PCS 115 - Market Research
Topic outline
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Hello and Welcome,
In this course, you will discover the importance of small business marketing. Every business will be different upon their own specific goals and services provided, therefore use this course as a guideline to help you choose the perfect name for your business and your brand that best serves your goals.
How to use the course:
Every course is listed in progression order, thus each one builds upon the other.
Our suggestion is follow each activity, such as watching a video and then click the "Mark as Done" button and then continue to the next step.
You can download any material on our course. We hope this course will help you become the success we all know you will become.
Thank you for using our "FREE" course and best wishes from all of us at "Pontis Community Services".
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Creating a small-business marketing strategy can help you reach, develop and maintain relationships with your customers. Online marketing — including a business website, social media profiles and email campaigns — can help a small business reach a larger audience. Traditional marketing tactics such as print ads, billboards and flyers, as well as “experiential” workshops and pop-up events that allow customers to experience your products and brand, can help broaden your outreach.
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A marketing goal is a specific and measurable objective that helps you meet your broader business goals. It can be anything from generating high-quality leads and raising brand awareness to increasing customer value and improving your referral rate. A campaign without a clear goal is essentially a waste of money.
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Every business needs a marketing plan to succeed. marketing fulfills a vital function for your business to grow. This is a quick guide to creating a successful marketing plan for your small business. You have an amazing product or service and you want to tell the world but you need to know what to say and how to say it.
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Market research blends consumer behavior and economic trends to confirm and improve your business idea.
It’s crucial to understand your consumer base from the outset. Market research lets you reduce risks even while your business is still just a gleam in your eye.
Gather demographic information to better understand opportunities and limitations for gaining customers. This could include population data on age, wealth, family, interests, or anything else that’s relevant for your business.
Then answer the following questions to get a good sense of your market:
- Demand: Is there a desire for your product or service?
- Market size: How many people would be interested in your offering?
- Economic indicators: What is the income range and employment rate?
- Location: Where do your customers live and where can your business reach?
- Market saturation: How many similar options are already available to consumers?
- Pricing: What do potential customers pay for these alternatives?
You’ll also want to keep up with the latest small business trends. It’s important to gain a sense of the specific market share that will impact your profits.
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- Before everything else, understanding your industry is at the base of the stages of building your business.
- Start off by getting to know who your customers are and what exact problem you’re looking to solve for them.
- Taking it a step further, understand the importance of your place in the world as a small business and learn how to use that to your advantage.
- Studies on the importance of small businesses have shown that they play a major role in the American economy.
- Knowing that should allow you to feel more empowered to fully invest yourself in your market, knowing that you are making a difference.
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- The major backbone of every small business is serving the target market, which makes marketing research a key to success.
- When doing marketing research, you’re not only looking at the bigger picture of what problem your product will solve but at the intricate details of who needs it the most.
- One of the most powerful ways to conduct market research is through social media.
- Another way of identifying your target audience is by using the funnel approach along with your personal network.
- There are myriad ways to do marketing research, but the most important thing to know is that it’s a must for your business’s success.
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- Creating a target market positioning statement is taking your market research to the next level and putting it into a description to sell to your prospects.
- A target marketing statement also narrows down the demographics you are targeting, making your goals more organized and simple.
- Your target marketing statement defines who you’re targeting before you reach a broader audience.
- Your statement also defines the preliminary message before beginning your ad campaigns and marketing development.
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- Because you’ll be a small fish in a big pond starting off, getting to know the way another fish swims will help you better understand how to work toward success.
- In order to understand your competitors, you need to know what makes you similar and where you can narrow down the differences.
- Marketing your differences and what gives you an advantage over the other businesses in your space can help you beat your competition and gain more business.
- Another great way to use your competition to your advantage is to go to seminars and expos that specialize in your field so you can stay on top of the trends and keep evolving.
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Different types of competitors:
- Direct Competition: These companies offer the same services and products as you and they have the same target audience. (Consider McDonald’s and Wendy’s.)
- Indirect Competition: These companies offer similar products and services to the same customer segment, meeting the same need. However, they offer different types of products. (Consider McDonald’s and Taco Bell.)
- Potential Competition: This is similar to direct competition, but they aren’t in your area yet. You just want to keep an eye on them in case they enter your market.
- Future Competition: Think of this as a middle ground between potential competitors and direct competitors. You know they are entering your market, but they haven’t done so yet.
- SERP Competition: These are companies that sell different products or services but optimize their websites for the same keywords. (Consider a company that cleans houses and a company selling house cleaning supplies.)
- Replacement Competition: These competitors offer an alternative to your product or service that solves the same pain point. It won’t be a direct or indirect competitor. (Consider an e-reader seller and a physical bookstore).
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- At the end of the day, your business can’t succeed without your full attention and input, so being hands-on is important.
- Should you need help in starting your own business, there are resources available to help you gain a stronger grasp of your goals and strategies for success.
- Getting to know these resources can also help you ease your way into growing your small business into a powerhouse.
- Keeping in touch with your customers and gaining feedback will help you gain firsthand insight into what you could improve on to better your customers’ experience.
- Investing not only your money but time and care into your business is what will pull you through the finish line and yield the success you’re hoping to gain.
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What is Online Marketing?
Also known as digital marketing, online marketing is promoting your products and services using the internet and the web. It involves email newsletters, social media posts, and the like to reach your target audience, improve your brand awareness, and persuade your prospects to buy from you.
Types of Online Marketing
The web-based channels you use for your online marketing are broadly broken into multiple categories, such as:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Pay Per Click (PPC) ads or paid advertising
- Email marketing
- Influencer marketing
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NEW JERSEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
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