Introduction
The products or the services produced by a firm must be given a considerable price that will be in favor of both the business owner and the customer. If the price given to a certain product only favors one side let’s say the business owner, then the business may experience various challenges in its endeavors.
For example, the business owners decide to set a high price for prices and services of his or her business, this means that in every purchase by the customer, the business owner is going to make high profits, and therefore this will be to his advantage. He will be making huge profits from the customers, and the customers will have to use extra money so that they can afford to purchase items from such a business. However, things may not be like the owner expects them to be, customers may realize that that business is more expensive than others and therefore avoid buying items from it. At the end of the day, the business will have no customers and, therefore, no profits made. Successful business owners must always consider both sides, the price set must be in favor of both the customer and the owner. Distribution is another strategy that must be given seriousness when setting up a business plan. Products and services must reach the customer when they are in good condition. This will make the customer satisfied with the item, and therefore next time he or he needs such an item, he may prefer to purchase the item from the same business.
Pricing Strategy
Pricing is the process of giving items prices in a business. Animal Foodland organization will be very strategic when giving items and animal foods prices. The pricing will involve having an introductory price that will enhance acceptance by the public and potential customers. This price will be less than the actual price will be set after the business has already been established and is stable (Liu, Zhai & Chen, 2019). The introductory price will only cover all the costs that were involved in the production of that item, and there will be no profit margin included in the prices. Later on, after the business has already picked, the price can be set that now ill cover all returns, allowances for employee errors, and even cover the bad debt. The price will no longer shoot anymore after the actual item price has been set unless due to other external factors that are not in the control of the business.
After the price has already been set, there will be no bargaining when doing the purchasing. The prices will be on a fixed term. Also, there will be subscriptions that will see frequent customers enjoying various incentives and discounts after doing huge shopping from the shop. The subscriptions will also involve getting points after doing substantial shopping from the shop, after which you can use these points to purchase items from the shop.
Distribution Strategy
Distribution of items to customers will be available for those customers that will conduct their shopping via an online platform. Shopping via online means will be available in the Animal Foodland organization, and so if any customer will prefer to buy items online, then the organization will do the delivery services at no cost. Other delivery services will be for any other business that will be willing to buy foodstuffs from the organization at a wholesale price and then go and retail elsewhere (Sharma, Kumar & Cosguner, 2019). For such cases, the organization will be legible to do the distribution. Shipping of foodstuffs for abroad customers will also be available in the Animal Foodland organization. However, this service will be accompanied by its charges, which means that there will be a shipping fee for any item that has been sold outside the country.
Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
Animal Foodland organization will make use of different integrated marketing communication plans. Some of these communication platforms will include social media platforms, sending an e-mail, and even texting. This will be aimed at getting in touch with every group of people since everyone is a potential customer. Many people who own dogs in Washington DC mostly own them as pets, and so they can be thought to be more exposed; therefore social media plat will be the most targeted marketing platform for the products produced in the Animal Foodland organization.
Currently, social media platform is the platform that can be used if one wants to reach the largest audience. However, people who own dogs in their homes for protection also need these foodstuffs for their dogs, and so they are potential customers too. Information about this organization can reach people through e-mails or even Facebook.
When applying the integrated marketing communication plan, there are aspects that Animal Foodland organization and these issues include; content that will be sent for public consumption, the targeted audience, and also consider how often are people okay with receiving information. These messages must always be sent at intervals that will not be nagging to the targeted audience. Not very rarely and also should not be sent very often. The content of the information sent will be designed in a manner that should be appealing most in the eyes of the consumers. Animal Foodland organization will have experts dealing with this department because it is an essential department when it comes to the success of the organization. In this century, indeed, any business that does not venture into advertising cannot thrive the way it is supposed since every other business is advertising, and so much a business does not fit the stiff competition in the competitive world of business.
Public Relations
Public relations are communication activities that a company employs to protect and promote its image in the eyes of the public. Animal Foodland organization will make use of different public relations methods to promote the image in the public and society. Some of the communication activities that the organization will make good use of is by publishing events that enhance the publicity of the product. Some of these activities include events that the organization will be conducting for social responsibility. The organization has plans of holding events in society that will be aimed at benefiting society. Through these events, the organization can take them as an advantage of promoting their products.
Effective communication is also a way in which Animal Foodland organization will use to promote public relations. The organization will ensure that there is an understanding of the organization by the public and that the organization’s values, mission, vision, and goals are clearly stated and well understood as well by the public. Through this, the public will probably be on good terms with the organization if the organization will be conducting its routine activities governed by the stated values. The other way of promoting good public relations is by press relations, where the information concerning the organization will be put most positively. By so doing this, the image of the organization will have been promoted positively.
Sales Promotion
This is a marketing strategy where short-term initiatives that are attractive to potential customers are used to promote the product by stimulating the demand and, therefore, sales increase. Sales promotion is done for various reasons, and some of these reasons include when introducing the product to the market for the first time and also when there is a need to offload the inventories. Animal Foodland organization will use different sales promotion techniques to enhance this (Yang & Mattila, 2020).
One of the sales promotion techniques that the organization will employ is giving gifts immediately after the organization has been launched. Before the launching of the organization, there will be a piece of information that will be moving to the public that the first people to purchase items from the organization will get one extra for every single purchase. By so doing this, a big group of people will try to come and do their purchasing for that first week, and so the organization will gain publicity from that sales promotion and also make huge sales from that first week.
Giving free samples will also be employed by the Animal Foodland organization. A free sample will be given to the first one hundred to make it to the organization for purchase. There will be one item that these people will receive for free from the organization. This promotion technique will see most people struggling to make it to the first one hundred purchasers; hence sales will be promoted. Giving discounts is another technique that will be employed by the company to promote sales. Once in a while, the organization will be offering discount services for different items. This will see huge sales for these products.
Personal Selling Plan
This is the use of salespeople to promote sales, and it is one of the marketing strategies that Animal Foodland organization intends to use once it gets into operation. Salespeople approach the customers at a personal level and have to convince them to buy their items. These people are also responsible for answering any questions that the customers could be having concerning the item. They are entitled to promote the products until the customer is convinced to make the purchase. Animal Foodland organization will make the university sales students that are in for their attachment to being their salespeople. The organization is convinced that these students will do a good job in promoting the organization. Therefore, there is no need of having permanent people for these tasks unless one is in charge of the personal selling strategy.
Online and Direct Marketing Plan
Animal Foodland organization will use e-mail marketing and sending direct mails as the form of online and direct marketing. This is an easy and less expensive form of online and direct marketing and it will not cost the organization a lot of money. The organization will be able to get these e-mails from Google and thus be able to link with their customers and other potential customers directly. E-mails will be designed in a manner that is appealing to the eyes of the customers but still passes relevant information to them. Through these sent e-mails, the audience will be in apposition to make their orders, ask queries if there are any or even give compliments where it is worth.
Items ordered through these e-mails will be delivered to the customers at no cost, and through these e-mail threads, customers can use them any time of their convenience, and they will be in a position to get feedback from the organization. The team concerned with this department will be vigilant to respond and act on these responses t any time of the day. Sending of E-mails best fits the products and items produced by Animal Foodland Organization since, via e-mail, the organization will be able to send both written texts and visual messages too like pictures of the items being marketed.
Telemarketing can also be used sometimes in rare cases. In such instances, where telemarketing can work, is when dealing with a frequent customer of the organization and maybe there is a new item in the market that the organization thinks it is good for such customer to know since he or she may be interested in it. Otherwise, telemarketing will be avoided at all costs by the Animal Foodland organization.
Social-Responsibility or Cause-Related Marketing Plan
Animal Foodland organization will once in a while be engaged in philanthropic activities in society. The most common social responsibility that the Animal Foodland organization will be involved in is the mass immunization of dogs in Washington Dc. People in the community will be required to bring their dogs so that they get immunized and also be aware of how one should take care of his or her dog so that dog remains in the best condition (FernĂĄndezâGagoet al., 2020). Dog owners will also be taught the best type of food to give to their dogs and the type of food that dogs at different ages require. Not everyone who owns a dog knows how to handle the dog. Some people own dogs for fun as their pets, while others own dogs for protection purposes
Most people who own dogs as their pets have the know-how of handling their pets, and they always strive to give these creatures the best lives. These people will prioritize attending such events so that they can increase their knowledge of giving their pets the best lives. Those who own dogs for protection purposes most have less knowledge of how to handle their dogs, and they should always plan to attend such events. Eventually, these events will always have people to follow and both the dog owners and the Animal Foodland organization will benefit.
Animal Foodland organization will fund all these activities, but then the dog food that the dog owners will be taught to be the best food will be available in the stores of this organization. Thus, this means that the organization will still be marketing its products. It is evident that through these activities, the organization will increase its customer base significantly. The organization will have its derivatives present in these events, and so it will still be making profits while conducting such activities. It is a service to society, although the organization takes that chance of making more sales since dog owners will be crowded in one place and so it is a great chance for making huge sales. In the end, everyone will go home happy and better, the dog owners will go home with more knowledge while the organization will go home with an increased market for their products and still more sales for that day.
Conclusion
To conclude, having an excellent marketing strategy is vital for every business. Customers are attracted by various aspects that a company’s organization. In this case, the marketing strategy for this organization can attract customers since the pricing strategy has been analyzed. Moreover, having fair prices is vital since it reveals that the customers are appreciated and valued. Online marketing has also become essential due to increased modern technology. Therefore, the marketing plan will be of great significance to the company.
References
FernĂĄndezâGago, R., CabezaâGarcĂa, L., & GodosâDĂez, J. L. (2020). How significant is corporate social responsibility to business research? Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(4), 1809-1817. Web.
Liu, J., Zhai, X., & Chen, L. (2019). Optimal pricing strategy under trade-in program in the presence of strategic consumers. Omega, 84, 1-17. Web.
Sharma, A., Kumar, V., & Cosguner, K. (2019). Modeling emerging-market firmsâ competitive retail distribution strategies. Journal of Marketing Research, 56(3), 439-458. Web.
Yang, B., & Mattila, A. S. (2020). How rational thinking style affects sales promotion effectiveness. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 84(?), 102335. Web.