I gave this presentation on February 16, 2016, at the Decatur Morgan County Entrepreneurial Center. It covers market analysis competitive analysis, the importance of target markets, pricing strategies, and positioning in the marketplace.
2. What We’ll Cover Today
Understanding your market
Analyzing your competitors
Defining target markets
Pricing strategies
Positioning
3. What We’ll Cover Today
Understanding your market
Analyzing your competitors
Defining target markets
Pricing strategies
Positioning
4. Questions to ask
Is your market growing or shrinking?
Is there room for one more company?
Will you be bringing something different to
the market?
12. Use your own knowledge of
your industry
Trends?
Pricing?
Competitors?
New technology?
13. 2006 – How I did it then
Personal knowledge of industry,
competitors and pricing
I knew website sales would continue
to grow in industry
I knew I had an innovative product
I didn’t aim too high
14. 2016 – How I do it now
Industry data through associations
Constant asking/pulsing customers,
prospects, and others
Regular monitoring of competitors
Collaborative learning/sharing with staff
Annual SWOT and strategic planning
15. What We’ll Cover Today
Understanding your market
Analyzing your competitors
Defining target markets
Pricing strategies
Positioning
16. Spy on your competitors:
What do they say about themselves?
How are you different?
17. Where can you research them?
Websites
Google
Press Releases
Social Media
Networking Events
Ask mutual contacts
18. The more you understand
your competitors,
the more effectively you can
position your company!
19. Competitive analysis
YOUR COMPANY COMPETITOR 1 COMPETITOR 2 COMPETITOR 3
Overview
Competitive
Advantage
Target markets
Market share
Marketing
Strategies
Products/Service
s
Pricing/Costs
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
20. What We’ll Cover Today
Understanding your market
Analyzing your competitors
Defining target markets
Pricing strategies
Positioning
32. Should your services be packaged or marketed a bit
differently for different markets?
Define your services &
message for each market
33. AUDIENCE PRODUCT/SERVICE MESSAGE
General Business Branding, print
design, web design,
marketing & social
media consulting
We can help you be
more strategic with
your marketing so
your business grows
Economic &
Community
Development
Organizations
Web design, retail
recruitment guides,
presentation
materials
We can help your
community attract
the attention of site
selectors and
retailers
Existing Customers All services – with a
focus on new
services
Don’t forget we can
help you with a wide
range of services
List each
Audience…
…and the
service/product you
want to provide each
…and the
message you
want to tell each
Do this in Excel
34. AUDIENCE PRODUCT/SERVICE MESSAGE BEST WAY TO REACH
General Business Branding, print
design, web design,
marketing & social
media consulting
We can help you be
more strategic with
your marketing so
you get results
Networking, public
speaking, sales reps,
referral program,
social media
Economic &
Community
Development
Organizations
Web design, retail
recruitment guides,
presentation
materials
We can help your
community attract
the attention of site
selectors and
retailers
Industry Tradeshows,
sponsorships,
referral program, e-
newsletters, blog
Existing Customers All services – with a
focus on new
services
Don’t forget we can
help you with a wide
range of services
Social media, Direct
mail, referral
programs, e-
newsletters, calls
List each
Audience…
…and the
service/product you
want to provide each
…and the
message you
want to tell each
…and the
best ways to
reach each
Next, determine the best way to reach each market
35. Research your options
Are there industry associations that allow
networking, tradeshows or advertising?
What local events do women go to and
what local groups do they belong to?
What magazines or newspapers do my
customers read?
What websites do my customers visit?
36. How do you choose?
What can you afford?
Spread out your visibility over time
What can you consistently deliver? Is a
monthly e-newsletter realistic?
Biggest rule: Have a presence in as
many places as possible within your
budget: a small ad four times is better than
a big ad once
37. Develop your 12 month plan and budget
Do date/pricing research for print ads, events. Then plug in around those.
38. Develop your 12 month plan and budget
Do date/pricing research for print ads, events. Then plug in around those.
39. Build in Structure and
Accountability with Monthly
Marketing Meetings
What happened last month? Did it yield results?
Should we do anything different?
What is coming up? What do we need to
prepare?
Anything anyone is seeing in the industry as an
opportunity or threat?
Any customer feedback on products or services?
41. What We’ll Cover Today
Understanding your market
Analyzing your competitors
Defining target markets
Pricing strategies
Positioning
42. Factors to consider
Amount of competition
Typical price ranges for your industry
Cost of your materials or supplies
Lower overhead as a startup could enable
lower penetration pricing to gain market
share, or keep pricing competitive and
build more revenue to finance growth
43. What goes into cost model
Direct labor Direct Materials
Factory Overhead Sales, General, Admin
What the
market will
bear
44. 2006 – How I did it then
I knew most industry pricing
I belonged to an industry that provided
annual pricing surveys by market size and
size of agency
I knew what the market would bear
I used standard pricing out the gate for
design, penetration pricing for web.
45. 2016 – How I do it now
All of the above plus
Direct analysis of all rates and pricing
based on current data
Adjustments based on internal analysis of
profitability by service and industry + what
the market will bear
46. What We’ll Cover Today
Understanding your market
Analyzing your competitors
Defining target markets
Pricing strategies
Positioning
47. How can you differentiate to stand
out in your markets?
48. Define your brand identity. Get
beyond your services list to what
makes you different – an elevator
pitch could capture this.
49. Focus on talking about WHY
you are a better choice
We can help you grow your business
We can help you streamline operations
We can help you expand your capabilities
We can help you make better products
We have the best customer service
We have the most experience
We have the lowest price (be careful with this)
We are local
53. Rule #1:
Regularly
pulse your
company with
market
research –
PAY
ATTENTION!
RESEARCH
Customer
Surveys
Industry
Sources
Competitor
Research
Internal
Data
Google
Research
Social
Media
55. Bottom Line:
You don’t have to be perfect.
You just have to be better
than your competitors.
56.
57. Download this presentation at
www.slideshare.net/ellendid4
Please connect with me!
www.RedSageOnline.com
twitter.com/ellendidier
twitter.com/RedSageAL
facebook.com/redsage linkedin.com/in/ellendidie
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