Gail Cavanaugh's Business Solutions

Any marketing plan must be executed with goals in order to be effective.  First, we must identify the target audience.  When we identify who we are trying to reach, we can then decide what we need to say in the communication, how to say it, when, where and to whom to say it.  Are we addressing people who have used the product or services in the past or are we targeting new users?  If they have used the product or services the past, how often do they do so?  If they no longer come here, where are they going?  If they are new customers, why did they choose the service or product?

 

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Determine the Image of the Firm 

We can determine the image of the firm based on the reviews that are available on-line.  It the reviews are negative, we need to take steps to improve the quality of the product or service, address the complaints and then engage in a marketing campaign to make people more aware of the changes that are taking place. 

 

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On-line Reviews are Permanent 

"It takes a monumental effort change people’s perceptions, especially when they do not come around often to see the changes" (Kotler, Keller, 2006).  The complaints on-line cannot be removed.   If the firm wishes to join the Better Business Bureau, there must be a system for addressing and resolving complaints.

 

 

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A Plan to Meet the Objectives 

Next, we must set objectives to communicate the changes we have made.  There are four objectives that we can establish:   "informative, persuasive, reminder, or reinforcement.  Informative advertising would involve creating an awareness of the firm and making the public aware of the new changes.  Persuasive advertising would involve creating a liking or preference for the firm over other firms.  Reminder advertising would involve encouraging the public to return to the firm for repeat business.  Reinforcement advertising would involve convincing the customers that they made the right choice to  use your products or services" (Kotler, Keller, 2006).

 

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Analyzing the Market 

We need to do a thorough analysis of the market to determine if the current changes would make the firm "superior" (Kotler, Keller, 2006) to all of the other firms in the area.  If so, then the owners should market their firm as superior.  I would recommend choosing more than one objective for marketing.

 

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