HACKING

MARKETING THE SMALL BUSINESS
The use of proven business techniques benefited many big

firms. There is enough reason for small b business to attempt to
harness their potentials. Many of them appear to be already
practicing it. One of these techniques pertains to marketing, which
is actually a functional area of management. When marketing is
properly adapted, the firm will be close to achieving its business
objectives.
Marketing is that function concerned with planning and
implementing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution
of products or services that will satisfy the firms objectives.
Small Business and the Marketing Concept

The marketing concept provides a guide to small business. It
indicates that a match must be made between its intended
customers and the firms product or service offerings. To achieve the
desired match, the following questions must be answered.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Who are my customers?

What products or services are needed by my customers?
At what price are the products or services required?
At what price are the identified products or services required?
At What time are the identified products or services required?
At what mode of delivery are the identified products or
services required?
To provide answers to the questions cited above. The firm must

undertake the following:
1. Devised a marketing strategy:
2. Engaged in marketing mix: and
3. Identify the sized of the target market.
Devising a Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy is the general guide the SBO will use to
achieve the firms marketing goal. It is a plan for getting products
and services into the hands of customers in a timely, cost-effective,
and appropriate manner.
An applicable marketing strategy can be devised after a

systematic market strategy planning is undertaken.
Market strategy planning

Market strategy planning is a small business activity which
seeks to find attractive opportunities and develop profitable
marketing strategies. The strengths and weakness of the firm are
recognized in strategy planning. This is followed by an analysis of
the external environment which is useful in identifying attractive
market opportunities.
The output of the market strategy planning is the firms
marketing strategy and it contains the following:
Target Marketing
Target marketing refers to the activity of selecting well-defined
groups of potential customers and tailoring a marketing mix to their
needs and preferences.
In target marketing the following steps are undertaken:
1. Identification of the target market;
2. Identification of the characteristics of the target market; and
3. Measurement of the size of the target market area
Identify strengths and

weakness of the firm
Analyze external
environment
Identify attractive market
opportunities
Identify target market
Determine applicable
marketing mix
Determine size of market
area
Figure 32: The Market Strategy Planning Process

Identification of the Target Market
A target market is defined as the particular market segment
the firm wishes to serve. This segment is singled out from an
array of market segments the firm has chosen to serve.
Before deciding on the Target Market. Before the market
segment to be serve is identified, the SBO must first deicide on
the number of segments he wishes to serve.
As such, the firm could be any of the following:
1. A mass market company- which sells goods and services to a
broad spectrum of buyers;
2. A market-segment company- which aims to sell to a single
market segment; or
3. A multi segment company- which aims to sell at two or
more distinct market segments.
Choosing the Target Market. When deciding on which

market segment to reach, it is necessary for the SBO to
consider the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The goods or service category of the firm;

The firms goal;
What competitors are doing;
The size of the various segments;
The relative efficiency of each segments to the firm;
The resources required; and
Other factors.
A prospective SBO considering education as his business

choice may be considered as an example of one who is
identifying his target market. The education market may be
segmented into the following, preschool, elementary, high

school, college, and vocational. If after due consideration,
the SBO chooses to serve preschool learners, this group
becomes the target market. All the resources of the firm will
be used primarily to operate schools for preschool pupils.
The allocation of the firms resources will be different,
however, if the SBO decides to make his firm a mass market
company or a multi-segment company.
Identifying the Characteristics of the Target Market

To effectively serve the target market, its characteristics must
be known to the SBO. Relevant characteristics will refer to any of
the following age, sex, family size, family life cycle, income,
occupation, religion, race, and nationality.
An education al institution for instance, must have some
information about the income of the prospective students family.
This is important in devising an appropriate marketing mix. To
illustrate further if majority of the members of the target market
have television sets, the firm could use television as a means of
reaching them.
Measuring the Size of the Target Market Area

In the attempt to make a match between the firm and the
target market, the SBO must be provided with information about
the following:
1. The numbers of potential customers
2. The population growth trend of the target market area.
Knowing the number of potential target customers will provide
the means for ascertaining the most economical approach to
reach them. This will even help in deciding whether or not to
continue adapting to the target market.
Information about the growth trend of the target market area
is very important for firm. To most companies, growing markets
offer several advantages. One of them is expanding sales
potential.
Preschool
The
TargetMa
rket
Elementary
High School
College
Vocational

HACKING

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

HACKING

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

HACKING

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MARKETING THE SMALL BUSINESS

The use of proven business techniques benefited many big

Small Business and the Marketing Concept

Who are my customers?

To provide answers to the questions cited above. The firm must

Devising a Marketing Strategy

An applicable marketing strategy can be devised after a

Market strategy planning

Identify strengths and

Figure 32: The Market Strategy Planning Process

Choosing the Target Market. When deciding on which

The goods or service category of the firm;

A prospective SBO considering education as his business

segmented into the following, preschool, elementary, high

Identifying the Characteristics of the Target Market

Measuring the Size of the Target Market Area

You might also like