What are marketing strategies, and how do they help Firms?

It is a long-term, forward-looking approach and an overall game plan which plays an important role in any organization or any business with the fundamental goal of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage by understanding the needs and wants of customers. When a business gets into working its main aim is at achieving the plans or goals for a long term interest in the working of the company. Marketing is always the creative way of attracting customers towards their product or service in a respectable market. Any newly formed company or the existing ones will first take into notice about the radical changes in the market from time to time to plan their marketing strategies.

Formation of Marketing strategies.

The strategies created for the marketing should be possessive towards the fundamentals of the company’s product or service to reach the target customers and provide a tough rivalry against the opponents in the fast-growing market. For instance, Lay’s which originated in America uses more cheese in that geographical area whereas in India the customers didn’t like that as they were fond of spices and masala. So they tried using the salt and spice flavours and thus created a strategy based on the analysis of the market and customers requirements, providing a way for the formation of required marketing strategies.

Marketing strategy definition

According to ‘Philip Kotler’ “Marketing strategy is the basic approach that the business unit will use to attain its goals and which comprises elaborate decisions (strategies) on largest Markets, market positioning and mix and marketing expenditure allocation.

How marketing strategies help firms.

Marketing strategies help in defining the vision, goals and business plans and also outlines the steps needed to take to accomplish all these goals. Marketing strategies affect the way the company runs its business. So a company needs to develop these strategies while entering a new market.

Basic marketing strategies of a company (Marketing Mix)

The basic strategies(4ps of marketing) and concept which is significant such as Price, Product, Place and Promotion respectively.

Price;

It’s simply defined as the cost that has been charged for the product or any of the services by the company. It is very difficult in calculating and tagging the actual price to drive more sales as well as the required profit.

Some company’s try to find them by providing all goods and services from A-Z so that it might get a good working atmosphere and more target audience. But when they try lowering the price, people grab around thoughts like low quality, less attractive and loss of originality. So pricing plays an important role in a company’s marketing functions of marketing.

Importance of picking the right price.

It’s very important to pick the right price for the product. In the areas with a floating population if the company is flexible in a position it’s better to charge a premium price for their product so to have a long run with minimum profits. On the other hand, if the area selected is with less population and if the company is late to the market, it would be better to consider a low price for their survival.

Some things to be taken care of while pricing.

• The company working should ask itself what is the lowest price it can sell its product in the market.

• What would be the highest price at which the customer is ready or willing to pay?

• Rivalry pricing policy in the market.

• How possessive is the customer towards the price change?

• Profits of the company for their survival.

So the 1st P- the price has an important role in the marketing of the company’s product.

Product.

A product is what a company sells in the market. It may be soft drinks in beverage companies or clothes in clothing companies. It can also be services like consultation or therapy sessions. A product is everything that is offered to the customer for a certain price. In the 4 Ps, this stands for what type of product is to be offered for customers to give tough competition on their rivalry in the market.

Things to be considered while offering the product for customers

• Taste and preference of the customer in the working area.

• How much do the customers are ready to try new products?

• How to make the offered product more significant?

• Be prepared for the competitor’s strategies in advance

• Availability and requirements in the market for the product

Before this, the company beware of the product so that it does not waste its time in building those products which are not required or liked by the customer. So in this case analysis of the market and customer is very important for the firms.

Place.

The place is all about the location or area in which the firm is working.

For any business, the location or place is very important. Sometimes the wrong place or location of the firms might affect the working and might bring an end to the company without profits. For instance, a new lounge is located in the heart of the town, and it would have a very good response from the customers. But if in case it is located out of time and requires more time for the customer to travel, customers would lose their interest in enjoying the lounge. So customers would prefer more comfortable and would not compromise with anything while accepting the offer.

How to pick the right location.

• While choosing the location, it should be taken care that the place is with a floating population and has to be in the centre of the city.

• Customers like offline or online services.

• Choose that area where competition is less and demand is more.

• To look after whether the distribution channel is near or requires more time.

Promotion

The last P is a promotion in marketing. In marketing, promotion is any type of business communication which is used to inform the merits of the product or service of the firm for the target customer and set up a brand.

Types of promotion

1.Advertisement

It helps to outspread the information about the product to the target audience. It reaches a mass audience in a short time and also has a positive impact on the sales and the company uses advertisement as a promotional tool for their product. Advertisement is carried through traditional methods like paper, magazines and other media services like television, blogs and social media.

2.Direct promotion

It is an advertisement where the company directly communicates with its customers. The communication is done through the latest technology such as e-mails, online advertising, promotional letters etc.

3.Sales promotion

It utilises all the promotional tools to increase the sales of the firms. It is for the short term period and used to expand market demand, refresh the demand of the customers etc

4.Self promotion

It is the activity where the firm sends their agent directly to the pitch for the product or service. The feedback from the customers is prompt and therefore helps in building the product.

5.Public relation

PR is popularly known for broadcasting the information or details of NGOs with the public or individuals.

6.Online promotion

This includes all the promotional activities. It is short term in nature and the feedback is immediate. It can be used for all types of the product regardless of size, brand etc.

Thus, every customer does not like we -too firms or product or market. They require unique and different products and services so they can shift their taste and choice. In this process marketing strategies play an important role in obtaining customers in large mass for the firm. Since it looks boring to listen, it is very essential for a firm for its working. For long term working of the company, customer choice and satisfaction is very important. Before that, the customer needs to know about product availability in the market. For firms, their planned or pre-defined strategies help in occupying the place in the market. No matter how appropriate a strategy might appear, it will fail if not properly implemented. Consequently, clear statements regarding target markets and marketing strategies are necessary to ensure that the defined programmes and strategies will be developed.

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