Thursday, January 31, 2013

Importance Of Marketing Plan In Business Success


The success of any kind of business is dependent upon the way you present your information. The domain that deals with this part of the business is called marketing strategy or marketing plan. The strategy not only deals with the way of representation but also about the timings that when to display what information and when to hold a certain piece of information. How to couple the specific products and how to convince the customer that you are offering the best quality and best deals? In the upcoming lines we will restrict our discussion to the marketing strategies that makes an online shopping website a success. Marketing in online business is far more important and critical, because it involves special strategies and marketing practices.

Before continuing the discussion you should know that what the phases from which a customer passes when are he visits an E-Commerce website. These are;

  • What is that? 
  • Oh Cool!
  • Why would I want one?
  • Is it any good?
  • Is it worth that price?
  • I want one, but….
  • Conversion 

Confused? Now we will look that what these phases are all about. The marketing plan of a shopping website should take care of all these phases.

Marketing Plan Objectives
When a customer first sees your content browsing the websites, the question that arises in their mind is that what is that? So your designs should be consistent with the user expectation and your marketing strategy should take care of this fact. So if you have caught the customer’s eye, then the next phase is oh cool. You must make your customer feel that the offer you making must be a cool one. This is very important in case of online shopping websites. This can be done by presenting the information in an aesthetically pleasing way. Moreover you must hold back some information to raise suspicion that what the offer will be all about?

Marketing Plan
Marketing Plan

Now if a customer has spotted something cool on your website, he would ask that why would I want one? He will think that what can be the reason for buying the product? You can satisfy the customer by telling him a story that how this product has changed the life of previous buyers. The more you will be to explain your audience that the product will help them achieve their goals, more they want it. After they are convinced they will need the answer to the question that is it any good? You must convince them by saying that the brand is the eminent one and quality that you are offering is the best. Moreover you may add the reviews beside the product or social media analysis like how many likes the product has achieved on a social media website.

Now the main thing that your marketing plan needs to ensure is that you must make the customer believe that the product is worth the price you are offering. This can be done by using two techniques, Framing; changing the context, framing your argument by describing contributory factors and then making the main point. And the other one is, Anchoring; presenting your offer as equally valuable and rare. The thing people look for in online shopping is the best possible offer. So you should depict you offer as the best available on the internet.

After going through all the phases, everyone has last minute hesitation that do we really need the product, or should I buy it. You must offer something that averts the danger of loss at customer part such as free trial, or refund on return within a specific time.

The last thing that your marketing plan should ensure is conversion. Offer the last minute deals to maximize your sales or consequences that customer may face if he does not place an order immediately. Such as representing scarcity by showing that a limited amount of items is left in the stock, or anything that make the customer buy the thing immediately.
Online shopping websites should take into account all these phases and factors in mind while devising their strategies and offers.

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