Marketing vs. Sales

Let's think about thisquestion for a moment. Without marketing you would not have prospects orleads to follow up with, but yet without a good sales technique and strategy your closing rate may depress you.

Marketing is everything that you do to reach and persuade prospects. The sales process is everything that you do to close the sale and get a signed agreement or contract. Both are necessities to the success of a business. You cannot do without either process. By strategically combining both efforts you will experience a successful amount of business growth. However, by the same token if the efforts are unbalanced it candetour your growth.

Your marketing will consists of the measures you use to reach and persuade your prospects that you are the company for them.

It's the message that prepares the prospect for the sales. It consists of advertising, public relations, brand marketing, viral marketing, and direct mail.

The sales process consists of interpersonal interaction. It is often done by a one-on-one meeting, cold calls, and networking. It's anything that engages you with the prospect or customer on a personal level rather than at a distance.

Your marketing efforts begin the process of the eight contacts that studies show it takes to move a prospect or potential client to the close of the sale. If marketing is done effectively you can begin to move that prospect from a cold to a warm lead. When the prospect hitsthe"warm" level it's much easier for the sales professional to close the sale.

Do you see the cycle?

As you see in my explanation above it takes multiple contacts using both sales and marketing to move the prospect from one level to the next. That is why it is import that you develop a process that combines both sales and marketing. This will enable you to reach prospects at all three levels; cold, warm, and hot. It's all about balance.

Are you unsure of how to integrate your marketing and sales?

Try this. Take a few moments and divide your prospect lists and database into categories of cold, warm, and hot leads. Then sit down and identify a strategy on how to proceed with each individual group.

For example you could try the following methods of contact:

• Cold Lead Strategy - Send out a direct mailing or offer them a special promotion
• Warm Lead Strategy - Try a follow-up call, send out a sales letter, or schedule a special seminar or training session to get all of your warm leads together.

Once you've moved your prospect to the "warm" level it's time to proceed in closing the sale. This will be easier to do if you somehow engage the prospect. You can do this by conducting a one-on-one call, make a presentation, or present a proposal, estimate, or contract.

What if you are uncomfortable with the sales or marketing process?

An alternative that often proves successful is to partner with someone that possess the talents that you feel you lack in. You can do this by creating a partnership, subcontracting, or hiring in that talent.

Remember the key to success in marketing and in sales is balance!

Marketing vs. Advertising

You will often find that many people confuse marketing with advertising or vice versa. While both components are important they are very different. Knowing the difference and doing your market research can put your company on the path to substantial growth.

Let's start off by reviewing the formal definitions of each and then I'll go into the explanation of how marketing and advertising differ from one another:

Advertising: The paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers.

Marketing: The systematic planning, implementation and control of a mix of business activities intended to bring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchange or transfer of products.

After reading both of the definitions it is easy to understand how the difference can be confusing to the point that people think of them as one-in-the same, so lets break it down a bit.

Advertising is a single component of the marketing process.

It's the part that involves getting the word out concerning your business, product, or the services you are offering. It involves the process of developing strategies such as ad placement, frequency, etc. Advertising includes the placement of an ad in such mediums as newspapers, direct mail, billboards, television, radio, and of course the Internet. Advertising is the largest expense of most marketing plans, with public relations following in a close second and market research not falling far behind.

The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have slices of advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the strategy. All of these elements must not only work independently but they also must work together towards the bigger goal. Marketing is a process that takes time and can involve hours of research for a marketing plan to be effective. Think of marketing as everything that an organization does to facilitate an exchange between company and consumer.

http://marketing--research.blogspot.com/

The past few decades have brought an ever-increasing number of marketing messages our way. Between television, magazines, newspapers, billboards, intentional product placement and celebrity endorsements, the level of advertising has become overwhelming for the average consumer. And as a result, today’s consumers have become desensitized to marketing in general.

This article will explore today’s new realities for advertisers, either online or offline. There’s a new approach in marketing today and it requires a lot more than ever before. Does that mean marketing is becoming prohibitively expensive? Absolutely not. In fact, done properly, modern marketing can establish customer loyalty far beyond what was possible in decades past.

Today’s consumers don’t trust you. In fact, they don’t trust anyone. They’ve been over-marketed since birth and are now encountering over 3000 marketing messages each day, on average. In order to gain their trust, the marketer must do a lot more than simply TELL them the truth. They have to SHOW them the truth.

Indeed, 3000 marketing messages each day is an estimate and it undoubtedly varies from one person to another. But this barrage of messages has left consumers skeptical of unsubstantiated claims. They’ve heard every clever slogan and every incredible product claim. And with today’s email world, they’ve seen every scam in the world. A message alone won’t capture their trust.

Buyers today want proof. They want to see it for themselves. In fact, they want to experience it for themselves too. Buyers today want to sample the goods before making the purchase decision, just like those sampling tables at Costco. They want to benefit from real value before they’re even requested to pull out their wallets.

These intertwined realities have resulted in today’s value-first marketing moniker. This new approach requires sellers of all kinds to sample their products for the world to try, all before requesting a penny in exchange. As a seller, you have to demonstrate your value. You have to demonstrate the benefits of your product. You have to prove your worth before you can expect any revenue coming in.

Nowhere is this more true than the internet. Almost every successful website offers valuable resources to its customers; valuable resources often free of charge. Whether it’s a consumer report, tools to calculate one thing or another, gobs of relevant information or a free sample of the product itself, internet marketers know they have to earn the trust of their customers before selling to them.

The upside of this new approach is that the consumers who give you a try, the consumers who sample your value, can establish a level of trust for you and your products far more powerful than that possible in the 80s or even 90s. And why? Because they experienced your value themselves. They saw it for themselves. And they made their own decision.

Modern marketing is empowering to consumers. It gives them an opportunity to experience the world directly and select those products and services they know will benefit them. The opportunities for customer loyalty are far greater today than ever before and it’s because consumers have the opportunity and the freedom to sample their solutions before they buy them.

ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΕΣ ΠΡΟΪΟΝΤΩΝ (Greek Marketing Lessons)

ΚΑΤΗΓΟΡΙΕΣ ΠΡΟΪΟΝΤΩΝ
ως προς την στάση του καταναλωτή

• Προϊόντα ευκολίας: αγοράζονται συχνά από τον καταναλωτή, άµεσα και µε τη μικρότερη προσπάθεια (π.χ. τσίχλες).
• Προϊόντα προτίµησης: σχετίζονται µε µικρή αγοραστική προσπάθεια, αλλά υψηλή προτίµηση µάρκας.
• Προϊόντα επιλογής: δεν αγοράζονται συχνά, κοστίζουν πολύ περισσότερο απ’ ότι τα προϊόντα ευκολίας και η επιλογή τους γίνεται µετά από συγκριτική αξιολόγηση µεταξύ διαφορετικών µαρκών (π.χ. ρούχα και ηλεκτρικές συσκευές).
• Εξειδικευµένα προϊόντα: αγοράζονται λόγω τωνµοναδικών χαρακτηριστικών που διαθέτουν που κάνουν τον αγοραστή να τα προτιµά αφιερώνοντας χρόνο όχι για να κάνει σύγκριση µεταξύ εναλλακτικών µαρκών, όπως συµβαίνει µε τα προϊόντα επιλογής, αλλά για να µεταβεί στο εξειδικευµένο κατάστηµα που τα έχει. (π.χ. προϊόντα delicatessen και έργα τέχνης).

www.marketingpower.gr

GREECE MARKETING - ΟΡΙΣΜΟΣ MARKETING

GREECE MARKETING - ΟΡΙΣΜΟΣ MARKETING

Marketing είναι μια σειρά από ενέργειες και δραστηριότητες που κάνει μια εταιρεία ώστε να καταγράψει τις επιθυμίες των καταναλωτών, να δημιουργήσει τα προϊόντα και τις υπηρεσίες που θα καλύψουν αυτές τις ανάγκες και να τα πουλήσει αποτελεσματικότερα και αποδοτικότερα από τους ανταγωνιστές της, δίνοντας στον καταναλωτή τη μεγαλύτερη δυνατή αξία.

by www.marketingpower.gr

ΤΟ ΔΙΕΘΝΕΣ ΜΑΡΚΕΤΙΝΓΚ

Λόγοι για τη διεθνοποίηση μιας επιχείρησης.

• Η επιρροή του κύκλου ζωής του προϊόντος
• Ο ανταγωνισμός σε μια επιλεγμένη αγορά- στόχο
• Χρησιμοποίηση της πλεονάζουσας παραγωγικής ικανότητας
• Η γεωγραφική διαφοροποίηση
• Δυναμικό πληθυσμού και αγοραστικής δύναμης
• Στρατηγικό ανταγωνιστικό πλεονέκτημα

Οι δυνάμεις του περιβάλλοντος της Διεθνούς Αγοράς

• Πολιτιστικές δυνάμεις
• Κοινωνικές δυνάμεις
• Οικονομικές δυνάμεις
• Πολιτικές και νομικές δυνάμεις

Τρόποι διείσδυσης στις Διεθνείς Αγορές

o Έμμεση εξαγωγή κατά την οποία οι πωλήσεις γίνονται σε έναν ενδιάμεσο ο οποίος στη συνεχεία προβαίνει στη μεταπώληση σε πελάτες στο εξωτερικό.

o Άμεση εξαγωγή κατά την οποία η εταιρία πωλεί άμεσα σε πελάτες στο εξωτερικό.

o Παραγωγή στο εξωτερικό η οποία μπορεί να πάρει τη μορφή μιας μικτής επιχείρησης (joint venture) ή της εγκατάστασης στο εξωτερικό μιας θυγατρικής εταιρίας πλήρους ιδιοκτησίας.

Οι τρεις βασικές προσεγγίσεις για την ανάπτυξη διεθνών στρατηγικών προϊόντος και προβολής είναι:

· Η στρατηγική του Μάρκετινγκ για μια αδιαφοροποίητη (τυποποιημένη) παγκόσμια αγορά.

· Η στρατηγική του Μάρκετινγκ για μια διαφοροποιημένη παγκόσμια αγορά.

· Η στρατηγική επινόησης νέου προϊόντος

by www.marketingpower.gr

Google Adwords Overview

Google Adwords is the sponsored link system operated by Google. It is Google's chief source of income.

Advertisers choose keyword phrases that they want to advertise "on" and with proper design and funding, their ads will appear on the Google search engine results page (SERP) as well as partners, such as AOL.

With Google Adwords

• Your price is automatically lowered to one cent more than your closest competitor.
  
• No one can lock in the top position. User click through rates and CPC help determine where your ad is shown.
  
• Google offers a unique set of tools to forecast your budget and select target keywords.
  
• You can target your ads to users in a specific country or only to speakers of a specific language.
  
• By developing effective landing pages, you can receive improved listings at less cost than your less savvy customers.
  
• You can monitor your competition's activity.

Mystery shopping

Mystery shopping

Αύξηση των πωλήσεων μέσω καλύτερης εξυπηρέτησης και ικανοποίησης του πελάτη. To MYSTERY SHOPPING είναι ένα απαραίτητο εργαλείο της Διοίκησης και του Management , που αποβλέπει στην αντικειμενική μέτρηση και αξιολόγηση του τρόπου λειτουργίας της εταιρίας με απώτερο σκοπό , τόσο τον προσδιορισμό των αδυναμιών και την άμεση βελτίωση των , όσο και την λήψη σωστών στρατηγικών αποφάσεων. Η μέθοδος του MYSTERY SHOPPING βασίζεται στην επίσκεψη ειδικά εκπαιδευμένων ατόμων στο χώρο πώλησης /παροχής (προϊόντων η υπηρεσιών) που συμπεριφέρονται σαν υποψήφιοι πελάτες 'shoppers'. Κατά την διάρκεια της επίσκεψης οι 'shoppers' καταγράφουν βάση συγκεκριμένου ερωτηματολογίου και αξιολογούν κάθε σημείο και περιοχή ενδιαφέροντος για την εταιρία