3 Questions to Jump Start Market Opportunity Analysis

If you want to launch, grow or diversify a business, then you need to spend some time – a LOT of time – researching and understanding the potential market opportunity. Having tremendous talent or a really great idea just isn’t enough. You need to do some digging to answer the following questions:

How are people meeting this need today? Remember that not all competition is direct. Let me give you an example. I worked with a client who designed a new fastening technology. There was nothing quite like it on the market, so the client believed there to be no competition. In fact, there was a lot. The competitive offerings may not be a direct comparison, but people are fastening things down somehow. Really open your mind and consider how you attach and fasten things. We use bungee cords, rope, zip ties – and the list goes on. So, the question is not whether you have competition – because you do. The question becomes how people are meeting that need today, and whether your offer provides enough value for them to consider changing habits and potentially paying more for the solution.

Is someone else already filling this need? Now that you’ve considered how the need is currently met, think about your competition. Is someone else already doing this? If so, are you able to do it faster, better or cheaper? If not, then you need to consider how you can, so your offer is differentiated. Sometimes this means walking away from an idea as well. If it’s just not feasible and viable for you to make your offer faster, better or cheaper than the competition, the market opening may not be big enough for two (or more!) of you. Keep in mind that customer experience can be a huge differentiator, and your ticket to winning.

Is the opportunity financially viable? There is a lot more than product cost to be considered when determining price and profit (or loss). First, you should price your product or service based on the value it brings to the market and what people are willing to pay for that value. If you try to price based on the cost you have into it, you will likely be priced too high or too low for the market. Too high, and you’ll price yourself out of the market. Too low, and you’ve left money on the table. When considering financial viability, look at your total business costs. In addition to product costs, consider labor, equipment, utilities, buildings, marketing, tax obligations, supplies – everything. Do your homework to understand how much you have to spend to make and market your offer. If you look at just the product or service cost, you will end up with an unpleasant surprise when all of the other expenses add up.

Now that you’ve vetted your opportunity, you can make an educated decision about whether to continue into the strategy phase or go back to the drawing board. Marketing Flexibility is available to assist with your market research and analysis needs. Visit us at www.marketingflexibility.com or email kris@marketingflexibility.com for a free consultation.

What Does a Marketing Consultant Do?

I’m often asked to explain what I do. As a strategic marketing consultant, the work isn’t something I can display as easily as, say, an agency which creates advertisements. Here’s the best explanation I can offer; I help businesses find vision, clarity and direction, backed by solid plans for success. I ask really tough questions, force really tough decisions, and develop a roadmap for success. Here are the questions I ask and the answers I develop with business owners and managers:

What Is Your Best Market Opportunity?

The world is full of opportunity! The challenge is discovering current and future market needs which aren’t already being met. If someone else is already meeting the need, then how are you different? Can you do it faster, better, or cheaper? If not, we’ll explore better opportunities or discuss how you can differentiate yourself to compete.

What Do You Know About the Opportunity?

You have a great idea, and that’s a great place to start! Now, it’s time to be honest about what you know about the market and opportunity. This is your situational analysis, and it’s a lot of work. During this phase, we dig into market research and explore all of the things which impact your potential success. We look at your company structure and capabilities, your potential collaborators, your potential customers, your competition, and the context – or the world – in which you’ll need to do business. The context includes political, legal, social and economic factors which can impact how you do business.

What Does It All Mean?

Once we’ve uncovered the necessary information, we conduct careful analysis. It’s a lot like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. There’s a lot of data laying in front of us. We figure out how to piece it together to create a logical picture and make sound business decisions.

Where Do You Go From Here?

This is the fun part! Once you have a clear picture of the best market opportunity, we develop a strategic plan. This plan becomes your roadmap to success. In the plan, we clearly define the following:

·         Vision and Mission

·         Situational Analysis

·         Market Segmentation

·         Objectives and Goals

·         Positioning

·         Business Model Strategy

·         Product or Service Offers

·         Price Strategy

·         Place Strategy (how your offer goes to market)

·         Promotional Strategy

·         Key Risk Factors and Control Plan

·         Budget and Forecast

·         Success Metrics

How Do You Get It Done?

Implementing your plan is hard work. I’ll work with you to ensure you have the business processes, organization and key contacts necessary to successfully implement you plan.

If you have more questions about what we do, or just want to bounce some marketing questions off from me, visit www.marketingflexibility.com or email me at kris@marketingflexibility.com.

SEO, Social Media, Web Design - Connecting the Dots

Businesses often outsource pieces of marketing, which makes sense when gaps in expertise or capabilities exist. The key to success in working with marketing vendors is knowing which questions to ask and results to expect. Here are some commonly outsourced services, and common pitfalls to avoid.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of selecting and optimizing keywords. The most common pitfall I see is excellent SEO in terms of driving traffic to your site, but in not converting those visits into paying customers. There is a science to selecting keywords which will actually convert visitors into customers. Likewise, content on your website should be written to provide a positive visitor experience, which pulls visitors through the buying cycle. If content is written only for the sake of saturating the site with keywords, it will not drive sales.

If an SEO provider is driving traffic which does not generate viable leads, you should reconsider.

Social Media

Social media is all about the number of followers you can generate, right!

 

Wrong! Just like SEO, the sole purpose of social media is to drive sales. If your social media provider is only measuring the number of likes, followers or posts, you should look elsewhere. A good social media provider will build a social media strategy which supports your business objectives and, ultimately, supports your sales goals.

Web Design

Web design and SEO go hand-in-hand. If you interview a web design provider who does not ask about your business objectives, online goals, target audience, key messages and SEO needs (at a minimum), you should reconsider. Beautiful websites do not sell products and services (although they should look great too!). Online strategy coupled with effective content, website architecture, compelling calls to action, and great SEO do.

There are many agencies which provide excellent SEO, Social Media and Web Design services. We would be happy to provide a recommendation or simply some advice on the types of questions you should ask when looking to outsource those services. Drop me a line at kris@marketingflexibility.com.


Marketing Flexibility, LLC
www.marketingflexibility.com