Saturday, 20 October 2012

Communication Process for Viral Marketing

"Viral marketing" might sound strange to those who have never encountered the term. This may surprise you because of how terms like virus can be inserted into the marketing industry terminology? Well, no doubt you will probably hold the rule of validity. This of course gives the connotation of Sly to those who did not collect a bit of an idea of the concept. Ironically, this is one concept that also topped the eyeball in creating self-awareness. Viral marketing is suitable to define himself as a wise marketing strategy which concentrates on spreading awareness about a particular product, thus, also maintains the ideology of Word-of-mouth. This is a systematic marketing industry uses terminology to gain the interest of the masses via the internet. The communication process is such that the most important information that can attract the attention and interest of the consumer is posed, or circulated through techniques of word-of-mouth.

The communication process can be referred to as ' fire ' virus. I say this, because I believe that to a certain extent, viral marketing works on the principle of how this virus is contagious in nature. It is through the spread of the virus that many people might survive colds, or fever, by the same token, it is only through viral marketing there are people who pass on the good news about the product, or service that they have been withdrawing, and found it favourable or satisfactory. This serves to become virtual spreader to spread its marketing strategy, through the news. There are basically two ways in which communication occurs: spontaneous and unplanned.

Communication Method

Spontaneous Communication
The viral communications strategy that is spontaneously focused on providing products or services by the company. When customers or consumers are satisfied, they will give their feedback in the form of availing the service or product all over again and continue to use the method they offered. Through this method, people who have been using this product will convey a positive impression to friends or potential buyers who may be interested in our services and products. In turn they can do the same thing to people they know. In no time, you will have a number of people who use the product or service.

A Communication Plan
A study conducted by Phelps et al. (2004), produced a report on the effectiveness and frequency of publication of forensic email forwarding, relating to classify email communication mode into four parts. They are also discovering that email spawned human emotions that highlight specific things a little, have a larger probability to be forwarded. Email that functions as a virtual Bulletin Board tend to get attention by the recipient. So while engaging in viral marketing, email proved to be a strategic instrument for the effective communication and agile.

Email is, therefore, a communication model that is planned. The planned communication is a program set up by a company or organization to let the masses know about products or services they have on offer. The communication process have proposed strategies which functions on the principle of elements.They are the following:

Take Away Products
This is the standard, and the most popular method in helping companies market their presence. "Free" and "discount" is the favorite in terms of marketing terminology. They will offer their products for free trial to let the masses know that they are ' on the market ', and their products competitive. In terms of service, there is a text message and email forwarded so that information can be used by those who are interested. Coupons and benefits distributed by email to create awareness about the products or services they deploy. In short, they serve to be an incentive for the masses to try the product, or service.

Easy Message Is Transmitted
The organization is planning a specific technique to help people get the message across quickly and easily, without fuss, or time-consuming tactics. They are of the view that the consumer is too much work, and it is best to provide them with alternatives that do not consume a lot of their time. This is how they can let other people know, especially when they have accessed via the media to do it.

Preparation for the response Variable
The Organization has released a campaign had to be ready for one of the two sets of responses, maybe a small scale (which involves very few people to participate), or a large scale (to face number 'n ' from people who are interested in availing the benefits you have put forth).

Concentrate on the mentality of the typical Man
Organizations must understand, m

How to Market Your Invention

It may seem like the world has run out of innovative discoveries in recent years, but the fact is that the most dedicated mind will always find a way to make something new. This type of technology and tools that are available to ordinary people today has made it possible to push the boundaries and explore new avenues, and people who are curious about how things work will always find a way to build something that has never been seen before.

Assuming that you have completed this step, you will now definitely be looking to market your invention effectively. Find the right audience for the discovery is very important to success, and this is an area where a massive technology setup in place is very useful. There are a number of new channels and roads in place today for people who want to sell something and this needs to be managed effectively.

Measures for the marketing of the Invention

The most important thing to remember is to not get carried away by someone who is more enthusiastic to help you out. You have to be wary of scams out there, because there are a lot of them are present in today's world. Duplicating the idea and invention is one of the easiest things to do today, so you have to be very careful about who you are dealing with. If you are satisfied that the person (s) you are dealing with is working in your best interest, then you can go ahead and follow the instructions on marketing your invention.

Step # 1: Know your Target market
You can't figure out a way to market without knowing who to sell it to. Because you have made a discovery, you will be the best judge who it was meant for, and who the people who will use it most. Save target in mind and then think of ways to reach them. Any business venture and marketing operations starting with the planning process and the recognition of the targeted audience before anything else.

Step # 2: Create a marketing plan
Once your target audience has been pointed, you should start working on a plan to reach them. Utilize various media outlets such as the local press, national press, the international press, the internet, television, radio, trade publications, magazines and other outlets. Make your presence felt and create awareness campaigns that bring your invention to the attention of the world. Take advantage of some of the techniques of advertising such as advertising OTL (Over The Line), BTL (Below The Line) and the OOH advertising (Out Of Home). Allocate a budget for all the way and choose the best way possible and ask for professional help if necessary. Also remember to file a patent application for your invention or others will undoubtedly steal your ideas, no matter how small a scale as possible. You will need to ask for assistance from a patent lawyer for this purpose.

Step # 3: Settle on pricing strategies
For this purpose, you will need to determine the price at which it's sold, and also a distribution strategy that you intend to follow. Select the price that covers operating costs and give you some advantage, but did not mention a price that is too ambitious. Binding with retailers and distributors so that the product will be supplied to the market in a timely fashion. Indeed, this is a process that will greatly depend on the nature of the product itself. Some people also choose to get their products licensed and purchased by the seller in the market and sell it under their brand name. Determine how to carry out all the procedures will definitely need help from a professional experienced in this business.

There are a lot more nuance and subtlety to the marketing of products, but they are all further subsets of these steps. Entrepreneurship is not an easy path to go down, but in the end could be very beneficial. You should know that most new business is emerging, perish and fail in a short time. So one needs to have good business acumen to make things like this work, but most importantly, someone needs to have a good product to sell.

Types of Guerrilla Marketing

Do you know what is guerrilla marketing? This is a unique way to promote your brand and products by relying on a strategy that is high on creativity rather than a big budget. Marketing techniques tends to be a unique, unconventional, and surprising, which is why they are getting the attention of consumers. The term guerrilla marketing, created by Jay Levinson stated that traditional forms of marketing are meant for small businesses that don't have the budget of large companies. This technique generally take advantage of understanding human psychology and trying to manipulate consumer behavior accordingly.

Guerrilla Marketing: Different Types Of

Now you know what guerrilla marketing is, you might want to learn about the various forms of marketing. Find different examples of guerrilla marketing and you'll see how one can be entirely different from the others.

Alternative Marketing
This is a popular type of guerrilla marketing that uses non-traditional ways of advertising the products. General form of marketing involves using some form of publicity statements issued by companies that are not directly to market or promote the products but create a base appeal to these products, so that consumers are informed of its existence.

Ambient Marketing
Of all the different categories of guerrilla marketing, ambient marketing tend to cost the most. This is due to the fact that this type of marketing usually involves utilizing the site and then created it, costs can be quite high. In the form of marketing, you use a single thing that is most synonymous with the company and then placing it in other places or things that are normally not associated with the company or product.

Astroturfing
This form of marketing is very similar to a grass-roots movement in which individuals promote a product because of the good experience they had with that. But unlike the latter, which is the promotion of honest, astroturfing (that is generally done through blog), the people who promote products often at salaries from companies or have a company on its own. The blogger did not reveal that they are connected to the company.

Experiential Marketing
In the form of marketing, this effort was to allow prospective consumers to experience the products in question, so that they have something tangible to connect with. The company allows people to experience the products in question. It is often stated that the marketing forms allow consumers to make more informed decisions and smart.

Think Marketing
This is a form of guerrilla marketing in which the company aims to make people aware of the presence of the product. They try to achieve this by putting the product in places where they are bound to get a lot of recognition and exposure. Product placement in films and television shows are often regarded as a kind of marketing. On the Internet when you place notes or photos on the different websites you are involved in marketing.

Tissue Pack Marketing
Popularized in Japan, this form of advertising as the name suggests, involves promoting products on the cover of tissue paper. Because it is a product that is commonly used and can be stored for a while, it is a great way to ensure that these products remain in the memory of the consumer. This technique is generally considered to be more useful than an ad in the flyer.

Undercover Marketing
Also known as a stealth marketing, involves the use of celebrities to advertise products with using it in a public place. They voiced their loyalty to the products they are using. In this way, the celebrity that encourages fans to use the same product that he uses, and creating awareness about the product.

Viral Marketing
This kind of guerrilla marketing using social networking sites is different and popular video games and to make recognition of the brand and the product. This technique is such that if the commercial catch the attention of the target base, it will be released by them without the company having to issue any charges. The reason it is called viral marketing is because of comparisons that have been created for the spread of computer viruses.

Wild Posting
Unlike other types tend to be subtle, this form involves the over-the-top promotion of your product by placing posters wherever they can be placed and make the message is hard to miss. Of course, the cost factor involved in this form of marketing is less which makes it effective in the long term.

This is the main Division that can be made of guerrilla marketing. In a time and age where consumers are increasingly becoming more savvy to the tactics of advertising, guerrilla marketing is a great way to memprom

Marketing Strategies that Work

An efficient marketing strategy is one of the pre-requisites for the success of a business. Numerous researches have been carried out to know which strategy can guarantee success. But, the fact is with rapidly changing global markets, organizations need to be at their innovative best to come up with strategies that cater and appeal to the target customers. There are numerous successful strategies and generalizing them would not be fair as what may work for one product or service may not work for another. There are certain basics of marketing that have proven to be useful and effective over the years. Let us take a look at these.

Efficient Marketing Strategies

Know Your Customers
The first and the foremost thing that you need to do before you get down to brainstorm on your marketing strategy is to identify which segment of population will the product or service cater to. For example, if you are a sports goods manufacturer, it is highly possible that your clientele will have a vast majority of people in the 16-35 age-bracket. If your company specializes in making computers, a lot of your customers will comprise adolescents, teenagers, doting-dads, and may be some senior-citizens who want to gift a computer to their grandchildren. When you know who your target-audience is going to be, you get then decide which direction your marketing strategy should take. The golden rule here is to know who the buyer is going to be.

Promote Your Product
Before you plan a promotional offer, it is important that you have the know-how on what your competitors are up to. If you feel that the offer you have is unique and tempting then you should definitely go ahead with your plan. One of the significant benefits of running a promotional offer is that it gets you a lot of word-of-mouth publicity. I remember buying some beer mugs from a store some couple of months ago which my friends found quite impressive. Last week I got a promotional message from the same store and as soon I went to their website, I found that the same beer mugs were once again on offer. I conveyed this to my friends and they had them at their home by the evening. This is one of the biggest reason why even well-established brands don't shy away from putting their stuff up at half the price. It increases your traffic, gets people to talk about you, and most importantly converts potential customers to happy buyers!

Choose a Strategic Location
The location of your outlet or franchise is another important factor which determines the effectiveness of your marketing strategy. If your outlet is placed at an important junction or near a landmark, chances are that you will get more browsers. Have you ever noticed that majority of McDonalds outlets are at some of the busiest places in the world. The location plays a very important role as it creates an opportunity for you to be accessible to customers. How many times has it happened that you just step into a store to just have a cursory look around and something appeals to you so much that you can't help but buy that product. Therefore, it is important that your business is located at a busy place.

Use Web-marketing
As we mentioned in the beginning of this article, organizations need to be innovative if they have to stay ahead of the competition. One of the steps in this direction is the visibility of your business on the internet. If you would have noticed, every prominent website offers a link to customers through which they can go to a company's homepage, place orders or know about an upcoming offer. Putting yourself up on popular social networking sites can help you to know your customer's tastes and preferences. In fact, market researchers are of the belief that internet marketing will be one of the dominant marketing tools in near future.

Build a Strong Relationships with Employees
Your employees are one of the most important part of your marketing strategy. If your employees feel strongly about the company, it reflects in their behavior and helps in creating a positive impression on customers and within their own social circles. It is important therefore, that you instill a feel-good factor in your employees so that they have nice things to say about the organization. This will help in building a positive brand-image for the organization.

The strategies are generic rather than specific and it is important that organizations focus on these to ensure that the organizations make their present felt in the market. In the end, we hope that this article would have helped you to know some effective marketing strategies that are essential for every business organization.

Friday, 12 October 2012

Kickstarter Marketing - The Money's Secondary.


Kickstarter launches in the UK at the end of the month and there will be lots of media coverage about this "funding platform for creative projects" and its new way of raising money. But, it occurs to me, it's not really about crowdsourced funding at all.

After all, many of the successful projects could arguably have found traditional funding if the founders had been willing to give up some control to traditional third parties, and many of the projects find themselves funded far beyond the original goals.

No, the money's secondary. Something else is going on. This isn't just crowdsourcing, it's momentum sourcing.

Momentum that's derived from proof of concept; momentum that's derived from building a tribe of promoter-users who are incentivised via the range of prizes on offer; and momentum that's derived from being able to leverage critical mass with future investors, distributors and customers.

Most people see it solely as a fund-raising exercise and that's great, but they shouldn't overlook the baked-in marketing. That's priceless.

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Demographic Segmentation

In marketing, it is very difficult that a single organization to meet the needs of all consumers, and therefore has to rely on the concept of "market segmentation". Through segmentation of the market, it is possible that the Organization for the needs of all consumers who belong to a particular niche, rather than trying to meet the needs of the market - which is virtually impossible. Several market segmentation strategies are being used by different organizations today, and "demographic segmentation" seems to be the most coveted of all of them.

Why segmenting your market?
Market segmentation is basically the market division into smaller segments to make marketing easier and avoid the waste of resources. Helps your organization leverage the resources available to meet the needs of a particular sector of the market that caters to. In a nutshell, helps companies to identify potential customers and direct them - which, in turn, translates into an efficient use of resources. Market division is carried out using one of the five strategies of segmentation
» Behavior segmentation
» Utility segmentation
» Segmentation psychographic
» Geographic segmentation
» Demographic segmentation

In the case of the geographic segmentation, market is divided into different geographical regions. It helps a company dedicated to air cooling systems, identify and focus on the tropical market in which consumers are expected to buy air coolers, rather than go to cold regions where air coolers are of no.

Demographic segmentation
Demographic segmentation is, basically, the market segmentation executed through the adoption of various demographic factors such as age, gender, social class, etc, into consideration. ('Demographic' the word is derived from "demographics" of the word, i.e., the study of the population.) It helps the Organization divided the market into several segments or groups, each with a common variable, and point to each of these groups to improve the performance of the organization. This strategy of market segmentation aims to understand the potential market, and take the necessary measures to ensure that the needs of a population group that are met.

Variables
Segmentation variables are essentially the factors that help the organization in the determination of the target group. Demographic segmentation, variables are mainly composed of factors demographics such as age, ethnicity, occupation, etc then we have given a list of variables that are commonly used to divide the market into smaller segments.
» Age
» Sex
» Family size
» Family life cycle
» Rent
» Occupation
» Education
» Ethnicity
» Nationality
» Religion
» Social norms

Based on these variables, an organization can decide which group they should be addressed. An organization that focuses on sports cars, for example, will need to refer to persons of the age group 20-40. On the other hand, the magazine a publication of the women's organization has to focus on white to the female population. It helps these companies to identify their respective consumer and efficient to meet their needs.

Advantages and disadvantages
If the demographic segmentation is one of the most popular methods in today's market segmentation, is because of certain benefits that make it the first choice for various organizations. The two major advantages of this segmentation strategy are:

The organization can categorize the needs of consumers on the basis of factors demographics such as age, gender, etc.
Its variables are much easier to obtain and measure, in comparison with other strategies of segmentation variables.

One of the disadvantages highlighted in this segmentation strategy of market, which is often cited by critics, is the one-dimensional approach that follows it. In this segmentation strategy, it is generally believed that all individuals who belong to a particular "group" have the same needs - which is not necessarily the case. If an organization is using only demographic segmentation, it is more likely to be vulnerable to competitors.

Demographic segmentation helps the Organization to understand customers and their needs. In a market driven by intense competition, market segmentation analysis can be of great help. Basically, the market segmentation is based on the simple fact that you can not please all consumers with a single product, and therefore you have to identify the market pot

Monday, 8 October 2012

Tips for Tea Marketing

Ever recall a shopping list which had items in the grocery listed as Dole bananas, Starbucks coffee and Danon yogurt. This typical list has so many brand names that we have unconsciously associated with these raw products. So how in the world do these companies successfully market these products and form a trademark on our mind? Their marketing strategies are so unique that it not only creates a brand value, but also has consumers in the form of fans attached to their products. As there are so many big corporations involved in marketing these products, it's extremely important to keep innovating the marketing plan and keep launching new products in order to gain a competitive edge over the competitors.

The strategy basically involves using marketing techniques like positioning tactics and various promotional strategies to market this basic product. Tea since ancient times has been used for beauty treatments, as a soothing agent, as dye colors used on clothes and as a cleaning agent. Even now, the ever expanding tea market continues to grow despite hitting saturation. Tea has always been termed as instant wisdom. So how do marketers explore this potion of wisdom to their benefit? Tea also has medicinal properties and is favored more than coffee now in the market. Also there are varieties in the tea market - black tea, green tea, ready-to-drink tea and fruit teas, which have already captured a major segment of the market. Following are some tips for tea marketing:

Researching the Market
It's necessary that you decide on the market you want your product to sell. Through market segmentation, you can divide the market on the basis of geographic, demographic, behavioral, psychographic factors and on price too. After segmentation, your goal will be more well-defined and it will help you to reach your customer in a more refined manner. Also, new strategies like finding out the motivation factor and social characteristics in the target market can serve as an answer to searching and reaching your goals. In your research, it is also necessary to conduct a survey and rely on the primary data, which will help you decide the future course of action related to your marketing goals.

Analyzing the Product through Matrices
Once you have zeroed in on the market, the next step is creating a matrix according to the needs of your product. This analysis will help you in identifying your product while measuring the relative market share and market growth. By identifying, your product can be classified as high earner or low earner.

Finding Suitable Channels of Promotion
After you have found your niche market, it's important to select a promotional tool that is effective in conveying the message. Promotional tools include television, radio, sponsorships, Internet and other advertising mediums. Also, the cost incurred while promoting the product should be taken into account. The new trend of promotion is making your presence felt at the new social websites.

Finding the Perfect Location
After choosing a suitable channel for promotion, location plays an important role. The product needs a strong distribution channel where your product can easily reach the customer at low cost. Also before the product is extensively advertised, the product should be before the customer's eyes. As it is a convenience product which is purchased through minimum effort, the product should be available at all possible locations. The plus point here is that as the customer doesn't have any strong preferences, new products are easily acceptable by the customer. This point can serve as an added advantage while marketing the product.

Marketing Audit
After your product has been successfully launched, it's time to keep a tab on your marketing plans, sales and profits. Through auditing techniques, one can find out the deviations between actual and expected performance. In this cut throat competition, marketing strategies need to be changed after a period of time. Therefore, auditing serves the purpose by measuring the performance of every plan and alerting the marketer if any changes are to be made.

In America, where convenience is of utmost priority, ready-to-drink tea markets have emerged as the best choice of customers. Now is the time for new innovations as many market segments have saturated. The positive aspect about tea market is that because of its positive health benefits, its market is never going to be extinct. In fact, declining sales in soft drinks and coffee has boosted the market for tea. Tea is finding its uses in many industries too, so there are more niche markets that can be developed. So the saying, "It's not your cup of tea" is certainly going to change with new product lines, new brands and new packaging.