organization that has other revenue sources may seek only partial cost recovery.
  • Survival - in situations such as market decline and overcapacity, the goal may be to select a price that will cover costs and permit the firm to remain in the market. In this case, survival may take a priority over profits, so this objective is considered temporary.
  • Status quo - the firm may seek price stabilization in order to avoid price wars and maintain a moderate but stable level of profit.
For new products, the pricing objective often is either to maximize profit margin or to maximize quantity (market share). To meet these objectives, skim pricing and penetration pricing strategies often are employed. Joel Dean discussed these pricing policies in his classic HBR article entitled, Pricing Policies for New Products.
Skim pricing attempts to "skim the cream" off the top of the market by setting a high price and selling to those customers who are less price sensitive. Skimming is a strategy used to pursue the objective of profit margin maximization.
Skimming is most appropriate when:
  • Demand is expected to be relatively inelastic; that is, the customers are not highly price sensitive.
  • Large cost savings are not expected at high volumes, or it is difficult to predict the cost savings that would be achieved at high volume.
  • The company does not have the resources to finance the large capital expenditures necessary for high volume production with initially low profit margins.
Penetration pricing pursues the objective of quantity maximization by means of a low price. It is most appropriate when:
  • Demand is expected to be highly elastic; that is, customers are price sensitive and the quantity demanded will increase significantly as price declines.
  • Large decreases in cost are expected as cumulative volume increases.
  • The product is of the nature of something that can gain mass appeal fairly quickly.
  • There is a threat of impending competition.
As the product lifecycle progresses, there likely will be changes in the demand curve and costs. As such, the pricing policy should be reevaluated over time.
The pricing objective depends on many factors including production cost, existence of economies of scale, barriers to entry, product differentiation, rate of product diffusion, the firm's resources, and the product's anticipated price elasticity of demand.

Monday, January 10, 2011

What is marketing concept?

After World War II, the variety of products increased and hard selling no longer could be relied upon to generate sales. With increased discretionary income, customers could afford to be selective and buy only those products that precisely met their changing needs, and these needs were not immediately obvious. The key questions became:
  • What do customers want?
  • Can we develop it while they still want it?
  • How can we keep our customers satisfied?
In response to these discerning customers, firms began to adopt the marketing concept, which involves:
  • Focusing on customer needs before developing the product
  • Aligning all functions of the company to focus on those needs
  • Realizing a profit by successfully satisfying customer needs over the long-term
When firms first began to adopt the marketing concept, they typically set up separate marketing departments whose objective it was to satisfy customer needs. Often these departments were sales departments with expanded responsibilities. While this expanded sales department structure can be found in some companies today, many firms have structured themselves into marketing organizations having a company-wide customer focus. Since the entire organization exists to satisfy customer needs, nobody can neglect a customer issue by declaring it a "marketing problem" - everybody must be concerned with customer satisfaction.
The marketing concept relies upon marketing research to define market segments, their size, and their needs. To satisfy those needs, the marketing team makes decisions about the controllable parameters of the marketing mix.