This document provides an overview of key concepts for developing marketing and sales strategies for technology startups. It discusses defining an attractive target market and developing a marketing plan that identifies specific activities to generate sales leads and build brand awareness. It also covers understanding the sales process, from initial prospecting to closing deals. The importance of defining each stage of the sales process and aligning marketing tools to support the process is emphasized.
2. Overview
What is Marketing?
Marketing content in the business plan
Developing your Marketing Strategy & Marketing Plan
How will you take you product to market?
What does a marketing plan look like?
The marketing plan is your strategy in action.
What mix of activities should you define in your marketing plan?
How will you communicate to your targeted market sector
What tools you need to help sales
Developing your sales process
Definition of the sales process – for your marketplace
What sales methodologies can you consider?
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3. What is Marketing?
Finding profitable things to do Checking the product has;
What product? Untapped potential
Disruptive influence
Where?
Competition that are not ready
Who?
A route to market
When?
Barriers to entry
How much ?
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4. Why is Marketing important?
To discover a need or problem a customer has
And validate the value of solving the problem
To research markets with potential customers
Discover channels to sell to those customers
To promote the product in the eyes of your customer
Creating or stimulating demand for your product
Good marketing is needed by all businesses…..
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5. Do some market research
Talk to/survey potential customers
Run trials, tests, sampling
Research the web,
press articles, visit blogs, forums and Twitter
Announcements from potential competitors
Competitor web sites – investor relations pages
Information from independent sources
analysts, market research companies, government reports,
industry pundits and influencers
Your experience, of the market, is valuable too
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6. Choosing the right attractive market
Markets where:
profit potential is high
No company in market control
At right point in the life cycle
the right price (profitable) is possible
Defining an attractive market is a key component of your
business plan.
You need evidence to validate your choice of market
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7. Choosing target Market Segments
Low Value
Value of
Products &
Services
within
Category
Target
segment of
the market
High Value
Locations, Regions, Populations of Market
Too Large Too Small
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8. Product price position in market…
Formulation of price/value positioning
Examine similar products
Study/analyse competition
Look at customers behaviour and buying power
Who appropriates value out of the product…
Assess value to end customer (what will they pay?)
Value added by others
Customer vs Consumer
Consider costs of different levels of distribution
Distributors, Wholesalers, Retailers
Internet sales
Mail order
Direct sales
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9. Understanding the competition
• The competition: SWOT analysis
Who are they? Their size & market share?
What do you have that’s better?
Where are their weakness’, what are yours?
How can they be beaten?
Which customers are using the competition?
Where are there opportunities that you can win?
Your advantages and disadvantages?
For example, price, quality, performance, brand, customer loyalty.
Why will customers buy your product or service instead?
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10. Marketing strategy
The Marketing Strategy is how the company will
Go to market and establish a position
Build a brand identity
There
Target customers Can
Only
Define products and prices Be
THREE!
Promote products
Leadership,
Sell through which channels Differentiation
Define Objectives & Measure results or Focus
derived from Porter (1980)
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11. Only 3 generic strategies?
Leadership Focus
Technology Geography
Cost Customer
Time to market Product line
Differentiation
Performance
Perception
Strategy methodologies:
Features • Defensive (against change)
• Developing (new markets)
• Attacking (competitors)
derived from Porter (1980)
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12. Strategy influencing factors
Many factors in your business influence your strategy
Reputation Brand recognition/values Good
& Trust
will
Differentiation
Problem importance
Customer
&
Market Sales channels
Knowledge Future
Market/Application/problem knowledge
Roadmap
Technology Team skills and experience
&
Skills Product h/w and/or s/w invention, patents
Financial stability, funding, profits
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13. Developing your Marketing plan
Your Marketing strategy is “HOW” and your Marketing plan
is “WHAT,WHEN,WHO”.
A good marketing plan, inside your business plan, will build
confidence that you know HOW you will drive demand
The marketing plan is your strategy in action.
What mix of activities should you define in your marketing
plan to achieve marketing objectives?
Create awareness of a problem or need
Build awareness of the solution (your product)
Build your Brand recognition
Sales lead generation activities (and customer acquisition costs)
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14. Marketing communications
Various activities
Brand building, Logos, market position
Web presence,
Social networking plan, blogs / Facebook / Twitter
More in skill session 3, Social Media for marketing, 1st Nov
Product and/or Brand launch plans
Launch timing/location
analysts meetings, briefings before launch
press launches, stimulate articles
PR (Press release) activities
Sales tools, flyers, brochures, datasheets
Support sales demand
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15. Developing your Sales strategy
The sales strategy is how the business objectives are
delivered in sales terms
Sales leads generated by Marketing activities or Sales activities
Selling brings in today's orders
To which targeted customers (your focus of efforts)
Who will you contact first?
Why should they buy?
How will they buy?
How will you support them?
Through which sales channels
Direct, Distributors, Tele sales, Web/internet, mail order
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16. The sales “Hopper”
Sales leads
All businesses have a sales pipeline
(“Hopper”)
Depends on the nature of your business,
your sales cycle time
your success rate
Sales leads feed your pipe line to achieve
your sales targets.
The Marketing plan defines how leads will
be generated
Ongoing sales activity generates leads too
Sales orders
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17. Selling is a process
In Business to Business selling
as opposed to retail sales
Rarely (maybe never) does anyone in business buy at the
first meeting.
Need to understand your customer(s)
Large companies / organisation structures take time
Counterparts have different roles & responsibilities
Personalities & Behaviours
Experience (of you and them)
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18. Understanding the Sales Process
You need to define the sales process for your business
Closing
Prospecting
Supporting Relating
Advocating Discovery
Create solution
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19. What do we do with this process?
Need to understand each stage in the selling process
It’s all about them NOT you!
Define what key messages to convey at each stage
Prospecting Relating, etc
Marketing tools support each stage of the process
Assisting in transitions between stages
Track the process
use feedback to fine tune to suit your marketplace
How you will sell to customers needs to be defined in your
business plan
Good customer identification is valuable
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20. Conclusion: Focus on
What, When, Who, How
In your business plan Sales & Marketing section be clear and
specific about;
What you will do
How you will do it
When will you do it
Who will be responsible
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