In marketing, you do not want to be all things to all people. Markets are made up of consumers who are different from each other; in their needs, in their habits, in their ability to pay, in what they care about, in how they can be reached. This means what works for one segment might not work for the others. Thus, you need to pick your target segment(s) and be something unique for them.
You want to offer something differentiated from other providers. Otherwise, it is a race to the bottom as anybody can cut prices and then become unprofitable, and you all sink together.
One of the first and most prominent things most marketing students remember from their first marketing classes (even if way back when) are the Four P’s: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Remember this is a framework, not really a prescription. Being a framework, it has much more flexibility and the idea has much more longevity. The four P’s cover the things that together make an “offering.” Pay attention to all parts of your offering as you decide how to differentiate.
Know the tools of communications and assess them for their effectiveness and efficiency. Emails, affiliate marketing, paid search, search engine optimization, social media platforms, outdoor, local radio stations — the list is endless. All may reach different audiences at different costs. Effectiveness is roughly about increasing the outcome — reaching more people with your message, your differentiation and your pitch. Efficiency is doing this while minimizing the resources, time, money and manpower. Think about why you want to use which tool and assess if they are efficient ways of getting the target audience you want.
Social media is not about being on the newest tool. Availability of social media has changed a lot. Anybody can get viral and get in front of millions without spending significant resources. That is usually just a dream for most marketers, but the allure of at least getting on the platform with very little initial outlay makes one think one can easily do it, even for the smallest businesses. Be warned, this is going to take more effort and resources than you originally imagined. Recall your own time is also a very scarce resource. The excitement of the possibility of real conversations with customers, the downside of trolls and losing control of the message notwithstanding, you still need to think in terms of what purpose you want it to serve for your business. There may be roughly four purposes social media may serve for you:
1) Market research. As you can now track what is being said about your brand, you can constantly track the status and health of it.
2) Sales. Social media can be used to recruit informal salespeople — regular customers who can refer and motivate others to buy your product,
3) Marketing. Your message can go everywhere and you can use what others are saying about you in the message to credibly signal your suitability or superiority.
4) Customer service. Use the knowledge base of your existing customers to help in onboarding and problem solving of other customers.
These will all require some thoughtful engagement. For example, have a referral program if you want to use this for sales; encourage and facilitate a user community if you want them to help each other, and so on. ●
Rakesh Niraj is Associate professor of marketing at Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management
