bake - April 2014 - 10

management

Marketing to Maximize
Marketing emphasizes the value of the customer to the busi-

Target Marketing

ness, and has two guiding principles:

Most small businesses don't have unlimited resources to devote
to marketing; however, you can still see excellent returns while

1) All company policies and activities should be directed
toward satisfying customer needs
2) Proﬁtable sales volume is more important than maximum
sales volume.

sticking to your budget if you focus on target marketing.
By concentrating your efforts on one or a few key market
segments, you'll reap the most from small investments.
There are two methods used to segment a market:
* Geographical segmentation: Specializing in serving the needs

To best use these principles, a small business should determine
the needs of their customers through market research, analyze
their competitive advantages to develop a market strategy,

of customers in a particular geographical area.
* Customer segmentation: Identifying those people most likely
to buy the product or service and targeting those groups.

select speciﬁc markets to serve by target marketing, and determine how to satisfy customer needs by identifying a market mix.

Managing the Market Mix
For a retail bakery, every marketing program should contain

Marketing programs all aim at convincing people to try out or

three key components:

keep using particular products or services. Business owners

* Products and Services: Product strategies include concen-

should plan their marketing strategies and performance to

trating on a narrow product line, developing a highly special-

keep their market presence strong.

ized product or service or providing a product-service
package containing unusually high-quality service

Conducting Market Research

* Promotion: Promotion strategies focus on advertising and

Successful marketing requires timely and relevant market infor-

direct customer interaction. Good salesmanship is essen-

mation. An inexpensive research program, based on question-

tial for small businesses because of their limited advertising

naires given to current or prospective customers, can often

budgets. Online marketing is a cheap, quick, and easy way to

uncover dissatisfaction or possible new products or services.

ensure that your business and product receive high visibility.
* Price: When it comes to maximizing total revenue, the

Market research will also identify trends that affect sales and

right price is crucial. Generally, higher prices mean lower

proﬁtability. Population shifts, legal developments, and the

volume and vice-versa; however, small businesses can often

local economic situation should be monitored to quickly iden-

command higher prices because of their personalized service.

tify problems and opportunities. It is also important to keep up
with competitors' market strategies.

The nature of the product or service is also important in citing
decisions. If purchases are based largely on impulse, then high-

Creating a Marketing Strategy

traffic and visibility are critical. On the other hand, location is

A marketing strategy identiﬁes customer groups which a

less of a concern for products or services that customers are

particular business can better serve than its target competitors,

willing to go out of their way to ﬁnd. The Internet makes it easy

and tailors product offerings, prices, promotional efforts and

for people in locations all over the world to obtain goods from

services toward those segments. Ideally, the strategy should

anywhere in the world, so if you're worried about reaching a

address unmet customer needs that offer adequate, potential

certain market, selling your product online may do wonders for

proﬁtability. A good strategy helps a business focus on the

your business.

target markets it can serve best.

SOURCE: WWW.SBA.GOV

10 < APR 2014 | bakemag.com

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bake - April 2014

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