Identifying Competition: An Essential Element of Marketing

All industries are growing at a rapid pace with emergence of more and more companies. For a company to exist in this race, it needs to mark its presence and grow at the same time. Knowing competition for a company and accordingly positioning the products is something businesses are concerned with today.

Listing Competitors

To get a clear idea of the differentiated positioning the company needs to identify its potential competitors. A thorough analysis of the competitive products, their features, strengths and operational excellence would give the company a clear picture of the market operations and the trends. Understanding the value proposition provide companies a sustainable competitive advantage which can be utilized in attracting customers from the competitors.

In the process of identifying competitors the company should consider the product, substitutes, technological challenges, new entrants, old established brands. Future competitor analysis also plays an important role in creating a brand presence in the market for a product.

How to Identify Competition?

With the help of senior management direction and insights the company can have a better picture of the competition in the market existing for its products and services. Also from the market research reports and information published by the competitors help in identifying the details of the competitors and their ways of operation.

In order to understand the competitor in the market for a particular product the several analysis are to be carried out such as future competitive analysis, marketing research and meetings and discussions with industry leaders and experts. Understanding the emerging technologies, new entrants and actively scanning the industry gives a complete idea of the competitors and their structure and functioning. A SWOT analysis of the available list of competitors also gives a fair idea of the trends the competitors following and can help in improvising the products of the company and expand the customer base.

Every business that we see today is part of one or the either industry. With the moving pace and increasing consumer demand the business are expanding. Competition is something which has always been there and shall exist till ever. To find a way out and present the product in a better way in comparison to the competitor’s product is every business’s requirement and they should be focused towards it. Identifying competition empowers the business and gives scope for improvement, which enables it to prosper.

VMEdu Looks at e-Learning Trends for 2016

Almost sixty percent of online educational providers are ready to kick their LMS to the curb.

A recent report referenced by DDI Development on current e-learning trends asserts “that nearly 2/3 of online courses’ students, as well as their managers, are not satisfied with their current LMS and are not going to renew their subscription.”[1]

As a software development firm, DDI is interested in how these trends affect coding and coders. When their blog says, “New e-learning companies create new learning trends, as their online community is very flexible and quick to abandon LMS solutions that do not meet learners’ needs,” they are seeing opportunities for programmers to write the code that provides the new solutions e-learning companies are shopping for. When VMEdu sees this trend, they know they have that solution already.  

“Unlike other traditional LMS platforms, you do not have to pay any licensing fees, buy expensive hardware or hire expensive software professionals to launch your online courses and mobile apps,” says VMEdu, adding, “traditional LMS platforms usually have negligible support for mobile apps; VMEdu creates best-in-the-industry mobile apps for you at zero-cost for Android phones (if more than 1 hour of video is uploaded for a single course) and $250 for iPhones.”

Based on these differences and their LMS’s connection to the VMEdu Authorized Training Partners (V.A.T.P.) network, the company claims, “You will save more than 90% of your current LMS expenses by using VMEdu– and have signifi­cantly more capabilities than those offered by traditional LMS platforms.”

They explain the value of this connection saying, “Courses created by our V.A.T.P.s can be made available and sold through our fast-growing partner network of 800+ Authorized Training Partners in 50+ countries. This makes your course available to an extensive network of companies, colleges, universities, training companies, and individual trainers and experts. No other traditional LMS platform helps you with customer acquisition.”

The e-learning trend is projected to continue explosively, “It is estimated to reach $200 billion worldwide by 2018 - more than 200 million people actively using various learning management systems,” according to DDI. They conclude that “One of the most important features any MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) should provide is scalability.” This trend makes VMEdu happy because “V.A.T.P.s have the ability to scale their training very quickly with negligible upfront investment. They get to create and launch their courses on their own websites and mobile apps using the VMEdu Cloud LMS.” DDI notes that for scalability, “As of now, only cloud hosting is capable of providing sufficient resources for this task.”

“It appears that 2016 will become a year when Big Data will stop being a distant future and become our everyday reality, so it’s best to keep this in mind when planning statistical algorithms for your LMS technology,” says DDI. The VMEdu Cloud LMS enables “your courses to include videos, tests, study guides, flashcards, and more: students can track the progress of their coursework, and determine improvement opportunities.” The ability to track student progress, manage courses and more is part of the VMEdu LMS’s ability to handle big data. As they are fond of saying, “VMEdu’s state-of-the-art Cloud Learning Management System (LMS) takes care of this!”

A continuing trend is the growth of mobiles: “Mobile LMS technology is supposed to surpass computer counterparts soon (as well as in many other fields of application). Developing mobile LMS apps is vital for any provider aiming for success,” according to DDI. VMEdu says, “We can create the best-in-the-industry mobile apps for your company with your company name and logo. This app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store (for Android Apps) or the Apple App Store (for IOS Apps) and can be used by your students to experience all of your courses. This provides your students the flexibility to study online and on-the-go.”

“Backend as a Service – That’s the one of the trends underlined by Martin Puryear on TechCrunch. Third party services that support chunks of backend tasks are faster to apply than repetitively building generic things. That helps to focus on innovative and competitive aspects of a product,” is a trend Marina Blinova cites in her article on LinkedIn’s Pulse.[2] VMEdu believes that by providing professional trainers and educational organizations with one of the industry’s most robust LMS, those educators can focus on developing the best educational experiences and value for their students.

VMEdu began creating its LMS more than seven years ago. They tested it thoroughly by launching multiple courses and websites, which have now become global leaders in their fields, teaching more than 500,000 students from 150 countries and 3,500+ companies. The VMEdu LMS is hosted on a scalable cloud infrastructure and already hosts hundreds of courses, with more than 50,000 learning resources including videos, questions, case studies, simulated exams, flashcards, study guides and more.

With its professional training and accreditation bodies, innovative LMS and extensive network of training partners, VMEdu has grown to be an industry leader. That growth is one of the most reassuring trends in e-learning today.

[1] “Main E-learning Trends for 2016” (2/25/16). IT News. DDI Development (ddi-dev.com)
Retrieved on 3/3/16 from http://ddi-dev.com/blog/it-news/main-elearning-trends-2016/ 

[2] Blinova, marina (3/3/16), “What do you consider the most promising trend for 2016?” Pulse LinkedIn.com. Retrieved on 3/3/16 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-do-you-consider-most-promising-trend-2016-marina-blinova?trk=hp-feed-article-title-publish

PPC Advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising or paid search advertising involves a company paying to have its ad appear on search results pages of search engines. PPC advertising providers such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing show sponsored ads, or paid search results, for most search queries. A consumer intending to purchase a microwave oven for her new modular kitchen may enter a query “microwave oven with convection and grill for home use,” seeking cost and feature information. A chain of electric kitchen appliances would likely then appear as a sponsored result. It is often observed that users with a high intention of making a purchase click on sponsored ads. This is especially true of highly transactional goods such as clothing, electronics, and consumer foods. 

PPC advertising has a significant impact on consumer metrics such as brand awareness and brand image, even among users who do not click on the sponsored advertisements. Image ads tend to be more effective in exerting positive impact and increasing visibility in search results. A consumer seeking a new microwave oven may choose to review multiple electric kitchen appliances advice pages before making a decision.

A business can increase the reach of its website using PPC advertising in the following ways:

Choosing relevant Keywords–keywords are the search terms used by consumers to tell search engines about the specific product or service they are interested in purchasing. For businesses looking for maximizing their reach using PPC or search engine advertising, the focus must be on bidding on keywords that are highly relevant to the search queries that are common in their business. Businesses can make use of their historical data and competitor data to determine the popularity and relevance of various keywords.

The price of keywords can vary greatly, from pennies to several dollars depending on popularity, demand, and the value to the advertiser. The ad’s “quality score”, rank and popularity of the keywords among the competitors determine the price an advertiser has to pay. The quality score is the search engine’s way of determining the relevance of an ad to the searcher by evaluating each keyword’s relevance to the business and its landing page, as well as other factors. The rank of an ad is determined based on its cost-per-click (CPC) and its quality score.

Choosing relevant Geography and Time–search engines have enabled business to analyze their past data to determine where their online customers are located and the best time to reach them. Based on this data and other internal research, businesses can choose the desired geography and time of day in which they should advertise their products and services for optimal results. For small businesses that cater to a local audience, geography-based targeting is especially important and helps ensure that their ads remain relevant.

Profiling the audience–Businesses must understand the profile of their target audience and create “user personas” that will help them identify the relevant ads for their customer base. A young age group may be attracted to video ads, while a more mature audience may prefer an image ad. Audience profiling may also help businesses identify the time of day when their target audience is most likely to make a purchase.

Selecting appropriate Ad sizes–Advertisements displayed on search engines and other third-party sites are available in different sizes, and the digital marketing team must customize their marketing content to the size of the ad being displayed.

Testing various Ads– Search engines allow businesses to experiment with two or more ad options in order to identify the more attractive one, commonly referred to as A/B or multivariate testing. A business can divide its marketing budget between two or more ads to be displayed to a similar audience throughout the day if it is unsure about the most effective advertising message for its products or services.

Customizing Language–businesses can also customize their ads based on the language preference of their target audience to make sure the intended marketing message is relevant and reaches audiences around the world. 

To learn more about PPC advertising, visit SMstudy.com

The Millennial Impact

Snapchat, the quick and fleeting photo messaging application, has become increasingly alluring for companies wanting to dip their toes in the “Ephemeral Marketing” waters.  Truthfully, the app had a rocky start entering the digital marketing world, but companies such as McDonald and Chat Sports have now mastered the art.

Snapchat launched in 2012 and currently has 50 million users sending more than 400 million picture or video messages (“Snaps”) per day. That is 46 snaps a second. It’s no wonder companies and marketers want to utilize the app!

Snapchat has several features that are useful in marketing a brand or product. You can send pictures or videos to your followers, but the media will only be visible for up to 10 seconds and then it will disappear, as per Snapchat rules. So, the trick is to use the medium effectively considering the time constraints. Companies have also found the story feature to be very convenient, even if it may sometimes require a workaround. Since users can post snaps to their story, but only users that follow a company can actually see the company’s story, social media strategists put on their thinking caps.

One example of social media “assistance” was used by the American fast-food restaurant McDonalds. McDonalds wanted to employ Snapchat to promote a new product, but they had yet to expand their follower base. The company turned to Twitter, another social media platform, to release a photo from their Snapchat account with the words “stay tuned” written in French fries. This generated a curiosity that in turn built their user base. McDonalds then snapped several pictures on their Snapchat story to ensure their product was seen by all of their followers.

Another example comes from Chat Sports. Chat Sports took a different route in order to grow their following.  The company sent a snap to their followers announcing the opportunity to win free baseball tickets if they could get five of their friends to add “ChatSports” on the app. This expanded their base and also provided the company with the capability to reach their target audience.

There are several other ways for companies to market their brand or product on the app. The NBL snapped behind the scenes videos to promote  games. Taco Bell and GrubHub used the app to send snaps with discount offers. But you better be quick if you want to grap the offer; customer only has ten second to take a screenshot of the coupon before it disappears. Companies have even promoted their live events by urging users to send videos of their experience and send it to the company for free tickets.

As stated in Marketing Strategy, book 1 in the SMstudy Guide®, “It is a fact that people now spend more time on the Internet, via smartphones, tablets, or computers, than they spend on conventional mass media, such as television, radio, or newspapers. This is especially true for the thirty-year-old and younger market segment. Since sales and marketing is most successful when it meets the demands of consumers, this change in consumer preferences is significantly altering the sales and marketing landscape for established companies. Businesses are discovering that conventional mass media marketing has limited effectiveness and some customer segments are not even reachable using these traditional media forms. “

A study done by re/code gets to another reason why companies are so keen on Snapchat. Out of the 50 million Snapchat users, 84 percent are Millennials. If Millennials are your target,  then where else would you want to be! Contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t mean that Millennials have a short attention span, it’s that the attention that is given needs to be quick and genuine which is exactly what Ephemeral Marking promotes. 

Levels of Sales and Marketing Strategy

A company enjoying a good reign must possess an assortment of umbrellas.

Beneath the wide umbrella of Corporate Strategy exists a smaller umbrella known as Corporate Marketing Strategy, which covers Business Unit and Geographic Strategies. Those, in turn, are further divided into particular Product or Brand Strategies for each product or brand.

This figure illustrates the relationship between the various strategies:

The Corporate Marketing Strategy is defined at a corporate level and outlines the overall marketing goals for the company. These general marketing goals drive more specific marketing strategies for each of the company’s business units or geographies. Each business unit or geography defines its own goals, which become relevant inputs for each area’s particular product or brand marketing strategies. Each product or brand marketing strategy defines sales and marketing objectives for each product or brand, which drive specific tactics that align with and often rely on other Marketing Aspects identified in theSMstudy® Guide (Marketing Research, Digital Marketing, Corporate Sales, Branding and Advertising and Retail Marketing).

Here is an example of Levels of Sales and Marketing Strategy:

Land Development Company

• Corporate Level—A land development company wants to grow to be among the top three land development companies in its state.
• Business Unit/Geographic Level—The land development company operates two business units: residential and retail. A goal of the residential business unit is to grow that unit by 12 percent within one year; a goal of the retail business unit is to grow that unit by 10 percent within the same time period.
• Product/Brand Level—Within the residential business unit, the company sells three products: condominiums, town homes and singles. The singles Product Marketing Strategy identifies an objective to grow the sale of single units by 15 percent. To achieve this objective, the teams responsible for building strategy within the various Aspects of Marketing establish specific objectives that are designed to support the overall product objectives and to align with one another.
• Marketing Aspect Level­—The company’s greatest strength is the fact that it is an award-winning leader in green sustainable development. Therefore, the branding and advertising team builds specific tactics that incorporate an increase in reach of its messaging around sustainable development. One specific tactic is to leverage billboard and newspaper advertising with the objective of increasing reach of green messaging by 30 percent. The digital marketing team incorporates tactics to support the objective of increasing the green sustainable development messaging, stressing the importance of this trend and positioning the company as a leader in the industry through the use of various social media channels. One specific tactic is to leverage blogs and online public relations with the objective of increasing the company's rankings in online searches related to keywords such as “sustainable development.” The tactics of each Marketing Aspect are aimed at achieving their own specific objectives; however, both support the overall singles Product Strategy objective of achieving a 15 percent growth in sales for this product line.

When seeking sustained success, a company should equip and adhere to a comprehensive Corporate Marketing Strategy. That umbrella has you covered.

Market Analysis

A local company may boast the best surfboards around, but if it is situated in the Texas Panhandle a lack of sales could make waves. Similarly, a retirement home attempting to attract business through the latest technology might soon find itself in its twilight years. Companies that aspire to achieve sustained success in the marketplace must first perform a market analysis.

Market analysis involves examining market data to identify patterns and predict future events. The purpose of performing a market analysis is to understand the attractiveness of a market. David Aaker outlined the following dimensions of a market analysis:

1. Market Size—This dimension defines the size and potential of the markets under consideration. Market size is calculated on the basis of current sales volume for the market. Another important consideration for measuring market size is its future growth potential, so appropriate assumptions need to be made regarding market growth rates.
   Example of Market Size: The market for sports equipment typically varies from region to region. In areas with longer summers, the demand for tennis and golf equipment is generally higher. In mountainous regions there is a larger demand for skiing and hiking apparel. The population in regions may be similar, but the market size of each region may vary greatly for each specific product line.
2. Market Trends—Trends show the overall growth or decline of a market, competitor activities and customer behavior over time. Current market trends can also help in predicting future market trends.
   Example of Market Trends: The timing of major sporting events often results in an increased demand for particular products. For example, branded soccer balls and jersey sales increase every four years leading up to and during the World Cup.
3. Market Growth Rate and Profitability—Market growth rate forecasts use previous data and future trend indications to predict the future growth rate of markets. Product diffusion curves are used to predict inflection points in growth projections. Market profitability is often evaluated using Porter’s Five Forces model.
   Example of Market Growth Rate and Profitability: As international trade and growth in developing countries increase, it is possible to evaluate the potential acceptance rate of hi-tech features on bicycles in markets traditionally dominated by low-cost versions. For example, observing the patterns of user adoption of ceramic disk brakes in France may lead to an understanding of similar patterns in countries such as China.
4. Industry Cost Structure—Value Chain Analysis can be used alongside industry cost structure to identify value-adding activities and reduce costs by eliminating those activities that do not add value. Focusing on activities that are critical to the company can help develop a competitive advantage and prevent wastage of resources.
   Example of Industry Cost Structure: In the twentieth century, the banking industry typically relied on physical branches for addressing customer needs. However, the cost structure for the industry has changed significantly in recent times, with many customers preferring to do most of their banking transactions online, or through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
5. Distribution Channels—Analyzing the effectiveness of existing distribution channels and identifying emerging channels help a company understand its ability to reach customers and identify new opportunities to gain a competitive advantage. Companies with existing distribution channels may find it easier to launch similar types of products targeted at similar market segments.
   Example of Distribution Channels: As with most other industries, online sales and distribution have greatly impacted the marketing and sale of sporting goods. Online representation of the value of the product is crucial to ensure the customer is comfortable enough with the product to purchase it without actually being able to touch it. Relationships with shipping companies become equally important as the customer expects quick and reliable delivery.
6. Key Success Factors—Identifying key success factors helps an organization focus on existing strengths that have contributed to success and seize opportunities that can give it a competitive advantage. Such factors might include accessibility to essential resources, distribution channels, patents, operational efficiencies, technological superiority and so on.
   Example of Key Success Factors: The success of an online swimwear provider may be quantified with a few key factors such as the ability of the customer to receive clothing that fits without the benefit of trying it on, the ability of the company to keep shipping costs low enough to compete with brick-and-mortar stores and the ability to offer a broad range of product choices to maximize the overall appeal of the site.

Companies searching for success must be prepared to execute when presented with the opportunity. The prep work of any marketplace resident should include analyzing market size, market trends, market growth rate, industry cost structure, distribution channels and key success factors.

David Aaker’s outline of the dimensions of a market analysis can be found in Aaker, D.A. (2010), Marketing Research, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

Can You Really go Viral?

Lately, I have been asking myself, “Why do companies really push their marketers to go viral?” Only 15 percent of marketing material actually goes viral, so why not push for something more realistic? I get that companies want to “Go big, or go home,” but this mindset just wastes marketing dollars.

Going viral literally just means the number of views your campaign reached. So, the obvious choice to get your marketing to the masses is social media. According to Jason Akeny, a contributor at Entrepreneur, “Getting your brand noticed via social media grows more difficult with each passing day. Users upload 100 hours of video to YouTube every 60 seconds and share more than 4.75 billion pieces of content on Facebook every 24 hours. Add to that 500 million new tweets per day, and the chances of breaking through to a wider audience can seem virtually nonexistent.”

The companies that have mastered the art of going viral, such as T-Mobile, Similac and Chipotle also have the marketing budget, for lack of better words, to waste when it comes to focusing on going viral. So, what can small businesses do to reach this same level of success? The truth is going viral isn’t an effective marketing strategy. This may be a hard pill for many to swallow, but it is still possible for those smaller companies to go viral, it just can’t be the end goal.

There is also the misperception that if you produce more content then it has a higher chance of reaching more people. But it will most likely just get lost in the social media ocean of information. Companies need to focus their attention on what their marketers are producing; quality not quantity. 

“An assumption can be defined as anything that is considered to be true without proof,” states Marketing Strategy, book one in the SMstudy® Guide. So, going viral is really just that, an assumption. How do we prove how to go viral? As stated in the book, “Competition analysis involves examining the competitive landscape for competing products with a view to understanding the company’s current product portfolio relative to other products and determining opportunities for product differentiation.”

This does not necessarily mean that an analysis should be done for a company’s specific industry, but rather for many industries in order to find that proof. When it comes to creating viral content there is no formula, but evaluating how other companies achieved their success is a good place to start.

Companies that are looking to successfully market their brand (this is what the main focus should be) need to think outside of the box. Madison Avenue has always struggled to market feminine product companies. Women just don’t associate their “special” time of month with dancing on the beach in white pants. In 2013, HelloFlo, a subscription-based company that delivers feminine products right to one’s door launched.

The new brand was barely keeping their head above water when they decided to try something a little different. They decided to be honest. “The Camp Gyno” hit YouTube in the summer of 2013 and within 24 hours it became the ad of the day and reached 6 million views in its first month. Not too shabby for a product that was produced on a small budget.

It is possible for small businesses to go viral, but that doesn’t mean it should be the goal. The goal should be to create quality content that breaks away from the norm and makes people think, laugh, or even cry. Producing a content mill will not reach your prospective consumers, but creating the right content will. Stop wasting your time producing a lot of content when you could be producing the right content. Go ahead, I dare you.  

For more information and interesting articles go to SMstudy.com.