Introduction

The aim of this report is from the point of view of a budding entrepreneur who wants to conduct marketing for the new proposed venture. As such, there is need to understand marketing from the point of view of entrepreneurship. Both are important aspects and are vast topics that will need in-depth research and comprehension to get a clear idea. For this, a number of books, journals, articles were used. The author then has chosen to propose opening a digital marketing firm as there is a growth in this sector all throughout the globe. The scope for marketing on the digital platform is increasing day by day.

 

Task 1 best approaches to research the new business venture

The first part is to find out the best approaches about researching for the new business proposed venture of opening up digital marketing firm.

Conducting research in two ways

When conducting research, there are two ways -primary and secondary. In the primary research approach, the aim is to find out about the market demand through asking or finding out directly from potential customers. The other method is through secondary resources such as blogs, articles, journals, and books about the industry and the overall situation. The pestle analysis can enable the entrepreneur to understand the current market scenario and see the macro economic situation. Then the entrepreneur can find out from industry analysis using the porters five force analysis(Bagozzi et al., 1998).

Figure 1 the levels of analysis to understand the market(Bagozzi et al., 1998)

Concept of marketing

The concept of marketing is that it is a method to reach the consumers in order to provide them with solutions that they are seeking in the market. At times, the consumers are not also clear on their needs and wants. As such, the company tries to conduct research and understand the needs and wants of the consumers and come up with the right product, price that consumers are willing to pay, then place the product near the consumers and promote it.  Marketing communication mix is the promotional mix in order to reach the consumers in different ways

The market must be analysed to understand specifically where the gap is and then offer a product or service accordingly. If the market is not analysed, then there will be wrong product or service which has no demand and will eventually cause the business to fail. In order to make a marketing plan or marketing research, the MacDonald’s 10 step to marketing plan or marketing research can be utilised(McDonald, 2018).

Figure 2 the 10 steps to marketing plan or marketing research(McDonald, 2018)

From the above diagram, we see that there are four phases to the marketing plan or marketing research. The first phase is the goal setting, the second is the review of the situation while the third is the strategy formulation and the final is the resource allocation and monitoring. In the second phase, the market analysis is done through the market audit. Then it is the time to do a swot analysis and end with assumptions.

McCarthy’s 4p

In order to understand the marketing mix we apply the McCarthy’s 4p to create the right product, place the price and the promotional tactics(Milisavljevic, 2013).

Segmentation

Customer segment must be identified so that there is a good product or service offer for them. There are four ways to segment the customers – geographic, psychographic, behaviouristic and demographic. In the case of the it business, the customers are the business organisations who need a website for their business(Winer and Dhar, 2014).

Figure 3 the four segmentation of the market(Winer and Dhar, 2014)

Porters five force analysis

1. Competition while entering in the market: A new firm faces intense competition in a competitive market, which is a common threat to entry
2. The issue with supply of the products: Ensuring the satisfaction of the consumers being the most important goal of marketing, they are significantly dependent on the suppliers.
3. The buyer’s influence on demand and price: Marketing is subject to the buyers’ demand for certain goods, who can determine the price as well as influencing other conditions.
4.   Availability of alternative products: the available substitutes is a big concern for the marketing wings of a firm. The more the substitute, the more difficult it is to achieve the goal
5.   Competition from similar market players: the company has to strategize in all respects to optimize marketing outcome investing(Porter, 2004).

Swot

The opportunity that the market can give is that every business organisation will eventually need to have a website and so the market size is huge and a small chunk can bring in enough revenues for the company. There are many players in the international market and in the local market also, there is growing number of freelancers who can produce the work output at minimal costs. Hence, to compete with the skilled freelancer will be a challenge.

This is the expected outcome as calculated by the entrepreneur. It includes expenses as well as the income that the company is expected to generate over the period of years. The start-up of the company will need to have investments of 20,000 pounds. This will be required to purchase the powerful it equipment which will be used to make the websites. On top, there is cost of office setup which includes purchasing the interior decorations and so forth. Once there is setup costs completed, it is time to manage the variable costs on a regular basis. This would typically involve the overhead salaries and the office rent at the least. There are other variable such as the internet rent which is a big part in the it business(Stokes, 2010).

Task 2. Conducting research based on the objectives

As seen from the above macdonald theory, there are need to make objectives to conduct the research. The aim by the author is to conduct primary and secondary research both. The aim is to conduct secondary research for 2 weeks to understand the demand in the market. The primary research is to understand the demand in the market for the digital marketing agency or services. The target audience to reach would be those companies who need the service as well as consumers or individual business owners, influencers, social media seller, who would need the services(Stokes, 2010).

Objectives

1. Conduct secondary research for 2 weeks to understand the demand in the market
2. Plan primary research for 2 weeks to understand the demand in the market for the digital marketing agency or services
3. Execute primary research for 4 weeks to reach the target audience such as companies who need the service as well as consumers or individual business owners, influencers, social media seller, who would need the services

Task 3 discussion

A. the proposed venture

The proposed venture by the entrepreneur is to serve the growing needs for digital marketing services by target audience such as companies who need the service as well as consumers or individual business owners, influencers, social media seller, who would need the services and this can be served through opening up digital marketing firm. The operations of the company are using the skilled web designers and developers to create websites for the company. This has to be done when there are orders from the customers. Hence there are a number of processes which need to be accommodated in order to manage the works. This means that there has to be a process to collect the orders. The plan is to take orders both online and physically. As the firm will be located in a physical location with office setup, customers will be able to walk in and give orders. The orders will have to go through a number of operational processes. The first is to understand the requirements of the clients which will be possible when the client is sat with. Then from that point, the technical team will start to create the first website prototype which will be shown to the client. The client’s requirement may change at that time which means that the team will make a 2nd and final prototype version and then will demonstrate it to the client. From there, the alpha version will be live for internal testing. Once the internal testing passes, it will be time for beta testing which means that the client’s customers will be able to see the website live. After a certain period of time, the beta testing phase will be tested and passed for final live version (Kotler & Armstrong, 2018).

b. Primary and secondary research methods and its justifications

According to Saunders et al, there is the research onion which can clarify the methods for research. It is given below for a better understanding.

The author aims to collect responses from the primary research using the survey method where 10 questions will be asked and the responses will be measured using the Likert scale method which will help to quantify the data. Based on the responses, there will be possible scope to see the results in a graphical manner. Furtheranalysis can be conducted using analytical tools in excel or spss which will help to find various relations and correlations however that is not within the scope of this research(Saif and Mohammed, 2015).

c. Results of your secondary research as well as its impact on the primary research

From the secondary research of 2 weeks with a total of 20 hours dedication, the author was able to find out a number of good reports and analysis which shows that there is a growing need for digital marketing services in the market. The market opportunity is growing as more and more people and businesses are getting online to meet the potential customers while the customers are also increasing their orders online(Gould, 2016).

Figure 4 growing digital platform (McDonald, 2018)

D. brand story

We will attempt to understand how the primary research is best suited for testing the brand with the targeted consumers or customers. In order to reach the customers on the digital platform, there is need for creating a brand and that has to be relayed to the customers in a story approach. Research suggests that customers don’t care about marketing, they care about stories and so this approach is mandatory to reach the customers(McDonald, 2018).

Website is the place where people are able to order directly to the company and so this is the best solution for the company to understand the market. The companies which have been targeting customers through the traditional media need to understand the value of the website and so it will be able to reach newer and existing customers through the website that is owned by itself. The purpose of the website can be providing information, creating awareness in the customers, as well as selling items and service through the website(Stokes, 2010).

 

e. Social media testing examples

Figure 5 snap of the research results(Stokes, 2010)

The picture above shows the results that the author acquired to understand how much businesses use online social media platforms. The results show that there is a high result of Facebook to be the primary place for businesses to be present and showcase their offers to the targeted audience(Den, Pietersma and Marcel Van Assen, 2015).

1. Facebook

Figure 6 results on Facebook(Den, Pietersma and Marcel Van Assen, 2015)

The result above shows that there is high need for the market to be on Facebook for increasing awareness of their brands, increasing community relationship, generate leads and more.

2. Instagram

Figure 7 the snap of the result of the marketing services requirement(Den, Pietersma and Marcel Van Assen, 2015)

The above snap shows that there is a high demand of 85% users in the research who want digital marketing services.

3. WhatsApp

Figure 8 the snap of the result of the marketing services requirement on WhatsApp(Stokes, 2010)

f. Evaluation of Web/mobile/social media analytics

The analytics that are acquired from the research show that there is a high demand for the digital marketing services. And so the scope for the new proposed venture is good. The snaps below show some of the analytics results acquired from the different platforms of the digital media.

G. examples of analytics

Figure 9 analytics snap(Stokes, 2010)

The example above is the screenshot of the Facebook analytics which shows some of the activity of the page and how the response of the users who are coming on the site is.

H. impact on the marketing mix in the future

Based on the results above, it is clear that the marketing mix of what is the product that will be served can be found. For example the results indicate that social media services is highly required which means that the business venture will need the to provide this product. The price should be market competitive which means that the social marketing package should start from 100 pounds or so. In terms of place, the online marketing tools will be applicable. In terms of promotion, the social media platform is chosen as more and more customers are there(Porter, 2004).

Task4. Results of all stages of the customer journey using data analytics and customer responses or feedback

A. privacy ofconsumers

I. Social media/mobile/web analytics.

The privacy of the consumers is a very important issue which means that the user information will be kept to the best possible privacy so that it is not accidently reaching others. As such, there will be no collection of user’s data through any malware or third party apps.

ii. Feedback from potential customers

The need for privacy is huge which was asked to the customers and the response is shown through the research conducted(Milisavljevic, 2013).

Figure 10 the need for privacy(Milisavljevic, 2013)

The need for privacy is seen where 86 percent of the respondents mentioned that the default setting is not enough and that the businesses should be aware that the users are not happy with the way data is collected. For example, the users want that there is no collection of data and utilisation of the data of the users on third party apps in order to predict the behaviour of the user(Milisavljevic, 2013).

 

 

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is a need for digital marketing in the market that the budding entrepreneur was able to understand and find out from the research for the new proposed venture. A number of books, journals, articles were used to understand through the secondary research while the primary research was also done. The author believes that opening a digital marketing firm will give good opportunity as there is a growth in this sector all throughout the globe. The scope for marketing on the digital platform is increasing day by day as seen from the polls and responses of potential customers.

References

Bagozzi, R.P., José Antônio Rosa, Sawhney, K. and Coronel, F. 2018). Marketing management. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Cateora, P.R., Gilly, M.C., Graham, J.L. and R  Bruce Money (2016). International marketing. New York, NYMcGraw-Hill Education.

Den, V., Pietersma, P. and Marcel Van Assen (2015). Key management models : the 75+ models every manager needs to know. Harlow, England ; New York: Pearson.

Dixit, P.K. (2014). Android. New Delhi: Vikas.

Gould, T.H.P. (2016). Global advertising in a global culture. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. (2018). Principles of Marketing. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

McDonald, J. (2018). SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING WORKBOOK : how to use social media for business. S.L.: Createspace Indep Pub.

Milisavljevic, M. (2013). Value oriented strategic marketing. Marketing, 44(4), pp.299–309.

Porter, M.E. (2004). Competitive advantage : creating and sustaining superior performance. New York, NY: Free Press.

Saif, A. and Mohammed, N. (2015). How does Marketing Strategy Influence Firm Performance? Implementation of Marketing Strategy for Firm Success. International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, 1(3), pp.7–15.

Stokes, R. (2010). EMarketing : the essential guide to online marketing. Irvington, NY: Flatworld Knowledge.

Winer, R. and Dhar, R. (2014). Marketing management. Harlow, Essex: Pearson.

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