Week #9- Pricing in Marketing

In a business, it is absolutely imperative to be able to price a product or service in order to cover manufacturing costs and to leave some profit for the company to continue to grow and potentially expand. Pricing is defined as the method of determining the value a manufacturer with receive in exchange for the product or service they have to offer. All businesses work to gain a profit, but pricing a product too high will not attract enough consumers to their company, that is why they need to keep certain points in mind when deciding on a price:

• Nature of a particular product or service
• Price of a similar product or service in the market
• Target audience that would be interested in the product or service
• Cost of production, labor, raw material, machinery, inventory, transit, etc...
• Various external factors, i.e. the economy, government policies, legal issue, etc...

There are also some objectives that businesses have to be aware of when it comes to when it comes to deciding what direction they want the pricing to go.

1. Survival

• A company needs to be able to provide profitable yet competitive prices in order to be able to survive over the years against their competitors.

2. Maximize current profits

• Estimate supply and demand throughout the year in order to be able to maximize the potential profit.

3. Capture market share

• Base pricing on the economies of scale. Lower prices means there would be a potential of a higher multitude of customers that are able to afford that product or service. Although with a more expensive product or service, there would be a higher profit, but it would also become more exclusive to those that have the purchasing power.

4. Market skimming

• Charge higher price on products or services that are innovative and use modern technology since there while be a slightly higher manufacturing price.

5. Product quality leadership

• Charging the prices that are considered fit for a particular product or service bases on the quality that is perceived by the consumer. So higher quality means higher prices and vice versa. 

Week #8- STP Model

The STP model is found to be incredibly useful to businesses since it helps them identify  their most valuable types of customers. Once the population is identified, the business can develop products and service that can potentially be of interest to that group of people and then create a marketing message that will really grab their attention.The STP model consists of three different steps in the model: segmentation, targeting, and positioning.

Step one of the STP model is segmentation, meaning that as a business you need to "segment" or divide your customers into groups of people that have similar characteristics and needs. As a business, it allows you to adjust your approach to meet your customers' needs in a cost effective way. It also give your business an advantage over your competitors since you are using an approach in which it allows you to fit to your customer's needs, not the other way around. When it comes time identify the population, there are several approaches that can be used:

• Demographic which consists of identifying a the people's personal attributes such as age, marital status, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, education, or occupation.
• Geographic which consists of identify where the people are located by country, region, state, city, or neighborhood.
• Psychographic which identifies a people's personality, risk aversion, lifestyle, or values.
• Behavioral which identifies how people use the product or service, how loyal they are your business, the benefits they are seeking to acquiring, or their shopping behavior. 

The second step of the STP model is to determine which segments from the previous step will be targeted. It is also vital to analyze the size and potential growth of that segment in order consider if they are worth addressing, compare them to other segments, and determine how to approach them in order to make the marketing of that particular product or service the best. It is best to choose one  particular a

And finally, the third step consists of the business positioning what they have to offer to their potential customers. It is vital to consider why a customer should consider buying your product or service over the competitors, therefore it is imperative to consider the business's unique selling positions and to draw a positioning map to visualize and comprehend how each segment perceives each product, brand, or service. From there, the business can look at was the segment's needs and desires in a product or how your product or service can help improve their own personal lives. The business from there can create a value proposition that will clearly demonstrate how your business's product or service is above the corresponding competitors that is targeting a similar segment. As a result the company can develop a marketing campaign that will be appreciated by the audience and attract them to your company. 

Week #7- The Importance of Market Surveys

Anyone in the business of marketing know that they have to constantly develop new and exciting strategies for their company. Whether its to market a new product or service entering the market, they need to have a clear demographic of who they are going to cater that product or service along with getting feedback. There is no way of being sure of how successful a marketing plan could be, but there are certain steps that can be taken in order to get information on the target population, like creating a market survey.

A market survey is research done in the market for a particular product or service in order to be able to identify a need in the current in the market. These surveys are tools to directly collect feedback from the target audience in order to be able to understand characteristics, expectations, and requirements the potential customers have for a particular product or service. They also serve as a way to collect data on how to improve existing products or services that are active since there is generally room for improvements. What might be practical for one customer may be impractical for another, so as a company it is necessary to adapt to their everyday needs. This also leads  a final yet vital part of market surveys and that is that these surveys allow businesses to make decisions that will allow them to reduce the degree of risk when it comes to funding company projects.

One example that proves how crucial surveys can be for a company is through a simple survey that was created in order to prove the influence of ads and promotions on social media. Although the questionnaire only contained four simple questions and received a total of eight responses, it was able to prove that all the money invested into ads and marketing on social media can definitely have a strong impact on the viewer. The short survey created was to measure how social media influences a person's purchase when it comes to cosmetics.

From these results, it can be concluded that the majority of the people that filled out the simple surveyed tend to use social media to keep themselves updated on new cosmetics that launch. That does not necessarily mean that they are constantly being influences by the ads they see, but they do play a large part in the purchasing power of the customers. From here a company could implement a new strategy to market goods or services or evaluate the possible flaws their marketing techniques may have.

Although surveys are a way to get instant feedback from both current and potential customers, there are flaws that happen in the research such as biased questions or questioning the wrong demographic. Regardless, market surveys simply as act as a guide for a business to learn about their consumer's needs so that they could use their input at their advantage.

Source: https://www.questionpro.com/blog/market-survey/

Week #6- Impact of Promotional Products

Promotional products are often times used by both small and large companies in order to get more exposure, especially to the potential customers that could be interested in the products or services they have to offer. But what is a promotional product and how does it aid a business? A promotional product are items branded with a business or charity logo or slogan at little to no cost to the consumers. They are often items that might be of everyday use to potential customers so they not only use them and be reminded of the company, but it was indirectly creates creates awareness of that company or charity when other potential clients see it being used.

One example of a business using promotional products to their advantage are tax firms like Ochoa & Associates. They are a tax firm located in Melrose Park and Aurora and often time whenever they have a client coming in, they typically hand out pens and mugs to the client that have their business logo as well as their phone number. By doing so, they show their gratitude to the customer by choosing them over all the other tax firms but it as works as a way to market their firm to others that may see that mug like family, friends, or coworkers. It also causes a positive association between the company and the item that was received since the majority of the people out there like receiving free items.

Overall, by including promotional products within a business it lets potential clients indirectly find out about the business or charity  and what they have to offer. It also increases the positive association the client has with company and it reminds them of their service with the particular company, making it more likely for them to return to them.