Marketing is the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying buyer needs. Market development relates to the process by which organizations develop markets for their products. Marketing involves discovering new markets for a company and actively encouraging customers to patronize a product or service. Marketing is a very important part of an organizations growth and success. Gawdo has marketing functions and activities that help your business to grow.
Market development is a strategic growth plan that specifically identifies and develops markets for products currently available. It also targets untapped markets in currently untapped segments. The marketing strategy should include one or more dimensions of market development. These include:
One important aspect of a market development strategy is geographic expansion. Marketing should include efforts to expand into untapped market segments in order to achieve long term growth objectives. Geographically expanding a company can be accomplished through the following strategies: Mergers and acquisitions, direct selling, networking and branding, and leasing activity. Companies can also expand markets through technological innovation and expansion. These strategies are described below:
There are several ways to reach high tech companies. These may include the provision of low cost equipment and supplies, training, and marketing. High tech enterprises require specialized suppliers for computer equipment, computers, networking and software, and telecommunications. These companies may not have the capital to expand into new markets. A market development strategy can be directed towards educating these enterprises about the advantages of purchasing low cost goods and services and the need for training their employees to use these technologies.
A market development strategy can also include establishing new facilities and departments to support early market research and development. This strategy should recognize the importance of maintaining the target company’s competitive edge. This could involve the acquisition of new staff, training and educating existing staff, and investing in research and development tools and technologies.
The distribution channels should be analyzed to determine if these are economically feasible. A market development strategy may also be directed towards optimizing distribution channels for obtaining maximum flexibility for expansion. The target customer for the whole product or service should be analyzed to determine whether this is a segment that is not being served. The product or service should also be analyzed to establish whether there is sufficient room to expand the market.
A market development strategy should be aimed at expanding into new markets where competition is very stiff. Areas where growth is desirable to include Latin America, Asia, and Western Europe. The development strategy should provide means to achieve a competitive advantage in these areas by overcoming the current market shares and distributing power to other areas. Areas where growth is not desirable to include Canada and Eastern Europe. In North America, opportunities for new markets could be achieved through mergers and acquisitions, through horizontal expansion, or through developing a competitive niche.
A market development strategy can be tailored to take into account factors such as product functionality, customer base, pricing, and market competition. One should determine the timing and extent of growth, and the resources needed to achieve this. Resources should also be available to deal with any new competition that may come up. Such strategies also have the potential of reducing customer acquisition costs.
A new market development strategy has two key stages. In the first stage, a company should determine its target customers. To do this, the company should conduct market research. This should allow the company to identify and target potential customers who are most likely to be receptive to its offerings. Targeting should be done carefully to avoid dishing out information about its product or service to the wrong customer.
The second stage of a market development strategy involves the implementation of the strategy. Once a list of target customers is in place, companies can begin to develop new products and services that would meet or exceed the service quality that is currently offered by its competitors. While it may be possible to develop competing products and services, this would entail significant financial resources. The company may be better off developing its own high-tech offerings.
Market development strategies can be implemented on a local, regional, or global scale. A company that is new to the market should consider establishing a manufacturing unit in a low-cost location. While this may result in lower operational expenses, companies should consider whether the benefits of this market penetration strategy would outweigh the costs. Companies that are established in their particular field and have established a good customer base will be more likely to realize the benefits of a market development strategy.