New Media Marketer

How To Develop A Marketing Plan To Grow Market Share

Marketing can be described as the intellectual background to the sales effort. Without a solid marketing plan, the product of research, thought and creativity, the sales effort is doomed to failure. When growing market share in a competitive market the additional requirements of sensitivity to the market and aggressive competitiveness are also required. Great marketers have strong personalities and from the above you can see why this is so.

Often the term "marketing" is confused with advertising, but this is just one facet of a complex diversity of research and promotion to the customer. It is the effectiveness of this multi-faceted plan that will determine the success of the marketing drive. The greatest marketer will have the greatest market share and will become the market leader. Marketing is about positioning companies, services and products; it is about creating long-term relationships in the community and the market segments where the company's products and services are directed.

The Golden 20/80 Rule

In marketing, as in life, the Golden 20/80 rule applies. Statistics have shown that 80% of sales come from just 20% of the client base. Expanding market share is therefore a combination of eliciting more sales from the top 20% of your customers and expanding your total customer base so that 20% of them is a larger percentage of prospects. Research and understanding the market segment is the answer here. The marketer needs to go back to basics and ask who the existing clients are, what their needs are, why they use the company's services or products, when they use them, who the company's prospective customers are, how the company's products and services can better serve existing and new customers, and so on.

Check Out The Competition

It can be fairly stated that no matter what business a company is in, someone somewhere with a similar business is competing with the company for its customers. It is their market share of the competition that the marketer is planning to reduce so he had better know the enemy. Don't be deceived; customers are fickle. If they feel they are getting a better deal elsewhere they will move. That applies to the competition too. The customers can be bought over, but then the marketer has to know what the firm is up against.

Develop market niches

It might mean changing existing services and products or it may mean introducing entirely new ones, but seasoned marketers know they must develop new niches new groups of customers who are looking for something entirely new. Even users of existing products and services may change their preferences, creating a new market niche. The serious marketer never takes customer loyalty for granted. He looks for ways to bring together changing demand and new products and services. Developing new niches is an excellent way for marketers to increase market share and deplete the customer base of the competition.

James Copper is a writer for http://www.marketinglinx.com


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Refine Your Business Description Until It Is Crystal Clear

You have probably been with owners of other small businesses on a course or in a seminar where people could not describe their businesses. Clarity on the kind of goods and services offered by your business is essential to good focus and ultimately to a successful marketing effort. Sometimes business owners, or those wishing to start a business, are passionate about the general area they want to be in such as landscaping, day-care providers or copywriters but beyond that their business ideas are hazy at best.

You should start your business; in fact you should start your business proposal, by first defining the business you are in. It is only by doing that that you will be able to come up with a Unique Selling Proposition or Point of Difference that will make your business stand out and gain you a loyal and growing clientele.

There is a simple way for potential entrepreneurs to define their businesses. They should start at the end and work backwards. If they know where they want to go then they will know how to work on the route to get there. If you set goals then the rest of the process becomes easier.

To think creatively and in new ways there are abundant tools available such as brainstorming, mind mapping and freewriting. Above all, business people should think about their businesses from the customer's perspective. Do I meet the expectations of my customer? And who is my customer? These are the type of questions that needs answering.

Brainstorming with fellow businessmen or on your own, or by yourself, focused on what you consider to be the goal of your business, is most useful. Mind mapping goes one step further than brainstorming. It enables you to you create and perceive ways in which the interests of your business and the customer can match each other.

Freewriting is an interesting process whereby you seize upon the essence of your business and write about it continuously for anything from ten minutes to half an hour. You will know when you have written sufficient.

There are no hard and fast rules about using these tools but one. Do not assess or change what you have written as you go. Simply allow the ideas to flow. Even if you are doubt that a particular idea will be helpful just write it down. Only when you have spent sufficient time engaged in the process should you look at what you have done. Then you can sift through it all and retain what works for you. You will be surprised at what emerges.

As mentioned, these techniques can be done on your own or with others. Obviously you may want to discuss your ideas with other business people and professionals. But at the end of the day it's your business and you need to know what it is you are offering in the marketplace. It helps immeasurably when you are asked by a financial institution or a customer to write a proposal, and when you are developing sales material.

James Copper is a writer for http://www.marketinglinx.com


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