Marketing practice starts with identification and analysis of market opportunities. A company's marketing opportunity is an attractive arena of relevant marketing actions in which a particular company is likely to enjoy a differential advantage. It is simply any area where a company feels his can enjoy a differential special advantage over competitors. Opportunities abound everywhere, especially within the external marketing environment example socio, cultural, economic, political and legal. Some opportunities come in form of threats and problems. Where a firm is boring of good ideas, marketers should continue to think and bear fruit and where there are too many opportunities, marketers should assist in selecting the best among them. In essence marketer's task his to generate, evaluate, and select attractive market opportunities for the firm . What are the opportunities in the democratic governance? Increase in fuel pump price? In security of lives and properties e t c?
An opportunity is attractive if it falls within the company's distinctive competence area that is what the company can do especially well. The company's purpose, mission and visions may define whether an occurrence is an opportunity or not.
Target market section
Once an opportunity is spotted the next step is target market selection. Target marketing is a marketing techniques of identifying the different market segment, selecting the one or more specific target markets, and designing an appropriate marketing mix that will appeal to each of the segments. Each market is filled with many more consumer groups and consumer needs than one company can possibly sell, or serve in superior fashion. This calls for market segmentation, that is breaking heterogeneous market into homogeneous logical market segments Also call sub markets using some common characteristics.
Competitive positioning
This requires that a firm should develop a general idea of what kind of offer to make to the target market in relation to competitors offers. Market positioning defines where the company and competitors stand in relation to market needs or attributes within the targets market full stop it indicates what position the firm wants to occupy in reckoning of the customers . Product position in defiance where The company's product stand in terms of what they offer attributes vice-versa the existing products. It states what solution or benefit the product should be seen as providing. The company may want to offer distinctive products product feature cheap or expensive price massively distributed please or highly promoted promotion. With any of these strategies or combination of two or more strategies, the tasks of competitive positioning is achieved.
Marketing systems development
This is the task of developing a marketing organisation, information system, a planning system, and control system that promises to accomplish the company's objective in target market, a monitor performance, detect problems, improve efficiency and take corrective actions when needed. This is purely management task.
The best marketing organisation is the one that appoint marketers to very positions in the organisation . Enquiries and orders need to be processed and marketing intelligence gathered. There is need for a system of planning and also a control system that monitors performance.
marketing plan development
This involves articulating qualitative long-range and annual marketing plans for the Target market. A marketing plan is a written document that spells out the goals, strategies, and tactics that will be used to gain, establish and sustain the competitive position and results that the company desires. Every marketing plan must contain the following major elements . Situation analysis. This express the past, present and probably trend of events within the economy and the company . Marketing objectives and goals. This state the major marketing objective for the coming period and means of translating them into goals that are achievable and measurable and marketing strategy, action program, and budget.
Plan implementation
The purpose of planning is to implement, otherwise it is useless. Legal and task must be assigned to those who will implement within a specified period of time. Objectives must be clearly stated and the action standard well articulated. With good responsibilities and assigned, progress can be measured from time to time and Variances determined. The reason for this should be determined and corrections effected . This is control. There could be annual plan control, profitability control, efficiency and strategic controls.
