It’s Stanley Tang here with another *CONTENT-PACKED* issue of the “Stanley Tang Ezine”.
Here is today’s feature article I want to share with you:
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The Key Building Blocks To Marketing Success
(c) By Stanley Tang
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In order for your business to be successful, you must have a marketing strategy in place and it must be implemented consistently.
This is true not only for a one person shop but for a Fortune 500 company as well. It does not have to cost a lot of money, and you do not have to be a genius to accomplish this.
Herein lies the key:
Develop a internet marketing strategy that will form a solid foundation for the effort that you put forth to promote it.
If you implement promotional activities such as direct mail, advertising, networking or a one-to-one sales effort without having a marketing strategy, it is like buying curtains for the home that has not even been built yet.
A strong marketing foundation can be developed by:
1. Defining your service or product.
How is you service or product packaged? What are your customers really buying? It may be that you are selling web-based software tools for computers, but your clients are actually buying increased productivity, cost savings and improved efficiency. If you happen to be promoting several services or products, you must determine which ones are to profit most from being promoted.
2. You must identify your target market.
Everyone might be potential customers for your product. However, time and money would be the issue if you wanted to market to anybody or everyone. You have to determine who your ideal customer is. Who should you spend your money and time promoting your service to? Your ideal customer may be defined in terms of age, geographic area, income, revenues, number of employees, industry, etc.
3. Know your competition.
No matter if you do not have any direct competition, you will always find competition of some kind. What else is competing for your potential customer’s money? Why should the potential client spend his or her money for your product or service instead? What kind of competitive advantage do you have? What is your unique selling proposition?
4. Find a niche.
Is there a segment of the market that is not being served or perhaps it is not being served well? Whether you are a small player or not, a niche strategy allows you to dominate your market.
5. Develop awareness with your clients.
It is hard for a prospective customer to purchase your service or product if they have forgotten that it exists. It is often said that a customer will have to have exposure to your product five to fifteen times before they ever think about buying your product. Needs can often arise unexpectedly. It is your job to consistently stay in front of your customers so that they will remember your product when that need does arise.
Before you even consider running an ad, developing a brochure, networking, or building a fantastic website, you must first develop a consistent, focused marketing strategy.
That’s it for this issue! Hope you’ve enjoyed it
Take care,
Stanley Tang
P.S. Speaking of building blocks to marketing
success, be sure to check out Jason James’
Untold Marketing Secrets over at:
http://www.stanleytang.com/recommends/untoldsecrets
Hi, I’m Stanley Tang – a 19 year old tech entrepreneur, author and student. Since 2006, I’ve been building internet businesses ranging from online magazines to social web applications. I also published a book called eMillions, which was a #1 best-seller on Amazon.com.
I’m inspired by technology, startups, design, innovation, philosophy and business. I love engaging in the creative process of building tech startups.
Right now, I’m pursing a Computer Science degree at Stanford University. Be sure to look around to check out what I’ve been up to lately.
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Hi Stanley,
Long before you set up a marketing plan, you should give serious attention to what your company stands for, what are it’s goals, ethics and standards. Another words, what is the company vision? Most major corporations now issue a copy of the company vision to all of their employees, usually in the form of a key fob or a little card carried with the company ID. This makes sure that everyone in the company knows what the company stands for. So, before setting a marketing plan, you should take the time to write out the company vision.
Exactly. I totally agree with Stan that a vision also forms part of your marketing strategy.
But an excellent article anyway. Thanks for sharing!
Richard
As I went down through the list of Untold Marketing Secrets I found valuable resources in the form of links, websites & software. Then it happened.