MARKET RESEARCH

Success depends on a lot of things, but when you have information about a particular market segment, a geographic area, or customer preferences, you'll be better prepared to make the decisions that can make or break your business.

Many companies use market research as a guide. Whether you want to expand your business into a new area or introduce a new product, primary and secondary market research can provide valuable insight to help you shape your business and prevent costly missteps.

Secondary Research
If you’re considering extending your business into new markets or adding new services or product lines, start with secondary research. This type of research is based on information gleaned from studies previously performed by government agencies, chambers of commerce, trade associations, and other organizations. This includes Census Bureau information and Nielsen ratings.

You can find much of this kind of information in local libraries or on the Web, but books and business publications, as well as magazines and newspapers, are also great sources.

What is Marketing?

All company policies and activities should be directed toward satisfying customer needs.
1Profitable sales volume is more important than maximum sales volume.
To best use these principles, a small business should:

2Determine the needs of their customers through market research
3anale their competitive advantages to develop a market strategy
4elect specific markets to serve by target marketing
5dermine how to satisfy customer needs by identifying a market mix

How to Build a Sound Marketing Plan for Your Small Business

Not unlike a business plan, a marketing plan can play an important role in the success of your small business. While the plan is primarily for your own purposes, it should include:

Your products and/or services
Your demographic audience
Methods of selling
Pricing
Your budget
Your geographic market
Your competition and your competitive edge
An overview of the marketing tools available: Media outlets, PR possibilities, community activities, conferences, potential speaking engagements, and so on.
The final objective of your marketing plan is to define who you are trying to reach, what you are selling, how you will reach this audience, and how much it will cost to do. You will then devise a means of communicating your message to your audience.

Just as you do in your business plan, you will need to pull the many pieces together to demonstrate how you will reach your target audience. For example, if your plan is to increase the sale of your brand of healthy popcorn to a teen market, you might show how you will distribute samples at school activities, sponsor a series of events for teens, and propose articles on the health benefits of your popcorn to teen-oriented magazines and Web sites.

Within your marketing plan show how you will use diverse methods to get your message across, including different forms of media, product samples, sponsorship and so on. Also, maintain a level of marketing at all times. During slower seasons you may just want to keep your brand in front of your audience, while in busier seasons you will need a more aggressive approach. Define such a strategy in your plan.

As a small business, you can make a big impact by seeking out media that appeal to your niche market. Keep in mind that marketing is a long-term effort and slow and steady typically wins the race — or in this case, the customers.

TOYOTA"S ADVERTISING AGENCY

Toyota Motor Sales, USA (TMS) recently announced the selection of Burrell Communications Group as its first-ever national Black advertising agency.

Burrell joins Saatchi & Saatchi, Oasis, and Hispanic agency, Conill Advertising, in providing TMS with a wide range of advertising expertise.

James Press, executive vice president and COO, Toyota Motor Sales, said, "The addition of Burrell to our family of advertising agencies gives Toyota an important edge in the race to communicate with an ever-increasingly diverse consumer. The naming of this agency fulfills an important objective in our recently announced 21st Century Diversity Strategy, as well as represents an important maneuver in our overall approach to marketing and advertising."

Headquartered in Chicago, Burrell Communications Group is a full-service marketing communications agency with a staff of 150 full-time employees. The company's client list includes McDonald's, Verizon, Procter and Gamble, Exxon Mobil, General Mills, Coca Cola and Sears.

Thomas J. Burrell, chairman and CEO, Burrell Communications Group, said: "Toyota recognizes that in the marketplace are not happening tomorrow, change is taking place today, and that includes a consumer that is ethnically diverse and fiscally selective. Our agency is proud to have been awarded the opportunity to properly position Toyota's quality products with a diverse consumer base."

The heart of whole Marketing book

I declared Stew Leonard's 2 rule which are written in 1st chapter the heart of whole Marketing book which we r going to read in our course.
Rules are as follows:
1- Customers ae always right.
2- If u think they are ever wrong, then Reread rule no 1.

According to his both rules which are acually defined same meaning in a tricky way tells that our customers can't be wrong. If they ever complain anything about our product we should take that seriously istead of blaming them. Coz they are asset of our Co. Our business will grow if we will have customer. Otherwise what we will do by sitting idle with products. So we should not blame our customers in any even if they are wrong. We should take that fault at our side.

Tips to Increase Retail Sales

The following are a few simple ways to improve your retail sales.

Advertise More - Just when you may think it's time to cut back the marketing dollars, you should probably be advertising more. It is wise to increase marketing efforts during slower sales periods because there is more competition and fewer consumer dollars. Considernewspaper ads, magazines, specialty publications and other forms of marketing.

Generate a Buzz - Whenever anything noteworthy happens within your business, send a press release to the media. The idea is to grab any free coverage possible. Get involved with community events. Consider hosting classes, meetings or other networking events in your retail store. Use a unique promotional event to generate a buzz about your business.

Examine Your Pricing Strategy - When purchasing and pricing products, be sure you've considered the cost of goods and that your retail shop is able to make a profit at that price point. Your product price should be competitive, but still profitable. Ultimately, the right price is the price the customer is willing to pay for the product.

Design Store for Sales - Take advantage of cross-merchandising strategies and impulse sale opportunities. Use lighting techniques andcreative displays to attract customers. Play videos for product education, customer entertainment and any other upsell or promotional tie-in.

Connect With the Customer - Excellent customer service is the key to increasing sales. Listen to your customer to understand their needs and wants. Then educate him/her about the products. Finally, let the customer know you appreciate their business. Offer value-added services and products. Create a mailing list by asking for contact information from each customer.

Manage Your Money - This may seem like an obvious step, but as retail operators we can become too involved in the little details of our business that we lose track of our financials. Create a budget, know where every dime is being spent, keep an eye on cash flow, andcontrol inventory.

Reference;.About.com

Use language that your customers understand

In all of your advertising material take care to see things and hear things form your customers' viewpoint. As a knowledgeable supplier there is always a tendency to write copy and present information from a technical and 'product/service' standpoint. Remember that your customers are people without good technical or detailed understanding of your products and services. You need to help them understand things in terms that really mean something to the reader - as it relates to their needs and priorities and challenges. Focus on what your propositions do for them, not what your propositions are in technical detail. You should spell things out, using clear simple language. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that complicated language will help build an image of professionalism and intelligence - people will just turn off. The mark of truly effective advertising and marketing is the ability to convey complex issues to the audience in a manner that is interesting, relevant, meaningful, and easy to digest very quickly.

Thomas Jefferson suggested that "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do" and this is a good maxim for writing good advertising material.

If you or the 'copy-writer' at your advertising agency cannot achieve this in your advertising and marketing communications then find someone who can, or you will be wasting a lot of your advertising effort and investment.

Reference;www.businessballs.com

Advertise to build awareness and to generate response

Within the advertising purpose you should define whether you seek to create awareness or to generate a direct response. Effective marketing generally demands that each is employed, but on a limited budget you may be restricted to concentrating on one or the other, so think carefully about what will help most. Different media and methods are better suited to one or the other. Direct Mail is very good at generating a direct response, as are magazine and newspaper adverts, and inserts. Posters, TV, radio and press editorial are all much better at creating awareness and building credibility.

Reference;www.businessballs.com