Running Head: Success Pen Pal – Marketing Handbook docx

With this in mind, it is imperative that people, especially business owners, realize the importance of marketing and the affect that marketing has on the success of any business.. With a

Success Pen Pal

Marketing Handbook

Bryan Chau

Published by Bryan Chau at Success Pen Pal

Smashwords EditionCopyright © 2013 Bryan Chau

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Definition of Marketing

Chapter 2 – The Importance of a Marketing Plan

Chapter 3 – Market Research Methods, Approaches, and ToolsChapter 4 – S.W.O.T.T Analysis

Chapter 5 – Marketing Mix (4P’s and 6C’s)

Chapter 6 – Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)Chapter 7 – Public Relations (PR)

Chapter 8 – Final Thoughts

Appendix I – New eBook

Appendix II - Credits

Amendment to the United States Constitution, not too many people are advocating for the “Freedom to Teach.” Instead, many people miss out on a good education because they’re unable to afford going

to college to get a degree of their choosing

In fact, at the time of this writing, I’m still working to pay off my own school loans for my Bachelor’s degree in Business and Marketing from an accredited university Although I come from humble

beginnings, and am unsure of when I’ll be able to fully repay my own student loans, I’ve decided to share the valuable knowledge and lessons gained with everyone because I truly believe in the “Freedom

to Teach.” The keyword here is FREE, hence why I’m giving this eBook away free of charge

The goal of this eBook is to provide people who have limited

resources with detailed valuable information on business marketing as

if you went to an accredited university yourself and got a four year degree in marketing with the exception of my debt!

Just in case you’re wondering, this is one of the main reasons why I started Success Pen Pal To provide people, like yourself, with a platform where you visit daily to absorb as much free information about personal and professional development pertaining to a variety of topics Topics such as business, marketing, writing, earning passive

incomes, and we even include success quotes and videos that will help get you “wired and inspired” for success

By reading this eBook, you’re already taking another step in the right direction

Prior to getting my degree, I was under the impression that marketing consists of not only building a brand name but also offering a variety

of promotions that aid in drawing attention to the products and

services offered by a particular firm That organizations use a variety

of different media platforms to promote attractive sales and discounts

in an effort to entice more consumers to those goods In actuality, marketing encompasses much more than what was stated and is a vital component to achieving business success

Without marketing, the world would lose the spark that provides businesses with creativity and growth Milan Kundera, a renowned author and poet, once stated that a “business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.” Through proper marketing and creative innovations, businesses are equipped with the necessary tools to create new products and services that customers love, thus generating

additional revenues for the firm In addition, effective marketing would also enable companies gather crucial feedback from consumers about the products and services offered, along with ensuring that consumer demands are met

With this in mind, it is imperative that people, especially business owners, realize the importance of marketing and the affect that

marketing has on the success of any business So without further ado, let’s begin By the time you finish reading this eBook you’ll have a

thorough understanding of what marketing entails, along with using this handbook to achieve business marketing success!

or client That organizations use marketing to engage in a list of activities that aid in meeting consumer demands for goods and

services in an effort to achieve organizational goals and objectives

By accurately forecasting consumer trends and demands, companies could accurately anticipate the type of goods and services to produce that tailor to client needs, along with knowing the right amount to produce to meet those demands

Other scholars believe that the scope of marketing is larger and encompasses much more than just the activities required for

anticipating consumer trends and meeting consumer demands These individuals believe that marketing is a process of planning and

executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals This particular definition not only includes the innovation of new products and services but also the exchange of ideas relating to a variety of other factors, such as pricing, and

promotions

Regardless of the variations in definitions for marketing, people are cognizant of the importance of marketing for achieving organizational success So how do you use marketing to achieve success? It all starts with creating an effective marketing plan

Chapter 2

The Importance of a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is a written document that summarizes the

company’s marketing objectives and helps direct and coordinate, its’ marketing efforts through efficient use of company resources With

an effective marketing plan in place, organizations could define their target markets; identify customers and competitors for goods offered; outline the requisite marketing strategies required for achieving the firm’s marketing goals and objectives The ultimate goal is to use the marketing plan as a roadmap for achieving the company’s mission and vision

To me, an effective marketing plan is one of the most crucial elements

of having a successful business Without this, organizations would lack the ability to understand their marketplace, environments,

customers, competitors, trends, along with anticipating the changes that may affect their business In essence, a business marketing plan

is like a compass that helps to guide your business in the right

direction Without this plan in place, many business owners would lose sight of the necessary steps required to reaching their end goal of success

To ensure that the marketing plan is effective in achieving the

organizational goals and objectives set forth, it is vital that companies include the following key components: market research methods, approaches, and tools; S.W.O.T.T analysis; marketing mix; integrated marketing communications (IMC); public relations (PR)

products and services offered, along with consumer demand for those goods in an effort to generate additional sales, revenues, and market share

For those unaware, target marketing consists of three main activities which include market segmentation, market targeting, and market positioning Companies must first segment the market to the point where the firm could easily identify the target markets for the

company’s products or services Organizations could identify target markets through demographics, psychographics, lifestyle, and even buyer behavior Once the target markets are determine, organizations must develop marketing strategies and tactics that enable the firm to deliver their goods and services to that specific geographic location where the target market resides Please note that unless companies identify, define, and profile their target markets for products or

services offered, these entities would lack the ability to make

consistent decisions pertaining to advertising and marketing messages, product assortment, pricing, service levels, and even store décor Therefore, for businesses to thrive would require a thorough

understanding of the firm’s target markets, including an effective execution of target marketing

To conduct market research effectively, it is vital that business owners understand the types of market research Market research is generally

categorized as primary or secondary research Typically, primary research delivers more specific results for organizations because these entities are investigating an issue of special interests Through

primary research, and by gathering new primary data firsthand, businesses are working to address a specific research objective For example, some of the different market research tools used in primary research include surveys, focus groups, field tests, experiments, and even interviews Because primary research is new data that delivers more specific results for organizations, it could become quite costly to conduct this type of research As for secondary research, it refers to the data and information gathered from previous studies by

government and regulatory agencies, trade associations, private institutions, etc Secondary research is easier, and less costly, to conduct because much of the information is already available For instance, organizations could gather secondary data from library resources, business websites, government (federal, state, and local) agencies, newspapers, and even magazines

In addition to determining the type of research to conduct, it is also important for companies to select the approaches used when doing the market research To ensure that the market research conducted is fruitful, organizations must determine if a qualitative approach, quantitative approach, or both approaches should be used A

qualitative approach refers to research where the findings are not subject to quantification or quantitative analysis Whereas a

quantitative approach refers to research that uses mathematical

analysis Because different approaches serve different purposes, a market researcher will often use several approaches in sequence so that the results from one approach could be used by another

Once all the market research data is collected, the next step would be

to determine what type of measurement scales to use for the data obtained Professional marketing researchers understand the

importance of measurement scales Like a variety of other professions that require the use of specific tools for addressing certain problems,

research questions To ensure that the market research data obtained

is accurate and honest would require the use of measurement scales tailored specifically for addressing the research questions Although a variety of measurement scales exists, market researchers must select the most appropriate scaling method that would aid with measuring attitudes, application, and statistics In gist, there are four main types

of measurement scales: nominal scale; ordinal scale; interval scale; ratio scale

In a nominal scale, the objects are assigned to mutually exclusive labeled categories but this does not mean that any relationship exist among those categories Typically, marketing researchers nominally scale variables such as marital status, geographic location, or even gender Doing so would assist researchers with developing an easy method for counting the results of each variable For instance, using the nominal scaling approach, marketing researchers could easily count the number of males versus females within a geographic

location

As for ordinal scale, it is obtained by ranking certain objects or by arranging them in order with regard to some other common variable Please note that this particular scaling method is incapable of defining the differences between objects, hence why many marketing

researchers use this mainly for determining the arithmetic operations

of median, or mode, instead of mean

If business owners are interested in measuring differences between objects, it would be more beneficial to use the interval scaling method For this particular scaling method, the numbers used to rank the objects also represents equal increments of the attributes being

measured Not only could the interval scale distinguish the

differences between objects but also be used to determine an

arithmetic sum, and mean One important attribute to remember about interval scales is that it has no natural zero point, hence why several

objects may have different zero starting points This concept is similar to the concept between temperature measurements, such as Celsius, and Fahrenheit

As for ratio scale, it is considered a special type of interval scale that does have a natural zero starting point With a ratio scale, marketing researchers could determine the ratio between one object versus another For instance, using ratio scaling would enable researchers to determine how many times greater one object is compared to another

To illustrate, imagine that a market researcher has conducted

sufficient market research to determine that the average income of males is $50,000.00 compared to females who earn an average of

$25,000.00 Using ratio scale, the market researcher could state accurately that the average income of males is twice that of females, thus determining the ratio of average incomes between both genders

Remember, the goal of market research is to collect enough data to answer a specific question or to solve a particular concern

Regardless if the issue pertains to increasing sales, reducing the cost

of production, or increasing market share, there are necessary steps required for business owners to take when conducting market

research Steps, such as defining the problem, analyzing the situation, getting problem specific data, along with interpreting the data sets to come up with the most efficient and effective methods for solving the concerns at hand Zora Neale Hurston, an American writer, once stated that “research is formalized curiosity and it is poking and prying with a purpose.” With this in mind, business owners must ensure that their market research serves a purpose and that the correct market research methods, approaches, and tools are selected and used

The goal is to confirm that the market research data obtained is accurate, reliable, and useful for achieving organizational goals and objectives

Chapter 4

S.W.O.T.T Analysis

To truly have an effective marketing plan, business owners must also include a detailed S.W.O.T.T analysis A detailed S.W.O.T.T analysis will assist with identifying the strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, threats, and trends associated with a particular

company’s environment or marketplace By conducting the

S.W.O.T.T analysis, the organization would have a list of items highlighting areas that are in its favor along with other areas where improvements are needed If business owners do not take the

necessary time to conduct an S.W.O.T.T analysis, the firm may be offering the wrong products or services due to a lack of resources, knowledge, etc To illustrate, let’s take a closer look at each portion

of the analysis

Strengths (S)

When speaking of strengths, I am referring to areas where a company has identified a successful application of any competency, such as great customer service, etc Strengths could also be considered an element, such as a unique product or service, which provides the company with a distinct competitive advantage over other firms within the marketplace To understand your company’s strengths, you must consider which areas are working well for your firm, along with your assets and other unique factors for your business that provides that competitive advantage for your organization

Weaknesses (W)