Why you NEED a Marketing Strategy

The Marketing Strategy process

A Marketing Strategy is very important for any business and it is imperative for any business to succeed. First of all you might want to know what a Marketing Strategy is and why you actually NEED one. Basically a Marketing Strategy defines the way you are going and to if your business/website is going in the right direction or not. It helps defines objectives and goals to keep your business on track. Many people think they do not need a Marketing Strategy but there are many reasons to why you need a Marketing Strategy. In this article we will look at the different types of strategies you can use and why you need a strategy.

Having a good Marketing Strategy in place helps your business go in the right direction. It also helps you focus on the correct thing. It helps you find out who your target audience are and therefore serve your customers/clients better. To succeed it helps to know who your target audience are. Knowing your audience helps you market better towards them.

To develop a great Marketing Strategy for your business it is necessary to answer these questions. These questions help you define your business. You should answer questions like:

1. Who is your target audience and How do you Market to them?
2. Do you post good content and What kind of Content do you post?
3. What Resources does your business use and What kind of resources do you have access to?
4. Set KPI's (Key Performance Indicators - A KPI helps you understand if your business is actually reaching your business objectives and monitors your performance)

Answering these questions will help you understand your business better and therefore market your products better and make higher profit.

Do not follow the normal rules, Break the Rules

 

Market Segmentation

Market Segmentation helps choose a broad target market audience for your business and helps you segment or narrow down it down into different groups who have mutual needs, so it is easier to market to the groups of customers. Market Segmentation is the process of splitting a larger target market into a smaller more focused target market.

There are many smaller target audience segments you can split them up to. For example you can split them up by Demographics, Geographic, Behavioural, etc. So for example you could market to all the people in a certain country like New Zealand. Or you could market to people of a certain age range like 18-25 year olds.

When choosing a Market Segmentation for your business there are some things you need to consider. You would need to consider some things like your target market being large enough to make profit from. It must be able to be consistent and something that your chosen market segmentation must be interested in and be responding well to.

How to Develop Confidence - 5 Steps to Develop Confidence

The key to becoming a successful ad great marketer is confidence. Confidence is one of the most important things you can develop and it is vital if you would like to become successful on the internet and in business. In fact you need confidence to do anything in life.

Being able to develop and maintain strong confidence is an important part of finding success in life. Of course, not everyone knows how to develop this confidence and self esteem, much less keep it through all of the difficulties faced on a daily basis. Many people find it hard to do either, and that greatly affects the rest of their lives. Rather than keep that low self esteem and avoid life completely, you can begin to build yourself up and improve your self-confidence. There are 5 quick ways to improve confidence and keep it strong through everything you do. When these steps handled properly and approached with the right attitude, this can help you to have unstoppable confidence and do what you need to do without anything standing in your way.

1.            Look at the good

Everyone has good and bad, and you need to put all of your focus on the good if you want to have unstoppable confidence. Looking at what you have done in life, all that you have known and found success with, will allow you to see just how much you have done in life. Even if you feel that list is short, just remember that you have done something and that you are far greater than that low self esteem would have you believe. This is one of the more important steps because it allows you to appreciate yourself a little more, giving you the boost you need to improve your self-confidence.

2.            Know what you can do and then do better

No matter who you are, you have your limits. No one person can do everything in the world in the best way possible and find success, regardless of what they say. Look at your current limitations and respect them, understand them. If you fail when going further, remember that this is normal. Most people find it difficult to push themselves, but that does not mean you should not try. When looking into how to develop greater confidence, the biggest is to find greater success. Go further and raise your limitations, make yourself better through hard work and determination.

3.            Show your confidence

This is a simple and quick way to improve your self-confidence. In all the steps for the 5 quick ways to improve confidence, this is the one everyone can do. Smile, improve your posture, and make yourself appear more confident. When you shine on the outside, you might start letting that sink to the inside. It is also a great way to attract more people to you, as well as attract more success.

4.            Do not let failures bring you down

This one might not be so quick for some people. If you feel that your lack of confidence is due to failures, try to remember that everyone experiences these in life. Look through where things have gone wrong and turn them into a learning experience. Of all the how to steps, this is the one you cannot forget.

5.            Make goals and picture yourself being victorious

The last of the 5 quick ways to improve confidence, this gives you the chance to begin bettering yourself. When you want to have unstoppable confidence, you have to start having goals and meeting them, making more successes and bringing about more happiness in life.

Do you have any of your own tips you would like to share with us? Then post them in the comment section below. Remember to like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter and Google Plus. 

The Kaizen Marketing System Review - Double your Profits in 180 Days!

The Kaizen Marketing System is a product that is designed to improve your businesses marketing and produce you results guaranteed. Alexi Neocleous is the creator of this system and is a business growth specialist and professional copywriter. First you might like to know what Kaizen actually means.

Kaizen is a Japanese word which literally translates to 'continuous improvement' or 'change for the best'. Kaizen has been applied to many different industries including; manufacturing, banking, healthcare, engineering, business and many more different industries. Car Manufacturing giant Toyota made Kaizen rise to prominence with them applying Kaizen in their manufacturing process.

This program promises to double your businesses' profits in 180 days or less guaranteed. This program tells you how to market your business and raise the awarness of your business. This is a must buy for any marketer or even anyone looking to improve the results of their business. The Kaizen Marketing System not only tells you how to market your business effectively. It also tells you how to become a great copywriter, telemarketer, entrepreneur and much more.

When marketing their business most people do not know where to start. This is where Alexi Neocleous comes in. Alexi tells you all about marketing your business. In this program he will also tell you;

• How to get free publicity through TV, Newspaper and Radio 
• Why an ancient old Japanese tradition is the secret behind my amazing new formula!
• How to get tons of referrals and keep generating even more
• How to bring hundreds, if not thousands of fresh leads to buy your product
• How to steal customers from your competitors using a secret technique

This is just a preview of what you will learn in the program.

Alexi also offers a 60 day money back guarantee. All you need to do is follow the formula and you will become successful. For those of you that are doubting this program, this is not a scam and is 100% genuine.

The product is very user friendly and is jargon free. Lets put it like this, even your Grandma could understand this system. It is fully complete with instructions, illustrations, pictures and diagrams teaching you how everything is done.

You also get 5 free bonuses with The Kaizen Marketing system and even if you don't like the system, you get to keep the bonuses with no further charge to you. This is a very excellent guide in which you will learn an abundance of information from. We highly recommend this guide as it is written in a simple style while also being very informative. If you are interested in buying this system please click below to buy it.


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The Emergence of Social Media - Why you NEED to use Social Media in your Business

Social media and the internet go hand in hand, and while most business owners have their hands tied with their day to day operations, it is crucial to keep up with the latest tools and strategies that can enhance your business presence. According to a recent survey by the Wall Street Journal, six out of ten business owners claim that social media tools have proved to be invaluable to their company’s growth. With this surge in appeal and significance in social media, getting and managing the right tools for your business may seem daunting, and if you’re struggling to figure out what works and what doesn't, listed below are few avenues to explore.
 

Batman doesn't really like social media

While there are many concerns regarding social media tools for business owners, the most significant ones are building and maintaining online presence, time management, brand monitoring and attracting new customers. As more and more businesses flock towards Twitter, keeping track of tweets can be frustrating, and tweetchat allows you to do just that. This tool gives you your very own tweet space for any chat you’re following, and also helps you hide and or feature specific tweeters.

One of the most important reasons to host a website is to be found by people that are searching for products and services related to your business. This is why it is important to optimize social media content, and the Keyword Tool by Google makes this extremely easy. This platform identifies global monthly searches, level of competition, local monthly searches and approximate cost per click. These characteristics help you optimize your blog content, website text, Twitter tweets and Facebook posts, which helps people discover you business through social sharing.

Facebook fan pages are one of the most significant social media tools, and with 800 million + users, there is no better audience. There are many reasons to create a Facebook fan page for your business such as social plugins for your website, unlimited fan base, advertising options, opportunities to portray your brand through many custom applications and tabs, demographic inclined advertising options and the chance to interact in the website through your brand name. 

Anywhere else and you would look crazy

Facebook’s timeline offers additional marketing space, a profile cover image and a page admin with a personal profile. Some proven stats to take off when using Facebook as a social media tool are visitor to fan conversion are doubled with customized welcome tabs and 48% of video referrals are from the website. A highly versatile and indispensible tool, YouTube is an all in one solution for all your social media needs. New to their website is their advanced analytics tool, which gives you insight into potential consumers based on your audience interests.

Stats about YouTube include 2 billion videos watched daily, 70% of all traffic on the mobile web is streamed though the website, and the website attracts approximately 85 million viewers daily. All told, the various social media sites account for a large number of revenue from business owners, and the reasons for this is quite evident. 

Thanks for reading this article. We hope you have enjoyed it and if you did please consider leaving a comment below. Do you have strategies that you want to share? What social media websites do you use? Please share below. 

On a different note, here is a completely off topic video of cats doing funny stuff! Enjoy!

Case Study: Domino's PIzza Marketing Strategy

Domino’s Pizza a global pizza company which specialise in delivery, its headquarters are situated in the USA. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S. states. Domino's Pizza was sold to Bain Capital in 1998 and went public in 2004. In this article we will discuss the different strategies that Domino's Pizza use and implement into their business. We will also talk about the various competitors of Domino's and how much of the market share they own.

We will look at the market trends of Domino's and the STP process (it stands for Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning). This is a very important concept used in marketing and shows how a company chooses to compete in a market. The main aim of the STP process is to guide the company to the implementation of an appropriate marketing mix.

Finally we will look at the SWOT Analysis of Domino's Pizza and we will look at the different ways Domino's could improve upon their marketing strategy.

Domino’s Pizza is in a very competitive market and there is a lot of competition for Domino’s Pizza including Pizza Hut and Pizza Express. They also have a lot of local competitors as well. At the end of the year 2007 they made $1.4 Billion in revenue and over $190M in operating income. Domino's Pizza have many different competitors, including;

Pizza Hut

Pizza Hut Is a restaurant chain and international franchise based in Addison, Texas, USA (a northern suburb of Dallas) specializing in American-style pizza along with side dishes including (depending on location): buffalo wings. Pizza Hut is the world's largest pizza restaurant chain and is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., whose restaurants total approximately 34,000 restaurants, delivery-carry out units, and kiosks in 100 countries.  Pizza Hut currently own 15% of the market share.

Pizza Express

Another competitor for Domino’s Pizza is Pizza Express. However Pizza Express is not similar to Domino’s Pizza as Pizza Express is a chain of restaurants and Domino’s Pizza is a delivery company.

In 1965, Peter Boizot opened a business called Pizza Express, when he opened the first restaurant in Wardour Street, London. The chain expanded, initially as a franchise operation. In 1993 Pizza Express went public and turned into a PLC, this was a smart move for the company as this means they can improve their financial position and have better publicity.

They have a lot of loyal customers and this helps them build and make their brand even stronger. Having loyal customers means that their customers would only go to them and not their competitors. They also have a strong management team and a strong brand image.

Other Non Direct Competitors

Domino’s Pizza has a lot of competitors as the fast food business is very competitive. Domino’s Pizza main two direct competitors are Pizza Express and Pizza Hut but they have a lot of indirect competitors that do not sell pizzas but do sell fast food.

1. o   McDonalds

McDonalds are not direct competitors but because they sell fast food they are competitors in one way. McDonalds are the market leaders of their market and because of this Domino’s would have to be vary of them.

1. o   KFC

KFC is a fast food restaurant that specialises in selling Chicken. In particular it specialises selling Southern Fried Chicken.

1. o   Subway

Subway is one of the fastest growing franchise restaurants. Subway mainly sells submarine sandwiches and salads but now has also moved into selling wraps and snacks. 

1. o   Burger King

Burger King is also a competitor of Domino’s Pizza although it does not directly compete against Domino’s Pizza. Burger king specialises in selling burgers.

Market Trends

In the UK, the number of fast-food and home-delivery restaurants such as McDonald’s, KFC and Domino’s Pizza has been increasing rapidly over the past 5 years. As of April 2008, Domino's held an impressive 19% market share in domestic pizza deliveries. Subway, in particular, has seen an explosion in its number of high-street outlets. This has resulted in a large amount of competition in the market, but has also been a key factor in the increased value sales — more branches means that more consumers have better access to fast food. The fact that the menus at such establishments are generally cheap has also proved popular with the public because of the recession.

There has been a lot of negative publicity about the industry of late; its response has been, in some cases, to start offering healthier alternatives on its menus, such as salads, or to actively work to reduce levels of sugar, salt and fat in the food that is served.

The sandwich sector has particularly benefited from the Government’s campaign, as it is often regarded as a healthier option than other types of fast food, such as burgers.

The value of the fast-food sector has increased by 16.4% over the past 5 years, rising from £8.33bn in 2006 to £9.7bn in 2010. Further increases are predicted for the future, with Key Note projecting that value sales of fast food will top the £10bn mark for the first time in 2011, reaching £10.08bn. In the long term, Key Note has predicted that the fast-food and home-delivery sector will have grown to £11.86bn by 2015, up by 17.7% from 2011 and up by 42.3% from 2006.

Food price inflation has generally risen above the rate of general inflation in the past year, meaning that the prices of some foods have increased exponentially. Rising wheat prices, for example, have pushed up the price of bread and bread products quite rapidly; given its position as a staple ingredient

An advertisement for Domino's Pizza

Segmentation

Segmentation is the process of splitting (segmenting) the entire market (everyone) into smaller groups that share similar traits.

Domino's Pizza is located in more than 60 countries. The rights to own operate and franchise branches of the chain in Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Principality of Monaco are currently owned by Domino's Pizza Enterprises, having been sold off by the parent company between 1993 and 2007. The master franchises for the UK and Ireland were purchased by Domino's Pizza Group, now publicly traded as Domino's Pizza UK & IRL, in 1993.

Domino’s Pizza has a large customer base but mainly target the working class and lower- middle class. The socio-economic group they would target would be C1-C2 and below. These are people with jobs such as electricians, plumbers, shop floor supervisors and casual labourers.  These groups have less income and they would buy from Domino’s Pizza, whereas people in the group A and B would maybe go to a high end restaurant. 

Domino’s Pizza target bachelors, students and professionals who have no time to prepare food and want food as fast as possible. They targeted both genders, but according to a Mintel report they target males more. Market research had revealed that Domino’s market demographic was culturally diverse.

The company targets students a lot and often use promotions to get students to purchase from them. Students are a good target market for them because takeaway food requires no effort from the person and they deliver really quickly.

A quarter of consumers have cut back on takeaways/ home delivery to save money.

Young men are ordering takeaways/ home deliveries because they felt like staying in and procrastinate. In contrast, women order takeaways/ home deliveries because home deliveries and takeaways make a nice change from what these women would normally eat.

Domino’s Pizza has over 9,000 outlets in over 60 countries allowing people to buy all over the world and making Domino’s Pizza a global company.

Targeting

Domino’s Pizza should target the Muslim community by offering Halal food and Halal pizzas.  This would be a successful venture for the company because they would make a lot more revenue from the sale of halal food as the Muslim community is growing.

Another target group Domino’s Pizza should target is healthy food aimed at healthy people that want to stay fit and healthy while still eating their favourite foods. They could introduce salads and wraps or an alternative pizza.

A group they could also target is different nationalities such as polish or Dutch. They could use their food and make special pizzas according to their culture and nationality.

Positioning

By targeting the Muslim community Domino’ Pizza would gain a lot of popularity In the UK alone there are 2.869 million Muslims according to the PEW research center, (http://features.pewforum.org/muslim/number-of-muslims-in-western-europe.html) and target this many Muslims would mean that the profit and revenue of their business would rise up.

There is a growing target in people trying to get fit and people being healthy therefore people want to eat healthy food. Domino’s Pizza is classed as fattening food and so if they introduced healthy food such as low fat pizzas and sides not cooked in oil they would appeal to a lot more people. Statistics show people live longer by eating healthy and this should mean Domino’s Pizza should sell healthier food.

If they made a pizza that targeted different people and cultures this would prove a success. This is because a lot of people miss their own culture and miss their own food and if Domino’s Pizza introduced a new range of food and pizza’s, this would appeal to a lot more foreign people. Statistics show that one in nine people living in the UK are foreign, (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4797916/One-in-nine-people-living-in-Britain-is-foreign-figures-show.html) so if they entered this segment it benefit Domino’s Pizza and would have more profit.

 One of Domino's Pizzas' classic commercials from 1985

SWOT Analysis

(1)Strengths

o   Starting in 1973, an advertising campaign run by Domino’s Pizza claimed to guarantee to have their customers pizzas delivered to them in ’30 minutes or less’, if not the pizza is free. This campaign was doing great and bought a lot of attention towards the company however market momentum was quickly lost when a woman in St. Louis was involved an automobile accident with a Domino’s Pizza delivery driver. News turned into bad publicity and in 1993 the 30-minute guarantee was discontinued. The 30-minute guarantee still runs in stores in India.

o   Domino’s strength, the ‘S’ in a SWOT analysis, was their ability to produce and deliver a product faster and more efficiently than their competition. Not promoting the 30-minute guarantee created a level playing field allowing the focus to shift toward product and price

o   Domino’s Pizza is a global corporation and operates in over 60 countries. This makes them known worldwide and they have an excellent reputation throughout the world. 

o   They are the market leader in what they do and have more than 5,000 stores in the US. They are a global franchise so they are continually growing. They have a continually strong brand image and are always improving it.

o   Their marketing and advertising campaign is very strong and helps them draw in millions of customers. Another thing that makes Domino’s Pizza a market leader is the supply chain and distribution network. It has also enabled to keep pace with the technology by offering menus.

o   They are also opening branches in Tesco stores across the country. They stuck a partnership with them and this deal will see them tap into a new market and make a higher profit margin.

o   Domino’s Pizza can open a lot of stores through franchises

o   They have a lot of capital and are in a strong financial position because of their continuous success.

(2)Weakness

o   The sales are starting to slow and declining same-store sales. This is because of the economic situation and people not being able to afford takeaway food as it is not counted as a necessity

o   The sales are very slow growing and some of the same-store sales are declining. Its ambiance is not up to its competitors.

o   Menu is not elaborated and modified as compare to other chains.

o   Another big point for them is that more and more people are going towards healthy food and as Domino’s Pizza is seen as an unhealthy option Domino’s Pizza would either have to introduce a different more healthy range and they would have to change their brand image.

(3)Opportunities

o   Britain's biggest pizza delivery firm also said that it expected two-thirds of its sales to come from online in five years' time. Online sales currently account for £128m of total sales of £485m, roughly a quarter.

o   There is a growing presence in emerging markets, particularly in India and China and Domino’s Pizza should target these markets as they are continually growing and would be beneficial for the company as a whole.

o   Leverage supply chain & distribution system to introduce new products

o   Domino’s Pizza was planning to launch an Android and iPad app to accompany its iPhone app, which generated £1m of sales in its first three months of operation.

o   Domino's also had a three-year deal to sponsor the ITV programme Britans Got Talent, which launched the career of Susan Boyle. This proved a success for Domino’s Pizza as they gained more popularity.

(4)Threats

o   Changing consumer habits towards healthier food choices and their continuous lifestyle change could mean less popularity for Domino’s Pizza.

o   Intensive competition from a fragmented number of small competitors

o   There is a big threat towards changing consumer habits towards healthier food choices. As more people are trying to go towards a healthier lifestyle, to change they would have to change their brand image and start to introduce healthier products in their product line.

o   Another threat is that franchise operations are being affected by currency exchange fluctuations. This is a major problem for them as it means they would not be able to open any more stores.

o   There is also intensive competition from a fragmented number of small competitors. This includes local competitors as they can afford to sell their products cheaper.

Domino's Pizza is a very large organisation and if you implement some of the techniques and strategies they use within their business, your business could grow a lot. We hope you have enjoyed this article and would like to thank you for reading this very long post. We would appreciate it if you would consider leaving a comment or leaving your opinion. 

The Marketing Guy App - Now Available on Google Play

We are proud to announce the release of our new official app for The Marketing Guy. Currently it is only available on the Google Play Store so it is only supported by Android devices. However we are working on ways to bring the app to the iPhone/App Store and the Windows Phone. We are also working on ways of bringing the app on other devices as we want to make this app easily accessible.

The Marketing Guy is a free to download app that gives you free advice, tips, articles and resources on Internet Marketing/Marketing and how to make money online. It helps you improve your business and market your business properly.
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How to earn a five figure income from Affiliate Marketing easily

If I had a penny for every time I heard 'money cannot buy happiness', I would be a rich man. These few words always raised the altitude of curiosity, because I always found happiness in it. And as I grew up I realized that perhaps my elders were making fun of their scarcity or they were trying to satisfy their so called ego by saying that they had no regrets owing the poverty or lack of financial resources. My every new day made me obvious that if the people are saying that they do not need money or cash or any other form of capital either they are not speaking truth or they are making fun, there is, in my opinion, no other reason of such philosophies. Now I wish they all were with me to answer a simple question that why should we pretend that what we do not need money to be happy, in spite of making money. Fortunately, the people who are living in this century and more specifically the internet users and have no reason to make such lame excuses. There are many ways to make money. We can make money, who says money is not easy to earn, it is as easy playing a game. Yes, affiliate marketing is offering the internet users with the most excellent opportunities to make money and to earn a five figure income quite easily.

It is an unquestionable reality that money or currency cannot ensure the happiness; however it is the sole guarantee of quality life. Affiliated marketing is an exceptional sort of marketing. It is based on the performance. This means that it is a business that rewards the affiliates for every single person that is transported by the marketing tactics and methods of affiliate. The game is played by 4 players that include network, retailers, vendors and affiliate. In simple words, affiliated marketing is a name of persuasion or stimulation for online buying. It is the technique of making money out of the trade between two different parties, purchaser and vender.


How can we make money with the help of affiliate marketing? It has scores of different forms such as PPC which is known as Pay Per Click, PPS and Pay Per Sale and PPL that refers to Pay Per Lead. In PPS the owner of the World Wide Web is compensated or rewarded on the basis of total numbers of transactions that are openly generated via an online promotional campaign by the person. The simplest and easiest way to make money is PPC. This is a form of promotional campaign in which the person behind the campaign remunerated on the basis of number of click on any advertisement. On the other hand Pay Per Lead is another sort of affiliate marketing in which the promoter recompenses the affiliate that is rooted in the conversion of the numbers of leads.

What is the basic requirement to make money via Affiliate marketing?

It seems as if we are talking about a miracle. How we can make money by selling a manufactured goods or service that does not belong to us? Neither we are producers of that product or service, nor are we the actual buyer, then how it can work for us. What are some basic roles to make money by making use of affiliate marketing? Yes there are some rules that can make our effort more effective and successful. For affiliate marketing all you need is your own blog/website and join affiliate networks like Clickbank, Share-a-sale and Commission Junction, once you have these your own your way to making your millions!  Let’s discuss those requisite of this business;

Grab the attention of the user:

The core aim of this business is grabbing the attention of internet users that are millions in numbers around the globe. The best thing of this form of business is the presence of a wide range of target audience that are available twenty four hours a day. The simple task of online and affiliate is to get the hold on the nerves of the buyers. It is the art of persuasion and influencing the people in a way that he or she should enthusiastically and freely act in the same way you want him to do.

Test some innovations:

Innovations are the best way to get rid of monotonous of life. No one likes to see the same thing again and again and, especially in case of promotional activities monotonous assassinate the attention of the users. If any affiliate wants to make a five figure income, he or she should pay attention to make use of innovative ideas for their promotional activities. Innovations are more or less like a backbone of this format of advertising, it is as necessary as oxygen indispensable for the survival of living things.

Be regular:

Your absence will create a gap and gaps create opportunities for others and new comers. Regularity will ensure the success and more income.

Use Some Bold Images

It is fact that images can do what words cannot do, especially in the field of advertisement. Popping up of a new window will create more profound impact if that window will be containing a picture or image. Images or pictures can easily grab the attention and if promoters are using bold images it will have more enduring impacts.

Never Drag You Promotional Message

Precise note is must for excellent promotion. Your aim is to take hold of entire attention of the internet users, and a dragged message can never catch the attention of would be customers. Simple and short message of promoters can have some enduring effects on the customers.

Play with Mind Set:

This is the most important game to play and most difficult one too. Promoters are supposed to play with the minds and psyche of the people. Make them realize that your product is the only thing that can worth purchasing.

Research can make or ruin your effort

Last, but not the least, research is the most important thing that can help the promoters a lot. They should know the previous and the current trends of marketing around the globe, so they can make their strategy accordingly. Proper research is a must for strong promotional strategy.

Affiliate Marketing is a very lucrative market with a huge earning potential. Internet Entrepreneur Tyler Cruz earns thousands of dollars a month just from affiliate marketing. To create a web empire like he has all you have to do is put the work in that is required.

Thanks for reading and we hope you have enjoyed this article. If you could please leave a comment, subscribe to the RSS feed and follow us and like us.

Case Study - Apple Marketing Strategy

Wrong kind of Apple

Apple is an American company that makes and designs computers and electronics such as the iPhone, iPod, iPad and Mac. They are regarded as immensely successful in a number of different areas including both as a hardware and software company. The company was founded on April 1, 1976, and incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977. In this article we will evaluate and critique the different techniques and strategies that Apple use as a company. You will learn a lot of strategies that Apple implement into their company and you will be able to use these for yourself.

Apple use many different strategies to implement a successful become a successful company. Apple is a unique company that utilizes many strategies. Apple’s main strategy is to scale all operations from the manufacturing process to retail, to meet global demand. Apple had revenue greater than $46 Billion. The iPhone and iPad have plenty of room left for growth as does the retail market for Apple.

Meeting demand for hundreds of millions of annual units requires flawless execution across the supply chain, distribution and with their manufacturing partners. We've become so accustomed to high tech products that it’s easy to forget what a shortage of a single component can do. When floods struck Thailand last fall, it disrupted disk drive supplies for nearly six months.

One of the current strategies of Apple’s is to rapidly expand in China and developing economies. Apple currently sells its iPhone’s exclusively through China Unicom which is over 190 million subscribers. Apple’s Asia Pacific sales (minus Japan) grew approximately 200% last year and account for 20% of Apple’s total revenue. Apple innovation has been very important for the developed world as well as the developing world. According to the SAF analysis this is one of the main strategies and would help Apple grow as a company.

As important as Apple’s innovation machine has been for the developed world, 2012 success in China and emerging economies will be fed by incremental product improvements. They may be combined with creative cost and/or pricing strategies that subsidize purchasing much like Verizon and AT&T has for U.S. iPhone customers. With rapidly growing middle classes, one might consider market access more important in the developing world than ground-breaking innovation.

Apple competes in the current market by differentiating their product and identifying the different needs of their customers. They do this by investing in Research and Development and Product development. According to the company's annual report, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Apple spent $3.4 billion on research and development during its fiscal year in 2012; this was up by 39% from the previous year. Investing in R&D is very important for Apple as they want continuous growth and a competitive position in the marketplace which is directly related to the development of new and enhanced products that are central to Apple’s core business strategy.

Market Penetration

Over the past years Apple has been successful thanks to their fresh, innovative and imaginative way to do business. The sales of the iPhone have equaled to 47.8 Million from the first quarter of 2013, this is due to the combination of innovative style and design, great strategy and excellent marketing.

Apple and the iPhone can owe its success to its exceptional marketing. The iPhone can be seen as fashion icons and they are seen as ‘fashion accessories’.

Another reason for success is that there are multiple locations to purchase the product from. Customers can purchase the iPhone from the Apple online store as well as the Apple retail store. They can also purchase the iPhone from many different outlets such as supermarkets, electronic stores and other retail outlets. The iPhone is sold at many different outlets and this enables Apple to profit from customers by having their products sold at many different outlets. This allows Apple to have a large market share for their product.

Shoppers sleep outside of the Apple stores to be one of the first to buy an iPhone, Apple is a company that enjoys fanatical brand loyalty and its users are very committed to the brand. This brand success is part of Apple’s well thought out plan to deliver strong products and create an Apple culture. This is part of Apple’s strategy to dominate the market and create a bigger profit for the company.

Market Development

A company follows a market development strategy for a current brand when it expands the potential market through new users or new uses. To improve their market share and develop their product Apple does many things to stay market leaders. Apple has deals with many different network providers to provide cheaper phone offers and contracts. For example if they strike up a deal with operator such as O2, O2 will then be able to sell the iPhone for a monthly fee which Apple also receive a percentage of. They do this so they can stay ahead of their competitors and make more profit for their company and continually grow. They also provide a loyalty scheme, and users who have continually purchased Apples products including the iPhone get discounts.

Apple understands, better perhaps than any company on the planet, the significance of being not only perpetually innovative but with a vast and loyal army of Apple fanatics behind it to regularly take category-busting risks. The amazing run, beginning over a decade ago, of the iMac, MacBook, iPod and iPhone. These landmark products not only were ambitious in their goals and beautifully designed, but they also exhibited multiple features that were so innovative that they forced the competition to spend years catching up and by then, Apple had already moved on to the next breakthrough.

The Apple iPhone is a classic example of that. It took nearly two years for Apple’s competitors to field products that are even close to the very first iPhone; to identify weaknesses in the device and respond. Apple, meanwhile, has used that time to continuously improve the iPhone the result being that the company now dominates the smartphone world to a degree Apple hasn’t enjoyed since the early years of the Macintosh.

Another selling point and key to the iPhone’s success is the vast number of apps available through the Apple App Store. Apple has had 40 Billion downloaded apps which is a massive figure and huge milestone for Apple. There are many different apps available for the iPhone, from guitar tuners to restaurant ratings to burp generators, and everything else.

Product Development

The iPhone is one of Apple’s biggest sellers and they have to keep improving this revolutionary product because the life cycle of the phone is typically very short. Updates for the iPhone are released almost yearly, as is a new version of an iPhone. They have to keep updating their products to stay ahead of their competitors. They offer free updates on their website to update the consumer’s old iPhone to the latest software. They have to carry on updating their products because if they didn’t then their products would go into decline.

The Mobile Phone market is mature and saturated and therefore Apple has to stay ahead of its competition. Apple has many different competitors including; Samsung, HTC, Nokia and Sony. When the iPhone was first released it dominated the smartphone market with its innovative design and graphical prowess but over time it has lost control of the market and allowed Samsung to capitalize and become market leaders. The iPhone has only 29% of the market share while Google/Android has 36.3%. They should carry on investing in the iPhone because it is one of Apple’s cash cows and it is making a substantial amount of money according the Boston Matrix.



The product lifecycle of the iPhone is very different to as compared to an average product. During the Introduction and Maturity stage Apple intensively market the iPhone so they gain maximum sales and make more profit. Their products last longer on the product lifecycle because they invest heavily into their products.

Apple are continually developing their products and investing money into R&D and marketing to further improve their products and better their brand. Apple’s marketing budget for the whole company is an astronomical $1 billion. They do this because it is imperative for Apple to remain market leaders of the market and get rid of their competitors. In their marketing campaigns Apple’s communication is sober, intriguing, simple, clear, minimalist and clever. It has a style of its own whether it is a TV ad, print ad or an online ad.

Apple also donates money to fund AIDS programs in Africa. Apple works alongside GlobalFund and has raised more than $50 million. This is a substantial figure and it is continually growing, and reducing diseases year by year. I think this is a great strategic decision for Apple and the iPhone as this enables them to give back and consumers will see this as the company being generous which in turn would be a very profitable and great tactic.

Diversification

For continuous growth as a company I think Apple would have to diversify into a different market and launch a new product. I think Apple should diversify into the video games market and launch their own video games console, as this would be they would be going into a different market and also they would have a different product. The video games market is estimated to be worth in the region of $25 billion. Today, the video game industry is a juggernaut of development; profit still drives technological advancement which is then used by other industry sectors. Though maturing, the video game industry is still very volatile, with third-party video game developers quickly cropping up, and just as quickly, going out of business. The latest consoles have an average lifespan of 10 years, which would mean that if Apple were to produce a games console, they would not need to design another one. A costly expense of going into a different market would be the Research and Development costs and the marketing costs. This is a market that they have never been in before and is relatively new for them therefore they would have to research the market to make their product better than their competitors.

Apple would have many competitors including the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft XBOX and Nintendo’s Wii Console. They would also have competition in the form of tablets and smartphones as well as online based computer games.

Apple already has experience in the games market as their devices can play popular games such as Angry Birds and Fifa without a problem. This would mean that if Apple were to design a games console it would not be hard for them to shift from the mobile and tablet platform to the games console market.

Apple website - Advertising the iPad. So simple, yet so elegant.

Boston Matrix

A Boston matrix analyses a company’s product portfolio and classes its products into four strategic business units: Stars, Question Marks, Cash Cows and Dogs. For each SBU, there are four more potential strategies to take: build market share, hold market share, harvest (reduce investment) and divest (phase-out).



Star: The iPad is the star because it has a high market share and is rapidly growing in the tablet market. The iPad is in its growth phase of the product life cycle however it is starting to lose its advantage as competitors plan to launch their own tablet devices. To prevent this from happening Apple should invest heavily into marketing the iPad to a larger audience in order to grow sales to maintain their market share. But then again in the future, when sales are consistent, Apple should harvest the product to turn it into a Cash Cow to fund other SBUs.



Question Mark: In a market dominated by Microsoft, Apple would always struggle to dominate in this market. The PC market continues to become lead by Microsoft despite Apple’s attempts with the Mac. Much of Microsoft’s dominance is down to strong business to business marketing and high switching costs for business and consumers. Apple could potentially use three strategies for the Mac:

1) Divest – If they were to divest the Mac it would mean they could devote more time on other more profitable products, however this is very unlikely as the Mac is part of their brand identity.

2) Build – Apple could invest a heavy amount of resources into the Mac however even with Apple’s huge cash flow, it would still be very difficult to beat Microsoft.

3) Hold – Another strategy they could use is to hold it. Apple will probably develop new mac and continue to support existing customers so this is the most likely strategy that Apple would implement.

Another one of Apple's successful promotions

Cash Cow: Apple’s main consistent sources of income are the iPhone and the iPod, both have reached the saturation point of their respected markets and Apple has a share of both these markets.

The iPod is reaching the decline stage of the product lifecycle and Apple is beginning to harvest the product. They are slowly reducing investments in marketing the iPod to increase their profitability; by generating more cash, further investments can be turned into question marks or even stars.

Dog: Apple TV is a device which allows media files in iTunes to be played wireless on TV through an iPhone, iPad or other compatible devices. The device has not been as popular as Apple were expecting it to be however Apple have launched a second and third generation of the product. They have showed they are committed to building sales of Apple TV although it seems they should divest the Apple TV and invest into something more profitable such as the iPad.

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