Instructional Time: 240 minutes
Module 4: The Marketing Plan
Start up
At the end of the lesson,
you will be able to:
After the comprehensive processes of
a) determine who the seeking, screening, and seizing the
customers are; and opportunity, it is now time for the
entrepreneur to focus on the chosen business
b) describe the marketing and big deep.
mix.
This module will familiarize you on
how to prepare a strategic marketing plan a
one of the components of business plan. Some entrepreneurs fail to give
importance to the voice of a business venture which is the market. If ignored
or given small attention, this becomes a major source of the entrepreneur’s
failure.
Work it out
Marketing | Time Allotment: 30 min.
Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. It
is the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customers'
needs and wants.
To further expound your understanding with regards to marketing, let’s have
an activity by completing the table below.
Can you name the top brand that comes to your mind when these generic
products or services are mentioned?
Module 1: Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Product/Service Brand Name
Toothpaste
Soap
Coffee
Milk
Car
Rubber Shoes
Mall
Spa
Beauty Salon
University
Soft drinks
Fast food restaurant
Convenience Store
Potato Chips
Cookie
Chocolate
Laptop
Television
TV Station
Smartphone
Discussion questions:
Why do you think they are the top-of-mind brands?
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What is a market?
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Where can you find a market?
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The Marketing Mix: 7Ps of Marketing | Time Allotment: 20 min.
Photo credit: [Link]
1. Product – is any physical good, service, or idea that is created by an
entrepreneur or an innovator in serving the needs of the customers
and addressing their existing problems.
✓ What product or service is the most appropriate for the
opportunity, and why will customers buy or avail them?
2. Place – refers to a location or the medium of transaction. A strategic
location depends on the nature of the business and the primary
target market.
✓ What location is the best suited for the business where there
are more potential customers?
✓ Can they conveniently transact on-site or online?
✓ How is the process of distribution of products or
performance of services?
3. Price – is the peso value that the entrepreneur assigns to a certain
product or service after considering its cost, competition, objectives,
positioning, and target market.
✓ What is the most appropriate price, and what pricing
strategies will be used for the target customers?
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4. Promotion – involves presenting the products or services to the
public and how these can address the public’s needs, wants,
problems or desires.
✓ What is the most effective advertisement or combination of
advertisements, and which advertising tool should be used
to drive awareness and increase sales?
5. People – play vital role in servicing the customers even though the
entrepreneur sells only physical goods. It is not just about the quality
of products anymore, but how employees serve customers.
✓ What type of people need to be hired?
✓ What are the basic skills needed for the job?
✓ What leadership style will be applied by the entrepreneur?
6. Packaging – is how the product or service is presented to
customers.
✓ What is the best packaging for the product that is attractive
enough to customers and cost-efficient at the same time?
✓ What physical evidence does the entrepreneur need to set
up so as to sell the service?
7. Process – is defined as a step-by-step procedure or activity
workflow that the entrepreneur or employees follow to effectively
and efficiently serve customers.
✓ What is the most compelling feature of the product or the
business that will make a difference in the lives of the
customers?
✓ What sets the product or service from the rest?
Discussion questions:
1. How do businesses formulate the SRP of their products?
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2. What is being presented to the customer by the packaging of a certain
product?
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3. Give an example of an effective and efficient marketing strategy that
would give your business an edge from other businesses.
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Integrate
Give three personal measures on how you will be able to know your
customers.
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READ FURTHER!
Photo credit: [Link]
The Importance of Knowing Your Customer
By Patricia Jones
Know your customers better because only they can help you get more lead
and more business. Understanding customers is the key to giving them good
service which in turn results into strong customer relationships and new
sales through positive word-of-mouth recommendation. However,
understanding the customers’ psyche is not easy and most often requires a
thoughtful analysis to identify their preferences or purchase patterns so that
you can anticipate their needs and exceed their expectations.
In what holds further is a list of five easy ways to understand your
customers better. Read, comprehend and imbibe them in your working
approach to engage with the customers better and ultimately sell them
more.
1. Track Customers’ Real-Time Behavior
Today’s customers demand nothing less than a seamless experience across
both traditional and digital touch points. To do this, a business needs to be
prompt and proactive in its approach. It needs to anticipate the customer’s
needs to serve them on all platforms even before the requirement is actually
placed.
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2. Identify the different categories of your Customers
Tagging them together in the same group only leads to generic cross-selling
campaigns that do not generate any fruitful results. It’s important to
understand the different parameters on which you can segregate your
customers. Let’s say – the type of products/services they buy, frequency of
purchase, geographic location of the customers and so on.
Once the categories are formed and customers are segregated, it becomes
easier to frame precise marketing and cross-selling campaigns with targeted
messaging. Needless to say, these campaigns drive more value for both your
business and your customers.
3. Invest on Social Media Customer Engagement
Reason being that reports like IBM CEO Insights has stated that consumers
are active on social media channels for no less than 6 hours a day. This
clearly explains the indispensable role that social media plays in shaping and
influencing the opinions of the consumers.
In such a scenario, it becomes essential for every business to invest
exhaustively on social media engagement. So, frame strategies to engage
with your target audience and customers on all social media channels as
they are clearly the best place to reach them.
Tip: Do not opt for push advertising in social media. Unlike other traditional
platforms where these old-school marketing tactics can work, social media
calls for compelling, authentic campaigns that involves real and informative
elements.
4. Leverage Customer Service Interactions
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This is one of the best times to get a peep into the customers psyche. So
frame a questionnaire and hand it over to your customer service
representatives.
On every occasion when your customers contact your service
representatives, they can ask queries about the customer’s likes/dislikes in
relation to the product or service usage. Example:
How they are using the product or service?
Are they satisfied using the product/service?
What are the changes they would like to see in the product/service?
Practicing this experience regularly, will help you accumulate a database of
valuable customer insights that can be used to frame targeted messaging.
5. Focus on Customers’ Personal Tastes and Preferences
Nurturing your customers with informative contents about your
product/service is good but do not limit yourself to only that. Sometimes
facilitating to the generic interests of the customers serves a great purpose
too. It gives the impression of how attentive you are towards your
customers and brings your buyers inches closer to you.
Try These
Determine the customers’ demand | Time Allotment: 30 min.
A. Gender and age are data that must be mined because the life cycle of
customers and their gender influence their buying behavior. Name the
products and services that are in demand for the given gender and age
group.
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Gender and Age Group Potential Product or Service Demand
Products:
1. Male/Female (7-12) Services:
Products:
2. Male teenagers (13-19)
Services:
Products:
3. Single females (20-30)
Services:
Products:
4. Married couples with kids (30-
50)
Services:
Products:
5. Senior citizens (60
onwards)
Services:
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B. Name the products and services that are in demand for the given
different types of community area in the Philippines.
Community Areas Potential Product or Service Demand
Products:
1. Industrial Area
Services:
Products:
2. Agricultural Area
Services:
Products:
3. Coastal Area
Services:
Products:
4. Commercial Area
Services:
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Challenge Yourself
Online market observation | Time Allotment: 1 hour.
Explore the internet by using any social media platform. Observe the behavior
of the netizens. Determine their market preference and the new trends
wherein you can ascertain business opportunities. After your observation,
assess by formulating the 7Ps of marketing. Be guided by the 5-scale rubric
for each component.
Rubric for Scoring
Points Quality of answers
5 points Answer shows comprehensive and creative discussion.
4 points Answer is good but has limited supporting argument.
3 points Answer is adequate but lacks supporting argument.
2 points Answer is limited and vague.
1 point Answer is irrelevant to the topic.
No point No answer
PRODUCT
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PLACE
PRICE
PRICE
PROMOTION
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PEOPLE
PACKAGING
PROCESS
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High Five!
Congratulations on finishing this learning module!
Let’s have a brief self-check by knowing three (3) things you have learned,
concepts that you did not understand, and your questions in mind.
Put your response on the appropriate lane.
Learning Lane Clarification Lane Query Lane
Let’s work it out
Good Job!
☺
Photo Credit: [Link]
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References
Batisan R. (2016): Entrepreneurship, JO-ES Publishing house Inc.
Jones, P. (2018). The Importance of Knowing Your Customer.
[Link]
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