Marketing strategies of the organization in the market. Marketing strategy - what is it, types, goals, stages and fundamentals of developing, evaluating and choosing an enterprise marketing strategy

Marketing is working with the market for the sake of making exchanges, the purpose of which is to satisfy human needs and requirements.

Marketing strategy - a set of fundamental long-term and medium-term decisions that direct individual marketing activities to achieve their goals.

The most important task of strategic management is to establish and maintain a dynamic interaction of the organization with the environment, designed to provide it with competitive advantages, which is achieved by providing the buyer with the company's product. Therefore, marketing objectively occupies the position of one of the leading functions of strategic management. For a number of organizations, depending on what goals they pursue and what strategies they implement, marketing is a key function that ensures their successful functioning. Moreover, with the transition to a management philosophy, according to which the company should be fully oriented in its activities to the needs of the client, and not try to produce products that are convenient for it, which they then try to sell to the client in any way.

Marketing is increasingly becoming the substance of business, penetrating all areas of the company. He plays a special role in strategic management, which goes beyond the function of selling products.

Speaking about more specific issues of including marketing in the strategic management of the company, it should be noted that marketing performs two main functions in this context:

marketing strategy planning

a means of collecting and processing information for the development of the company's strategy;

means of implementing the firm's strategies.

For example, if a firm is pursuing a strategy to expand its position in the market, it can implement it either by increasing the volume of consumption of this product by the buyer, or by poaching the buyers of a competitor, or by attracting new buyers who have not previously consumed this product. It is also possible to use a combination of these tools.

In the implementation of this strategy of the company, the role of marketing is exceptionally great. The strategy under consideration will act as a goal for the marketing service, and the means of its implementation defined in the strategy are marketing strategies.

In order to choose marketing strategies, in a particular case, the marketing service needs to conduct an appropriate market research and solve a number of tasks:

• 1) study of the consumer;
• 2) study of the motives of his behavior in the market;
• 3) analysis of the actual market of the enterprise;
• 4) research of the product (product or type of service);
• 5) analysis of forms and distribution channels;
• 6) analysis of the volume of turnover of the enterprise;
• 7) study of competitors, determination of forms and level of competition;
• 8) research of advertising activities;
• 9) determining the most effective ways to promote goods on the market;
• 10) study of the "niche" of the market.

Especially great is the importance of marketing in strategic management in the development and implementation of market strategies.

Marketing strategies are determined on the basis of established marketing objectives, a situational analysis conducted and answers the question of how to apply the marketing mix (marketing mix to attract and satisfy target markets and achieve organizational goals).

The marketing strategy consists in long-term coordination of the company's capabilities with the market situation, i.e. in coordinating the internal and external environments of the company. .

The tools for implementing marketing activities at this level of management are:

improvement organizational structure firms;

organization of penetration into new product markets;

development and introduction to the market of a new product;

curtailment of business activity and withdrawal from markets where it has become impossible to obtain sustainable profits;

penetration into new markets through the creation of joint ventures;

cooperation activities with companies with experience of successful activities in the markets of interest.

The goals of the company determine the direction of development of its business activity. The strategy is a plan to achieve these goals, which should reflect all elements of marketing, financial resources, production capabilities.

Marketing strategy is based on five strategic concepts:

selection of target markets;

market segmentation, i.e. allocation of competitive target markets within the aggregate;

choice of methods of access to them;

choice of methods and means of marketing;

determining the time to market.

As the main types of marketing strategies, the "price-quantity" strategy or the preference strategy is usually used.

When using the "price-quantity" strategy, you can apply the price category as one of the components of success in the competition. Of fundamental importance here is the potential and level of development of the relevant industries, as well as the active influence on production costs. Strategy "price-quantity" i.e. for the marketing of many products based on well-established and proven technologies that have been on the market for a long time. .

The preference strategy uses various marketing policy tools that are independent of price competition. The ultimate goal of this strategy is to create sustainable competitive advantages. To achieve this goal, the entire set of marketing tools can be used:

changes in production technology that improve the quality of the product, its design and packaging;

after-sales service (consulting and training, repair and technical preventive maintenance, supply of spare parts, etc.);

logistics activities (compliance with contractual obligations and reliability of supplies).

The preference strategy is generally accepted for high-tech operations.

The "mi-tu" strategy (strategy of adaptation, adjusting) involves adaptation to competitors in such parameters as production, distribution, price communication. When implementing this strategy, they strive to repeat the actions of competitors as accurately as possible. .

A sharp difference strategy involves a product that clearly differs in profile from a competitor's product.

It can be noted that the "price - quantity" strategy is more widely used on a global scale than the preference strategy, primarily because of the greater possibilities and greater ease of use.

The "price-quantity" strategy assumes the existence of so-called price competition, and the preference strategy with its modifications implies the existence of non-price competition.

The original "laser beam strategy" is used by Japanese firms, first gaining a foothold in the markets of countries that do not have their own production of this product, then, on the basis of accumulated experience, master new, more complex competitive markets.

The application of marketing begins with the definition of goals and the development of an enterprise strategy based on a marketing analysis of the situation. Marketing covers the enterprise, its immediate environment - the market and the macro environment. In fact, any activity of the enterprise can be directed and coordinated by marketing. This approach requires the full integration of marketing in the enterprise.

The practical aspect of applying marketing looks different. Marketing does not always exist in an enterprise in an integrated form. Often its functions are distributed, not connected in a complex. An enterprise can pay minimal attention to marketing, not recognize its existence. However, an enterprise interacting with the market applies marketing methods and approaches. The field of marketing is characterized by the rapid obsolescence of ideas and concepts caused by changes in the market situation. Enterprises are characterized by inertia: marketing strategies adopted yesterday are still applied today, often not justifying their purpose.

Timely correction of marketing strategies provides significant cost savings by reducing overhead costs and increasing market returns.

If we are to build marketing, then according to the full program, so that it provides market research, advertising, pricing, sales management, and all control functions at once. Really on marketing mix the following factors influence (Fig. 1.1.). .

Fig.1.1

The influence of different factors is not always coordinated, more often the other way around. If the goals and strategies of the enterprise correspond to the realities of the market (or, at least, they should correspond), then the practice of the previous activity, during which the marketing functions were performed by other departments, imposes a number of restrictions. The head of the enterprise also imagines what marketing should be like, and is ready to build it in the right way.

When developing marketing strategies, the following number of tasks facing the enterprise can be distinguished:

Building the organizational structure of marketing, determining the necessary functions, establishing interaction with the company's divisions.

Revision of applied methods and approaches, analysis of the practice of using marketing tools, determination of marketing effectiveness.

Development of marketing strategies, determination of the marketing mix complex to achieve the goals of the enterprise.

The marketing strategy defines how the marketing structure should be applied in order to attract and satisfy target markets and achieve the organization's goals. In decisions about the structure of marketing, the main thing is product planning, sales, promotion and price.

For each strategic business unit (SHP), and even more so for an organization, a separate strategy is needed; these strategies must be coordinated. The strategy should be as clear as possible. For example, planning for new products should include prioritization, allocation of responsibilities, time and production schedules, promotion support, and staff training needs.

Often a firm chooses a strategy of two or more options. Each of the alternatives opens up different opportunities for marketers. For example, a pricing strategy can be very flexible, since it is easier to change prices than to create different product modifications. However, a strategy based on low prices is the easiest to copy. In addition, a successful pricing policy can lead to a price war, which will have a very bad effect on the bottom line. In contrast, a location-based strategy is difficult to replicate due to long lease periods and unavailability of suitable locations for competitors. But it can be inflexible and poorly adapted to environmental changes.

The four approaches to strategy planning are presented in the following sections: Product/Market Opportunity Matrix, Boston Consulting Group Matrix, Impact of Market Strategy on Profits, and Porter's General Strategic Model.

The Product/Market Opportunity Matrix uses four alternative marketing situations to maintain and increase sales: market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification. The choice of strategy depends on the degree of market saturation and the company's ability to constantly update production. Two or more strategies may be combined.

The market penetration strategy is effective for SHP when the market is growing or not yet saturated. The firm seeks to expand the sale of existing products in existing markets through the intensification of product distribution, offensive promotion and the most competitive prices. This increases sales: it attracts those who have not previously used the products of this company, as well as competitors' customers, and increases the demand of already attracted consumers.

A market development strategy is effective if: a local firm seeks to expand its market; as a result of changing lifestyles and demographic factors, new market segments are emerging; new applications are being identified for well-known products. The firm seeks to increase sales of existing products in the markets or encourage consumers to use existing products in new ways. It can penetrate new geographic markets; enter new market segments, the demand for which is not yet satisfied; re-propose existing products; use new methods of distribution and marketing; intensify promotional efforts.

Product development strategy effective when the SHP has a number of successful brands and enjoys consumer loyalty. The firm develops new or codified products for existing markets. It focuses on new models, quality improvements and other small innovations that are closely related to already introduced products and sells them to consumers loyal to this company and its brands. Traditional marketing methods are used; promotion emphasizes that new products are produced by a well-known firm.

The diversification strategy is used to ensure that the organization does not become too dependent on one SHP or one product group. The company launches new products aimed at new markets. These products may be new to the industry or just to the company. The goals of distribution, marketing and promotion are different from the traditional ones for the company.

The Boston Consulting Group matrix allows a company to classify each of its SHPs by their market share relative to major competitors and annual growth rates in the industry. Using the matrix, a firm can determine, firstly, which of its SHPs plays a leading role compared to competitors and, secondly, what are the dynamics of its markets: are they developing, stabilizing or shrinking.

The matrix is ​​based on the premise that the greater the market share of SHPs, the lower the relative costs and the higher the profit and the higher the profit as a result of economies of scale, the accumulation of experience and improved bargaining positions.

The matrix distinguishes 4 types of SHP: "stars", "cash cows", "problem children" and "dogs" and suggests strategies for each of them.

"Star " occupies a leading position in a growing industry. The main goal is to maintain the firm's distinctive advantage in an increasingly competitive environment. "Star" gives significant profits. But it requires large amounts of resources to finance continued growth. Market share can be maintained or increased through price cuts, high advertising, product changes, or wider distribution. As the development of the industry slows down, the "star" turns into a "cash cow".

A cash cow is a leader in a relatively mature or declining industry (slow growth). This SHP usually has a loyal following among consumers, and it is difficult for competitors to poach them. Since sales are relatively stable, without significant marketing and development costs, a cash cow generates more than is necessary to maintain its market share, cash. This money supports the growth of the company's other SHPs. The firm's marketing strategy focuses on "reminder advertising", periodic price discounts, maintaining distribution channels, and offering new options to encourage repeat purchases.

Problem Child has little market impact in an emerging industry. Consumer support is low, distinctive advantages are unclear, and competitors' products dominate the market. Significant funds are needed to maintain or increase market share in a highly competitive environment. The company must decide whether to expand promotional spending, actively seek new distribution channels, improve features and lower prices, or withdraw from the market. The choice of strategy depends on whether the firm believes. that the given SHP can successfully compete with appropriate support, and what such support will cost.

A "dog" is a limited-sell SHP in a mature or declining industry. Despite a fairly long presence on the market, it failed to attract a sufficient number of consumers and it lags far behind its competitors in terms of sales, image, cost structure, etc. It is characterized by excessive costs and little opportunity for growth.

Porter's general strategic model considers the two main concepts of marketing planning and the alternatives inherent in each of them: target market selection and strategic advantage.

Combining these two concepts, Porter's model identifies the following basic strategies: cost advantage, differentiation, and concentration.

Using a cost advantage strategy, the firm targets a broad market and produces goods in large quantities. Through mass production, it can minimize unit costs and offer low prices. This allows you to have a higher share of profits compared to competitors, better respond to rising costs and attract price-oriented consumers.

Using a differentiation strategy, a firm targets a large market by offering a product that is seen as stand out. The company produces a product that is attractive to many, which, nevertheless, is considered by consumers as unique due to its design, characteristics, availability, reliability, etc. as a result, price does not play such an important role, and consumers acquire sufficient brand loyalty.

As part of the concentration strategy, the company highlights a specific market segment through low prices or a unique offer. It can control costs by focusing on a few key products for specific customers, building a particular reputation while serving a market that may not be satisfied by competitors. .

According to Porter's model, the relationship between market share and profit is U-shaped. A firm with a small market share can succeed by developing a well-focused strategy. A company with a large market share will expect to succeed as a result of a total cost advantage or a differentiated strategy. However, a company can get stuck in the middle if it does not have an efficient and unique product or a total cost advantage. Unlike the Boston Consulting Matrix and MIPS, Porter's model can make a profit by focusing on a single competitive "niche" even if its overall market share is negligible. A firm doesn't have to be big to perform well.

Marketing in the modern world has long become a receptacle for a huge number of concepts that are not related to each other, often contradicting each other, psychology and philosophy, economics and art are trying to find application in marketing, but the effectiveness of marketing actions continues to decline steadily. Marketing is now largely an unsystematic discipline, from a clear teaching of the rules of behavior in the market, marketing has become a fragmented set of working and not-so theses. In an effort to find the causes of the crisis that has gripped marketing, as a result, which has made branding a haven for dreamers, and advertising a lottery, we have come to the need to rethink the situation as a whole.

The concept of "positioning", if interpreted as the thesis of imposing a certain stereotype on the consumer in relation to the consumed object, is very important, it only needs some rethinking. As the name implies, "positioning" is the process of creating a certain position of the brand in the inner world of a person. "Positioning" is essentially a term that implies the logic of the process - we give a conscious attitude and get an adequate result - a certain position in some structured data array, which can only be our consciousness. And if we are talking about an appeal to the conscious sphere, it is necessary to address it in the language of logic. In other words, the message that positioning carries must be extremely rational, positioning must convey exclusively rational benefits to the consumer. The most important criteria are specifications goods, in others - only the value component, however, only a balanced impact, only rational and irrational, allows us to talk about a successful impact on the consumer, and therefore about the effectiveness of actions. .

The brand structure should not be abstract, but specific and understandable to all participants in the process - from the owner of the enterprise to the copywriter of an advertising agency, in addition, highlighting positioning as a rational aspect of a commercial stereotype allows you to increase the effectiveness of the application of research methods. When comparing concepts of the same order, we have the opportunity to get an objective answer, the respondent will not need to compare what is impossible to compare, as a result, the results of research in this aspect will also become quite useful information.

Sometimes positioning can be "fitted" to an already existing product, however, in the future, it must become a factor in the creation of physical features of a product under a certain brand, otherwise the brand will look inconsistent. And consequently the meaning of his purchase will cease to be crystal clear to the consumer. The consequences of this, as a rule, are sad, but if the brand does not "die" immediately from the attacks of competitors, it becomes more vulnerable, weak, and therefore a good target for attacks in the future.

Properly defined positioning, coupled with an emotional component, is the basis for the successful existence of the brand, there is a strong argument for the consumer, exhausted by a difficult choice among the same type of goods that have neither clear differences nor identifiable benefits. Positioning is an argument that can not only push the consumer to the purchase, but will also help him feel the state of satisfaction from the use. .

Marketing occupies one of the leading positions in the world market. However, the understanding of marketing is not always true. Most people think that marketing is the usual newspaper, television and Internet advertising. This is partly true, but advertising is only one of the areas of marketing activity.

Marketing and the work of marketing services are extremely important aspects in the management structure of an enterprise. The marketing approach helps to determine such indicators as the ratio of price to quality of goods, how competitors operate, their strengths and weak sides, as well as what volume of sales is considered optimal.

However, it is necessary to rely not only on external indicators, but also on the indicators of the enterprise itself. Internal indicators are determined by the following list of questions:

• How are finances spent, both for the production cycle and for commercial needs?
• Which department of the enterprise is more profitable than the others?
• Which of the company's products is the most cost-effective and has the fastest turnover?
• How to properly build a system for managing and remunerating workers based on the final (monthly) results?

A marketing strategy is essential for a company to be successful. The marketing strategy is primarily aimed at the income and growth of a particular company.

The main marketing strategies are covered in this video:

Tasks marketing strategy:

• Comprehensive study of the consumer market and;
• Adequate assessment of supply and demand;
• Development of a concept that can satisfy the needs of the owner of the company and the buyer.

The developed concept can meet the needs of the enterprise both for 1 year and for decades to come.

Organization of marketing at the enterprise

In order for a company to survive in a competitive environment, it is necessary to have a marketing service that will thoroughly study the issue of demand for a particular product or service, what standards must be met when releasing this product; will consider in detail the advantages and disadvantages of competitors.

The main principle of the marketing service is to provide all representatives of the company with information that helps to survive in the conditions of market competition.

At the enterprise, the organization of marketing is carried out in 4 main stages:

• Stage 1. The main function of the stage is distribution.
• Stage 2. The main function of the stage is the sale.
• Stage 3. The main action of the stage is the allocation of marketing as a separate service.
• Stage 4. The main function of the stage is the organization of the entire workflow for marketing needs.

At the first stage of the marketing organization, everything is limited to distribution functions. In addition, the sales department at this stage plays one of the most important roles, while market research, transportation and marketing planning, and advertising are not the main factors.

In the second stage of the marketing organization, the “sales planning” item is added, while planning is carried out by one manager, and not by the whole service. At the same time, the manager becomes responsible for training salespeople, for the quality of customer service and planning the sales organization.

The third stage is the transformation of marketing in the enterprise into a separate service. The authority to manage the department is transferred to an individual who is appointed by the head.

Also, the department at this stage adds additional responsibilities, such as setting a pricing policy, appearance product (packaging, etc.) and name.

At the last stage, marketing acquires an important position in the company and becomes the field of activity that the entire enterprise focuses on. However, most companies stop at the third stage.

The procedure for developing a strategy.

Job marketing service and manager

There are many different ways to organize a marketing service, but here are five that you should consider:

• Functional structure of marketing;
• Organization by product;
• Organization by clients;
• Geographic organization;
• Matrix marketing organization.

The functional structure indicates that marketing should be on par with the rest of the company.

The functional structure is suitable for enterprises that do not have a multiple production program, that is, such a structure is considered optimal for firms with a homogeneous production program.

There are a number of features that stand out when a product manager appears:

• Evaluation of the manager's performance is made by deriving the success of the product;
• The manager performs a coordinating function, but does not have certain powers in the form of power;
• Product managers compete with each other for enterprise resources;
• A clear division of powers in order to avoid conflict situations.

In general, the product manager improves the quality of the planning process, and also helps to adapt the product to market conditions, and coordinates the activities of departments. However, without the direct support of management, the correct work of managers cannot be carried out.

Product organization consists in a large selection of products, that is, the more diverse the products, the stronger the company's position in the market, the more active the market, the better the organizational moments for the products.

This structure usually does not require separate specialists, usually the marketing department or the head himself is involved in this structure.

In a product-based organization, key functions such as corporate strategy and public relations are assigned to top management.

The organization by clients is carried out, as a rule, by several managers, while each of them is assigned clients of a certain direction. For example, work with wholesale clients is carried out by one representative, work with retail clients is carried out with the help of another specialist, and so on.

You will learn how to properly compose and execute instructions for the account manager.

This structure is suitable for companies that provide to the market a large number of goods and services, while covering several market segments. Also distinguishing feature structure lies in the fact that the manager can work both with a group of clients and with one, but very important for the enterprise.

The main task is to maintain optimal relationships with customers who belong to a specific market area. The problematic point of this structure is the coordination of individual areas and the performance of its functions, that is, market research, resource supply, and so on.

The organization of marketing at the geographical level consists in determining the territorial affiliation, since, for example, fur coats are in demand in one subject of the country, and light summer clothes in another. However, in practice, such companies are quite rare.

The matrix construction is based on several structuring indicators (at least 2 criteria). With the help of such a marketing organization, the company seeks to overcome the problems that are characteristic of one-dimensional management structures.

How does the marketing strategy work?

All designs of the organization of marketing in the enterprise have both pluses and minuses, so there is no ideal approach to the issue of management.

For a more adequate choice of structure, it is necessary to take into account all the positive and negative aspects of each direction, and the choice should be based on the goals and conditions of the enterprise environment.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the marketing strategy at the enterprise

The main part of the decisions that determine the activities of the enterprise are entirely related to marketing. A relevant and clearly articulated marketing strategy fully indicates the success of the company.

The marketing strategy is developed by a separate marketing service, which is located at the enterprise, or the manager of the company himself (director, typical for small enterprises).

In the modern world, there are 6 strategies for the successful operation of an enterprise:

• The attack strategy is based on increasing and capturing parts of the market and promoting an advertising campaign. This concept is entirely aimed at obtaining a leading position.
• Defense strategy. The main objective of the strategy is to improve the quality associated with customer service. In addition, it is possible to consume the resources of pricing policy and commodity as well.
• The retreat strategy helps the company avoid bankruptcy due to the fact that the company ceased to exist in the market in a timely manner, by eliminating the advertising campaign and interacting with society.
• Market penetration strategy. Adhering to such a concept, the enterprise has the right to actively penetrate the market. Along with the concept of penetration, the concept of attack is used, since they are essentially similar to each other.
• The growth strategy implies the development of production, increase in profits, expansion of the company's product range, increase in competition, promotion of sales, demand and turnover.
• The diversification strategy is to study the quality of products provided to consumers and to establish the appropriate quality that the market requires.

There are also a number of concepts that provide competitive advantages firms on the market. For example, McCarthy's 4P strategy contains the following components: product (product), price (price), location (position) and promotion (promotion).

In action marketing, it's not uncommon for specialists to add additional items to the list and qualify the concept as 5Ps, 6Ps, 7Ps, and so on. Apart from basic elements concepts, such components are added as: personnel, communication with society, profit, and so on.

However, the usual strategy is "4P", because only these 4 indicators can be properly controlled by marketers.

It is believed that the most important element is the "product". The reason for the importance of the product is explained very simply, because if the product is of poor quality, then the buyer will not purchase it, respectively, other elements of the system cease to be significant.

However, the price of products is not much inferior in importance to products. For the vast majority of consumers, an acceptable cost is the most important aspect for buying a product. The price is set in accordance with the following indicators: quality, brand, consumer composition.

Also maximum amount sales takes place in a comfortable and clean environment. Product promotion is based on advertising, promotions and a discount sales system, however, these elements contribute not only to promotion, but also to confirmation of the image.

Quite often, during the implementation of a marketing strategy, there are many nuances and problems that arise due to an insufficiently thought-out concept, incorrect assessment of market segments, as well as poor analysis and control of the implementation of the concept.

However, it is possible to circumvent such circumstances if, at each subsequent stage of using the concept, analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing strategy and its activities as a whole. You will learn what marketing analysis is and how it is done.

Development of a marketing strategy and key indicators

There is a clear plan and key indicators that you need to rely on when developing a marketing strategy:

1. A clear delineation of the market (determination of the area and direction in which the company will operate).
2. Definition of subgroups within the existing industry and the distribution of profits between them.
3. Creation of a multidimensional map of the industry (business model).

The control of the work of the marketing strategy is carried out by the one who was involved in its creation, that is, the marketing service or the director of the company.

A plan and an example of developing a marketing strategy is in this video:

A strategy is a plan or method of any activity, presented in a general form for a long period of time.

The strategy is developed in any direction in order to make the most efficient use of available resources to achieve the main goal.

A marketing strategy is part of a company's overall corporate strategy and is intended to describe how a company should use its limited resources in order to grow in the long term. It is an element of the company's marketing plan and is more descriptive, suggesting not the specific actions themselves, but only their direction.

The concept, goals and application of marketing strategies

Under the marketing strategy should be understood the process of planning and subsequent implementation of various activities in the field of marketing of the organization, which are aimed at achieving the goals set for the company.

Since the marketing strategy is included as an integral element in the overall strategy of the company, it outlines the main directions of the organization's activities in the market space in relation to consumers and competitors.

The development of a marketing strategy will be influenced by the main goals of the company, its current market position, the organization's resource potential, an assessment of its market prospects and possible actions of competitors.

Main goals marketing strategies are usually:

• an increase in sales, which can occur in two ways: by increasing the flow of customers or the number of orders;
• expansion of the company;
• ensuring the attractiveness of products for a particular target audience;
• gaining a larger share of the market space;
• achieving leadership positions in its market segment.

The goals of the marketing strategy should not contradict the main mission of the company and the strategic goals of the business as a whole. Marketing strategies are also subject to all marketing activities of the company (advertising, public relations, sales organization, etc.).

It represents the gradual implementation of an interconnected set of operational-level strategies, which include marketing strategies, advertising, pricing, etc. In the modern world, companies often do not just maintain or increase the share of an existing market, but search for new markets.

Since the situation on the market is always dynamic, the marketing strategy is also characterized by flexibility, mobility, and the ability to constantly be adjusted. There is no single marketing strategy suitable for all types of companies and products. To increase sales of a particular company or promote a certain type of product, a separate development of activities is required.

Kinds

The classification of marketing strategies can be based on various features.

The most common is the division of well-known marketing strategies on following groups strategies:

1. concentrated growth. It is supposed to change the market for the product or improve (modernize) it. Most often, such strategies are aimed at fighting competitors to gain an expanded market share (“horizontal development”), finding markets for existing products, improving the products themselves.
2. integrated growth. They pursue the goal of expanding the structure of the enterprise through "vertical development" - the start of production of new goods or services. As part of the implementation of this type of strategy, it is planned to control the branches, suppliers and dealers of the company, as well as to influence the final buyers of products.
3. diversified growth. They are used if the company does not have the opportunity to develop in the current market conditions with a certain type of product. The company can focus on the production of a new product, but at the expense of old, already available resources, while the product may differ slightly from those already produced or be fundamentally new.
4. Abbreviations. Aimed at improving the efficiency of the enterprise after a long period of its development. In this case, both the reorganization of the company (for example, the reduction of individual divisions) and its liquidation (for example, the gradual reduction of activities to zero while obtaining the maximum possible income) can be carried out.

Also, the marketing strategy of an enterprise can be focused both on the entire market and on its individual target segments. In this case, one can implement three main strategic directions:

In addition, marketing strategies can be distinguished by means of marketing to which the enterprise is more focused:

• Commodity;
• Price;
• Branded;
• Advertising.

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Formation and development stages

Formation marketing strategy occurs in 4 stages:

• Stage of analysis of marketing opportunities of the organization. It is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the functioning of the enterprise, its advantages in a particular market and possible risks;
• Stage of selection of functioning markets. It involves an analysis of supply and demand, consideration of a certain type of market, its pros and cons, consumer composition, as well as the need for products that the company produces;
• Stage of development of the marketing program. It consists of determining the features of the pricing policy, methods of positioning a particular product on the market, conducting an advertising campaign, as well as monitoring the sale of products;
• Stage of approval and implementation of marketing programs. Assumes their reasonable analysis in the context of the provisions of the general strategy of the organization and anti-crisis management.

Capable of developing a marketing strategy influence the following actions:

• a detailed analysis of the state of the market, highlighting its key segments;
• assessment of the current financial condition of the company;
• analysis of the company's activities in a competitive environment, as well as the actions of competitors;
• analysis of strategic alternatives and choice of marketing strategy;
• approximate economic evaluation of the chosen strategy;
• determination of methods of control over the implementation of the marketing strategy.

Structure and content

We can distinguish the following structure of the marketing strategy:

Definition various marketing strategies:

Features of marketing strategies in various directions

Marketing Strategies in trade involve continuous systematic analysis of market needs, which will contribute to the development of those products that are needed by specific target groups. These products have special properties that distinguish them from competitors' products and provide them with an undeniable competitive advantage.

Marketing Strategies in construction involve ensuring the rational organization of production, reducing, efficient use of resources, increasing, the ability to adapt to the market in conditions of increased competition. These strategies set the direction of the organization's activities in the market, contribute to the coordination of the marketing components of each division of the construction organization, and allow efficient use of available resources.

Marketing Strategies in finance provide not only the search for effective directions and methods for the implementation of financial products, but also the determination of ways to diversify the company's services, as well as the formation of the organization's anti-crisis policy.

Evaluation and analysis of effectiveness

Efficiency mark marketing strategy of the enterprise allows you to understand whether its concept was chosen correctly, as well as to control the implementation of the goals set.

For this it is necessary carry out a detailed analysis several components of a marketing strategy:

Marketing audit will enable see the degree of deviation of strategic marketing results from the planned ones. If they differ significantly, it makes sense to reconsider the strategy, or completely abandon it and choose an alternative one. If the design is carried out successfully, this allows the company to achieve high results in the long term and take a leading market position.

Marketing Strategies in Crisis Management

The marketing strategy is developed, among other things, for the behavior of the organization in the market in the face of tough opposition to negative environmental factors. It is implemented within the framework of anti-crisis management, when the company receives an orientation towards achieving the best position in today's market conditions.

The implementation of the whole range of measures that make up the marketing strategy will contribute to the organization's exit from the crisis with the lowest administrative and financial costs. Marketing strategies, as an important part of the overall strategy for the anti-crisis development of an enterprise, occupy a leading place in determining the various methods for its exit from the crisis. For this, marketing strategies for pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis management are being developed.

For the rules for developing a marketing strategy, see the next video lesson.
Part 1:

It's kind entrepreneurial activity, aimed at determining its position in the market for the services provided by the enterprise, determining a strategy for promoting a product group or service from producer to consumer.

What is meant by strategic marketing?

Through strategic marketing, the position, preferences and requirements of the consumer are analyzed, all this data is used to produce a new group of goods or provide services.

Marketing is characterized by planning the range of products, determining the pricing policy, that is, setting a certain price for the product for which the buyer will purchase it. Strategic marketing also determines how products will be transported, i.e. the most economical options for the delivery of goods to the consumer are sought out, optimal conditions for storage and warehousing of the released product group are selected. The purpose of strategic marketing is also to determine the direction for the wholesale and retail sales of products, to provide customer service in the halls of trade, to provide the necessary assistance in choosing a particular product. An important aspect of marketing is the possibility of purchasing products on credit, when the consumer pays for the goods already purchased for some time. Advertising campaigns are organized where the manufacturer in an impersonal form communicates with potential consumers through the media: television, radio, printed matter, by mail or via the Internet, also considers the installation of billboards, applying advertising text to vehicles.

Goals of strategic marketing consist in the systematic collection and analysis of the obtained data on the sale of products. The combination of all these methods will constitute strategic marketing, and not separately for each position, only by drawing up a program of action can success be achieved in the prosperity of the enterprise.

Prosperous businesses have one feature: they pay great attention to the consumer, and for this they use strategic marketing. They are united by the desire to understand and satisfy the consumer as best as possible, the employees of the enterprise are set to produce only excellent quality products, which leads to the greatest satisfaction of consumer demand. Knowing the marketing strategy, you can significantly increase the distribution of products in the consumer market, which will certainly lead to an increase in the profits of the enterprise.

How does strategic planning work?

Strategic planning is characterized by setting goals, strategies and a specific direction for their achievement. It contains several steps:

• Strategic, or long-term planning, its purpose is to determine the important tasks for product marketing
• Tactical planning currently used, it is needed to determine the tasks for the year

Under strategic planning understand the creation and support of the strategy of the enterprise to achieve its goals, the identification of opportunities for marketing. It is developed for a long time, it includes the following points:

• The long-term goal of the marketing enterprise is determined
• Marketing strategy is defined
• The economic portfolios of the enterprise are monitored, their development in the future

The purpose of marketing is to be able to consider different areas of the enterprise's activities, aimed at transforming the consumer's needs into profitable items of the enterprise, in achieving predictable results on, in determining the social significance of the enterprise.

Marketing goals can be achieved if several conditions are met.:

• The enterprise has the availability of the necessary resources
• The production process does not violate the ecological situation
• The internal capabilities of the enterprise allow me to implement the plans

To determine the goal of the marketing policy of the enterprise, they use analytical data on the strengths and weaknesses of production, the possibility of optimizing production lines, and be able to foresee threats to the production of goods in advance.

Fundamentals of Strategic Marketing consist in the process of choosing strategic actions in the general direction of the enterprise, aimed at increasing business. When developing a strategic line of an enterprise, data can constantly change, so enterprises cannot stop at just one chosen strategy, they need to adapt to market conditions, cyclically, changing the primary goals set for new solutions.

An important difference between strategic planning is the difficulty of determining digital indicators in determining the usefulness of a particular decision. To do this, it is required to develop and constantly adjust an evaluation system based on the commonality of a digital indicator, this can be a monetary indicator of costs, with a numerical value of the estimates.

How the stages of the strategy are developed

• Analyzing the state of the sales market
• A qualitative assessment of the state of the sales market for the current period is made
• A thorough study of competitors is carried out, the competitiveness of the enterprise is determined
• The goals of the strategic policy of the enterprise are set
• An analysis of the sales market segment is carried out, the desired target segment is determined. To do this, it is necessary to conduct consumer market research
• An analysis of the strategy alternative is carried out, the desired option is determined
• Determining the positioning of the product group in the consumer market, developing means to determine the competitiveness of the company's products
• Preliminary assessment of strategic policy and control instruments is underway
• Thorough research is carried out on the state of the sales market and the external environment of the enterprise

To conduct market analytics, the following components are used:

• Market boundaries are defined
• The saturation of the market with goods of one group is estimated
• The market share of the enterprise in total production is determined
• The competitiveness of the sales market is assessed
• The development trend of the sales market is determined

The main component of market analytics is marketing research, which is carried out both in the office and in the working environment of the enterprise.

The analysis of the external macro environment is carried out according to the following components:

• macroeconomic factor. Separate factors of the economy in environment should be subject to constant diagnostics, subject to evaluation, since the economic condition directly affects the achievement of the company's goals. These include: the development of inflation rates, international balance of payments, the level of employment of the population, its financial capabilities, demographic growth, etc. Any of these factors can cause either a threat to the activities of the enterprise, or open up additional opportunities.
• political factor. If the enterprise takes part in the political programs of the state, then the state exercises control over the norms and acts of local, federal authorities, calls on the enterprise to follow their instructions.
• technological factor. Analytical actions on the technological environment will help the company develop new solutions for the production of a product group in time, use Scientific research, a new technology to create an enterprise development project as a whole. It is important for any leader to keep abreast of all changes in production technology.
• Social behavior is an important factor in the analysis of changes in morals in the social system, where it is necessary to determine the role of entrepreneurial activity, women, representatives of the national minority of the society, analyze the situation of consumer protection.
• international factor. Those enterprises that operate in the international market must constantly monitor all changes taking place in the international market for the sale of products.

What are the goals of strategic marketing?

One of the important tasks of strategic marketing consists in constant monitoring of the situation at the enterprise, establishing the possibility of reorienting the activities of the enterprise in those directions that provide its greatest development, which should lead to the greatest profitability.

Basically, strategic marketing includes pre-planned marketing analysis, research, market segment definition and product group positioning in sales markets. As follows from the tasks of marketing, they must have their own tactical actions. There are mainly tactical and strategic tasks.

The main tasks of strategic marketing are :

• Orientation of the company's activities to meet the needs of the consumer
• Setting the vital position of the enterprise
• Substantiation of their conclusions before the management of the enterprise

All activities of the enterprise must comply with the principle: "to produce such products that the consumer needs, and not try to sell him unnecessary goods." If you follow this principle, then the company at any time should be able to restructure its activities to the needs of the purchaser, while the products should be of high quality.

The main objective of marketing is to ensure customer satisfaction at the market level, through which the maximum profit of the enterprise is achieved.

Marketing is one of the components of the market mechanism, it should work in the following directions:

• Try to streamline the sales market, because it works according to its own rules, make it transparent, when you can assess its condition, set parameters and directions for its development. It is important to predict the development of the market, or to make an attempt to predict the future
• Try to reduce the spontaneity of the sales market, using its regulation
• The competition of a product group must be orderly and subject to restrictions, to seek the exclusion of unscrupulous competitors.
• Regulation of the production process and trade operations at the request of the sales market, aimed at satisfying the consumer
• Try to develop and implement new technological solutions, they must have their own rationale, affect the turnover and distribution of the company's products
• The entire marketing process should provide a greater return on the advertising company, influence the sales market and shape it in the interests of the enterprise, ensure the greatest attractiveness of the product group for the consumer.

Each enterprise operating in the sales market has its own tasks; they underlie strategic marketing. Here it is possible to allocate aggression to a certain market share, or to allocate, or take into account intermediate tasks. For each enterprise they have their own, aimed at achieving a specific goal, leading to prosperity and well-being.

What is the role of strategic marketing in enterprise development?

The main function of the producers of goods, working on marketing principles, is to satisfy the consumer, the production itself should be oriented to the sales market.

Key Roles of Strategic Marketing :

• Orientation to the final result in the production and marketing sphere
• Devotion of all efforts in the main strategic marketing to conduct research in the production area and product sales
• The priority role of marketing should be aimed at long-term results, not short-term ones. To do this, it is necessary to conduct a study of the forecast in the activities of the enterprise, try to find ways to develop a new product group, which should increase the profit of the enterprise.
• Link together strategic and tactical planning, which will be aimed at satisfying the consumer in their needs, and at the same time they must fulfill the interests of the enterprise

The following positions are typical for the strategic marketing of an enterprise:

• Analytical analysis of the external environment. It uses data from the market component, political and economic conditions, the state of the social and technical sphere. Analytical data is used to determine the key components of the successful operation of the enterprise, according to which data is generated on the estimated properties of the external environment, the capabilities of the enterprise are established
• Analytics of consumers, both existing and prospective. To do this, studies of the social, economic opportunities of the consumer, who purchase goods of our and competitive production, are carried out.
• A thorough analysis of already released and upcoming products is being carried out, work is underway to create a new product group and possible improvements in products manufactured by the enterprise are being studied: new packaging, range. Those goods that are not in demand by the consumer should be discontinued.
• A project of trade turnover is created, the sales market for products is analyzed. Here you can connect your own trading places and industrial warehouses
• The marketing service must ensure the formation of consumer demand, using combined advertising campaigns, stimulating the consumer through a system of discounts, sales, which will ultimately affect the profitability of the enterprise
• A new pricing strategy is being developed, using a new pricing system for produced product groups
• Enterprise marketers make up strategic plan marketing, which includes planning, monitoring the implementation of strategic marketing by each of the entire chain of the enterprise, analyzing the profitability, effectiveness of the marketing steps put into action.

Strategic marketing on the example of JSC "Progress"

Using the example of Progress OJSC, let's look at new methods in organizing the entire commercial activities enterprises in a market economy. (This enterprise is not really operating and is presented as a subjective example for the thematic disclosure of the article)

The main factor of regulation economic activity enterprise is considered the ability to make optimal forecasts for further development, the choice of tactical and strategic actions.

To conduct strategic planning, it is required to consider the entire enterprise as a whole, with a long-term focus, which will determine all areas of its activity.

After the management realized the impossibility of managing the enterprise as it was in Soviet times, it began to think about reorienting the main activity according to the principles of marketing, which includes a set of practical methods for managing an enterprise in times of market relations.

Having made significant decisions in advance on the creation of a marketing department, the management team is already in practice beginning to closely engage in marketing, that is, to analyze, plan, implement and control the activities of the entire enterprise in order to better satisfy the needs of the consumer, this is the main task.

Analysis is necessary to identify and determine the assessment of the sales market, the external environment, and the analysis data is used to establish new capabilities of the enterprise, identify weaknesses and all kinds of difficulties in its activities.

At its core, strategic marketing contains a number of articles on which significant decisions are made for the enterprise by the management team to improve their core activities.

There are 4 main areas of marketing strategy :

• Landmark is a qualitative assessment of the criterion for choosing the activity of an enterprise
• Task - contains the quantity of products produced
• An important feature of any strategic marketing is the establishment of rules for the relationship with the external environment, here it is necessary to determine the type of activity of the enterprise, develop new types of products, and determine the sales market. It is also necessary to determine how the company can achieve the superiority of its products over competitors. All these actions constitute a product-market strategy, or a business strategy.
• Organizational concept strategy. It provides for the establishment of special provisions for the greatest benefit of the enterprise in the internal environment, the organization of the greatest productivity

What is the difference between marketing strategies at Progress OJSC?

• Basically, all marketing policy activities are aimed at establishing the general direction of the enterprise, working in this direction, the greatest increase in productivity is achieved, and the position of the enterprise in the sales market is strengthened.
• Strategic marketing involves a search technique, the role of which is to focus on a particular area, with the development of its potential. Work is being done here to eliminate other possibilities if they are incompatible with the main strategy. After the intended goals are achieved, strategic actions can be stopped.
• When defining strategic actions, it is not possible to immediately establish their results, which may appear at the time of leaving the action plan. And to establish the direction, incomplete, generalized information is used that makes up alternative projects. During the search, certain alternative solutions may come up, with more accurate information, but this may lead to questionable conclusions, according to the initially established strategy. And without feedback it is impossible to use the established strategy.
• When drawing up a project of action, both a strategy and a guideline are used. At first glance, it may seem that they have the same meaning, but this is far from the case. Under the benchmark understand the specific goal to which the enterprise is striving, and under the strategy, those means by which it can be achieved. Usually, landmarks are for more high level making major decisions. And strategic actions, provided that there is only one set of guidelines, will not fulfill their main role if they are not changed. They are so interconnected that they can simultaneously be both a guideline and a set of strategic actions developed in the internal environment of the enterprise, for management they can be of a strategic nature, and among employees - a guideline for further activities.

What are the methods of strategic marketing?

Strategic marketing refers to a special type of enterprise management, where both internal structural objects are managed and the position of the enterprise is determined in external environment. A modern enterprise must manage a whole system of marketing methods with intermediaries, consumers and other contacts. It is typical for consumers to hear information about manufactured products from the words of friends, colleagues at work, and at the same time pass it on to other consumers.

Strategic marketing involves the use of different methods of influencing the consumer :

• Through advertising
• Sales promotion
• Mass media
• Personal trading events

Sales promotion is possible in short-term incentive methods that involve some encouragement to purchase a product or use a service.

In the mass media, it is possible to stimulate demand for a product group, it is not carried out personally by the enterprise, you also need to pay for it. The meaning of this method is that the product is being presented, important information about it is communicated in a benevolent direction by distributing it in print publications.

In a personal sales event, an oral presentation of the product is carried out during a conversation with one or more potential purchasers, the purpose of which is to sell it.

Each company has its own methods of strategic marketing, but which methods to apply?

The marketer must be well versed in the effectiveness of strategic marketing, his actions can be a chain of interrelated methods:

• Orientation of the enterprise to manufactured products. For example, you have made, in your opinion, excellent quality products, but this is only half the battle. The introduction of new products can be considered completed only when the consumer truly appreciates it, considers it necessary to meet their needs. But they acquire the product that they know well, understand it, and know its merits, scope, use, and from which you can get satisfaction. It is important to understand that with the release of a new product, unknown to the consumer, which contains the latest technological solutions, there may be a risk of a lack of sales. When a new product group is released, which has no analogues yet, a special marketing approach should be carried out, where the consumer will work on its description, purpose, method of use, and tell how difficult it is to live without it.
• With the release of a completely new product group, the data of the old market research will no longer be suitable, since there is no way to find out from the consumer what they did not know about before, because they did not use this product.

Let's look at the example of several well-known enterprises that have used strategic marketing methods for their prosperity and well-being.

The well-known stationery sticky notes, which are pasted in a prominent place with the necessary text, went to the consumer for a long time, and only when the consumer realized how convenient and practical they were, then he began to use them and purchase them more often. Why this example? Only after purchasing the product, the consumer can truly appreciate its need for everyday life, and get satisfaction with the product.

A fairly well-known enterprise also used strategic marketing, and, at great expense, began to produce a special fiber that has the properties of steel and great flexibility. As the company's management thought, all buyers should be satisfied with the release of this product on the market. And only after the creation of a new product, it began to look for customers, ways to implement it, and develop areas of application. It sincerely believed that large investments and use of innovative technologies will allow them to get ahead and overtake their competitors, becoming the market leader. But the results did not live up to their expectations. Only after certain marketing actions aimed at explaining the significance of products in certain technical areas, determining the scope of its application, did the digging business go smoothly.

It is important not only to develop the latest product, it is important to be able to form the new kind industry, and only under these conditions can an enterprise have low production costs and low risks.

If you decide to use this method of strategic marketing, in the already established environment of your enterprise, and before incurring the costs of the production process, then it would be good to find out if there are such consumers who are interested in your new product, whether they will acquire.

You can significantly reduce the amount of risk if you have a strong belief that your business will definitely increase sales.

• The use of the general scientific method, when the method of an integrated approach to studying the state of the market is used, all activities related to the release of products are established

Any of the applied methods of strategic marketing should lead the enterprise to the highest goal: conquering the market, and achieving the greatest profit.

To know how to achieve strategic business goals and what to do for this, you need to clearly understand what, to whom and when to offer, as well as why exactly your product will be of interest. target audience.

In this article, we will consider the algorithm for developing a marketing strategy in digital. You will learn what its features are, how to use them for good and beat your competitors.

What does a marketing strategy include

Imagine you are about to offer a service to a market you are entering for the first time. You are not familiar with either the audience or the players with whom you have to fight for this audience.

First, you need to know how useful it is. Secondly, think through everything to the smallest detail so as not to burn out on them. To do this, answer the following questions:

• What does the buyer get, at what price, where and how does he find out about it;
• Who is the product aimed at, who are these people;
• What is the secret to the success of competitors;
• What are your strengths and weaknesses compared to your competitors that will help you stand out from them.

Important: strategy is not a plan of action (this is already a tactic). This is the goal and the resources to achieve it. Therefore, it is also worth evaluating an approximate budget in order to understand how much you need to earn in order to break even and, in the future, to net profit.

To set goals, you need to know:

• Product cost ( wage employees with taxes, material costs, advertising budget);
• Fixed costs (rental of premises, utility bills, management costs, logistics, etc.). They do not contribute to customer acquisition costs, but you need to take them into account in order to evaluate how much net profit you will earn;
• Profitability standard;
• The cost of each type of service.

How to develop a marketing strategy - see below.

What does the buyer get

It all starts with the product, or rather with the marketing mix. You form a set of strategies by choosing the right one for each element.

Product strategy

A business goes through several stages of development: entering the market, growth and scaling, after which there is a decline and gradual dying.

When entering the market, we recommend using adaptive model especially for small businesses. Let's say there is a certain product, you need to quickly understand whether you targeted the right audience, whether you made the right offer to it. If there is no demand, we change positioning on the go, improve or change the product.

When you fulfill the sales plan from month to month, you can grow further: increase coverage, try to work with new target audience segments. Further, when you have captured market share, your task is to maintain stable sales figures, track competitors, learn about innovations in time and respond to them. This retention model.

To give a brief description of the product and understand its specifics, answer 5 questions:

1) What problem does the product solve? Namely: why does the client want to buy, what are the internal motives?

An example is the service of a car service “dry cleaning of the interior”. External desire - "to be clean." Internal - to feel comfortable or increase presentability before the sale.

2) How does the product solve this problem? What are you doing for this?

Before starting work, the service specialist washes the car body so as not to bring dirt from the outside in the process. Cleaning takes place using a steam generator and washing vacuum cleaner. Next comes the drying of the interior and at the end treatment with special polishes and conditioners.

3) Specific properties of the product. Here is an example from the site of one of the services:

5) Conditions of purchase and restrictions: deferral / installment payment, delivery / pickup; with installation / without installation; with after-sales service / warranty period, etc.

Pricing strategy (Price)

• Prices are below average. If you have low production / purchase / service costs, and lowering prices will not harm, you can deliberately lower prices in order to attract buyers;
• Average market prices. You look at the prices of competitors and focus on the market;
• Prices are above average. You are targeting the premium segment.

Sales strategy (Place)

For physical goods, the movement of goods from the manufacturer to the point of sale depends on the channel (without intermediaries, with the participation of the seller and / or wholesalers) and the intensity of distribution (intensive, selective and exclusive).

Promotion strategy

If you promote physical products, you choose whether to connect distributors to this and, as a motivation, offer them discounts (push strategy) or do it yourself (pull strategy).

To engage the user in a dialogue with the company online, use non-traditional BTL tools for digital communication: promotions, email newsletters, sms newsletters, Internet conferences, viral marketing, sponsorship, loyalty programs, databases, augmented reality technologies .

When choosing distribution channels and promotion methods, consider the buying path: at what stages in the sales funnel does a potential customer make a purchase decision. If he tends to watch reviews before making a choice, a YouTube or social media video is the best solution.

Improved 7P Model

Imagine: all players in the market offer goods / services that are the same in quality, price, distribution channels. How to stand out among them and lure potential customers, especially in the service sector?

Additional Ps help:

• People (people, company staff) - how managers communicate with customers, are they always in touch, can they answer questions, etc .;
• Process (process, service) - delivery time, the ability to track the location of goods, after-sales service, etc .;
• Physical Evidence (social evidence + environment, atmosphere).

Social proof is customer testimonials and reviews that help in making a purchase decision. It is equally important that experts talk about the product in blogs, press releases, news reviews, etc.

The environment and atmosphere for digital is a website: how convenient it is, attractive in design, whether it covers objections, whether it meets the needs of the target audience.

Who is your customer

Why TA buys from competitors

First of all, you need to identify all kinds of alternatives. Including indirect competitors. Even if you came up with a new product for a specific problem, people have solved it in other, albeit less perfect, methods before.

This is especially true for startups. Get a delivery service sports nutrition. In fact, the main competition is not between them, but with alternatives. Alternatives in this case are ordinary cafes / canteens + do-it-yourself cooking.

Almost every product and every service has alternative competitors. The indisputable option is to do the work yourself (repair the car in a garage, not in a car service) or ask friends (make a haircut, manicure on your own and not spend money on a specialist).

Ours will help you find and analyze direct competitors on the Internet. The goal is to clearly understand why your target audience buys from them. Find the reason for success and, with this in mind, figure out how to do it better or differently.

How to stand out from competitors

Segmentation

So, you know in general terms the target audience. Now you need to find out what her needs, problems, and what qualities of the product she appreciates the most.

At this stage, you form the approximate segments. For now, ignore keywords and targeting conditions. The goal is to understand your place in the market.

On what grounds to divide users - you decide. Eat different ways segmentation. Here are the simplest and most popular:

• By characters (who will buy the product);
• By product type / product segmentation (what do you offer);
• According to the concept of jobs-to-be done, completely different people buy the same service.

Example

• Young couples - "turnkey" vacation, at a reasonable price, in exotic countries;
• Couples with children - safe tours, interesting for adults and children;
• People from 45 to 64 years old - quiet tours with excursions in popular countries.

Product segmentation is essentially the division of all goods / services into areas.

Auto service example:

The jobs-to-be-done approach takes into account the motivation and situation of the client when he contacts the car service. How many situations, so many segments are obtained. For example:

• Something broke;
• The car is broken;
• The car is being prepared for sale (pre-sale preparation);
• Maintenance;
• Bring beauty (tuning, deteyling).

1) Highlight decision-making factors;

2) What do customers fear;

3) How will you solve the problem;

4) What benefits does the client receive;

5) What do competitors offer in this situation;

6) How important is this factor for the target audience and should it be mentioned in the USP.

Here is an example for the “Something broke” segment:

We do the same for the rest of the segments, determine how to work with them and select which one to focus on.

Company / product positioning

Possible ways:

• For the specific segment you are targeting (young parents, athletes, wealthy students);
• By distinctive features a product that is valuable to consumers, or a service process, if we are talking about services;
• According to internal hidden needs.

For example, some visitors to English courses go to them not for the sake of learning the language, but for communication. Although this is a small category, they choose according to their own unique criteria. For example, it does not matter to them how long it takes them to learn to speak fluently. Such clients are primarily interested in the atmosphere, the form in which the classes are held, the approach of the teacher, the composition of the group, etc.

In some car services there is an unofficial setting for the masters to “do not screw it up” a little so that the client comes again. Or repair something that is not broken at all so that the client leaves more money.

Another example is the sale of concrete, where there is a risk that unscrupulous intermediaries will underfill or replace an expensive brand with a cheaper one.

Find out the main "pain" of the audience and emphasize in the USP that you are a bona fide company.

So, you know the characteristics of the target customers, their fears and benefits that influence the choice of the product. Use this information in pre-offers for each segment.

segmentation and positioning.

Important! The 4P concept is not enough to succeed in a highly competitive market. Therefore, in the marketing mix for digital, consider the work of managers on the phone, service features, social proof and website performance. These are new opportunities to stand out from competitors and make the right positioning.

We will talk more about product positioning in the next article.