Marketing plan Outline Step Two - MRKT 4331 Spring 2024

Refer to step one preamble requirements as all elements in Step One fully apply to step two.

1. Define your website strategy

Part A

• Name and explain The E-Commerce hosting/platform you will use and why.

Part B

• Name and explain the hosting /platform website template you will use and why.

Part C

• Explain how this chosen template appeals to your target market segment / persona.

Part D

• Create, develop, and present your own example using this website template featuring the assigned product. (Include this in the formal part of your presentation, not in your appendices)

Part E

• Based off your target market segment / persona analysis - What type of messages/content will you post on your website that will appeal to them?

Part F

• Explain how you will create positive eWOM, or C2C or EARNED media with a few examples of specific activities you will employ. (NO theory here I want real implementable activities that will encourage followers to share content about your business/product.)

Please READ the Wikipedia Links provided as these are provided to remind you of the marketing terms and concepts you should be using in this presentation. Each link directly relates to a specific section of the marketing plan and is designed to help you achieve the best grade possible.

Please read the website types explained in the link Wikipedia website

2. Define your pricing strategy.

Explain your pricing strategy and why it will be effective with your target customers. (Do not simply copy what is already posted for the assigned product with regards to pricing, be able to defend your choice(s). Depending on your target audience, you may have different pricing strategies.

Part A

• List your retail selling price in Canadian dollars.

Part B

• List the ONE or BEST pricing model you plan to use that will resonate best with your target audience. (Remember this is a one-year plan and multiple strategies will only confuse your target audience.)

Part C

• Explain why this pricing model is appropriate for your target market / persona.

Part D

• Describe any influences that may change or influence your pricing structure. (This may include bulk purchase discounts, paying in advance, installments or financing, customer accounts...)

NOTE: Ensure that your pricing strategy enables you at least to return the seed capital at the end of the first year of operation.

Please read the various pricing models explained in the link Wikipedia Pricing Strategy

3. Define your distribution / fulfillment strategy.

Distribution / fulfillment strategy refers to the process of tangibly getting your product, using a 100% online website business model, to your customer. ASSUMPTION: Customers will only order one product and not multiple. (NOTE: NO drop shipping is permitted. You must take ownership of the products you plan to sell, warehouse the items, and manage your inventory in conjunction with your online orders.)

Clearly outline how you will fulfill your online orders. This must include all aspects from the moment the order has been received online to the moment the customer receives the item in their hands. Please address the following:

Part A

• Which shipping service will you use from your warehouse to the customers location and explain why this service is best.

Part B

• Who pays for shipping? Is it you, the customer, or some combination of these two options? Explain why you have chosen this approach.

Part C

• Shipping costs to ship one item of the assigned product for sale, to the two addresses listed below using your chosen shipper using the lowest cost option.

• 1925 Indian River Crescent, North Vancouver, BC V7G 2P8
• 100 Great Eastern Avenue, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 0J7

Part D

Shipping cost alternatives available to the customer for faster shipping times to overnight shipping if available from your shipper of choice. Outline these costs in Canadian dollars.

Part E

• Detailed Flow Chart Diagram that assumes you have inventory-at-hand that includes:

• All steps / processes in your fulfillment process.
• Time associated with each step / process.
• How often will shipments be shipped each week to your shipper of choice.
• Total number of days for the entire process with timelines shipping to the following two addresses one local and one far away:
  • 1925 Indian River Crescent, North Vancouver, BC V7G 2P8
  • 100 Great Eastern Avenue, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 0J7

Part F

Explain if the total number of days, for the lowest cost option, to ship to the 100 Great Eastern Avenue, St. John's, Newfoundland, A1B 0J7 address and explain if this is acceptable to your target market /persona based on your research. If not, what are your options?

Please read the various distribution strategies and order fulfilment links in Wikipedia: Order Fulfillment and Wikipedia distribution strategy

4. Define your Marketing Channel strategy.

Over the course of [current year], we will launch/ramp up our use of the following channels for educating our customers, generating leads, and developing brand awareness:

NOTE: social media platforms are tools to deliver messages not strategies. Go deeper to address how social media is utilized to define your message and distribute to a targeted audience. Develop your campaign ideas, uses of #hashtags, a list of influential @followers that refine and articulate your overall social media strategy.

Part A - Marketing channels table

Complete the table below as it pertains to your "owned" Website / Publications / Social Media Platforms; Hard Metrics to Measure Success of each channel; and the significance or purpose of this activity to your target market for each channel.

Citations:

* https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/15-essential-web-design-statistics-every-business-owner/

** https://founderpal.ai/user-persona-generator?persona=79VCVCCNMY

*** https://upbeatagency.com/tiktok-ads-conversion-rates/#:~:text=The average TikTok ad conversion,vary wildly between different sectors.

NOTE: See Publications information at the end of this document for more detail.

5. Define your Online Promotion Strategy and Costs

Online advertising strategies have the same purpose,to educate online consumers and persuade them to buy a product.

"Over the course of the [current year], given the cash allotted to the Marketing team, we expect to invest in the following items to ensure we meet the objectives outlined in this marketing plan."

Part A - Push/Pull Strategy

Explain which strategy, Push or Pull, is appropriate for your B2C business model and why this is appropriate.

Part B Influencer table

*Specialization: finfluencers, skinfluencers, petfluencers, etc.

**Category: Nano(10K), Micro(100K), Macro(1M) or Mega(>1M).

Citation: 1 https://hypeauditor.com/instagram-category-robotics/

Links: @bostondynamicsfan https://www.instagram.com/bostondynamicsfan/?hl=en

Please read social media strategies explained in the link as well as Social Media and Online Advertising

Part C - Online Promotional Mix table

Define how you will introduce, promote, and support your products in the marketplace using the table below. What will you highlight about your business/products. Consider campaigns, messaging, advertisements that can connect you with your audience.

Online advertising may include any of the following: Affiliate Marketing; Display advertising; Email Advertising; Content Marketing; SEM Campaigns; SEO; Digital PR; Video Advertising; Mobile Advertising; and Social Media & Influencer Marketing (Both of which have already address in Section 4 Marketing Channels so do not repeat that information here)

See Promotional mix information at the end of this document for more detail.

Citation: https://www.webfx.com/digital-advertising/learn/best-online-advertising-strategies/#39-1

*Citation: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2023/05/15/google-ads-benchmarks

Part D - Make your personas ACTIONABLE.

(Source: https://founderpal.ai/user-persona-generator?persona=79VCVCCNMY

Now that you have information about your Persona from Step One of the Marketing Plan AND information about your Advertising Strategy from the table and analysis above, combine this information to make your persona actionable by developing THREE IDEAS that you could implement in the first year of operation.

Example:

User Acquisition Idea

• Partner with student organizations and online learning platforms to promote the social robot companion as a valuable tool for enhancing remote learning. Offer special discounts or incentives for students who join through these partnerships.

Conversion Rate Optimization Idea

• Implement a referral program that rewards students for referring their classmates to purchase the social robot companion. Offer incentives such as discounts exclusive content or even cash rewards to encourage word-of-mouth marketing.

Content Marketing Idea

• Create a series of YouTube videos featuring tutorials and demonstrations of different ways the social robot companion can assist students in their learning journey. Cover topics such as personalized study plans interactive quizzes and virtual study groups.

The following Wikipedia Online Advertising link may help.

The following Public Relations link may help.

7. Define your after the sale strategy.

"Over the course of [current year], we will launch/ramp up our use an after-sales strategy for educating our customers, generating leads, developing brand awareness, remarketing, email, order confirmation, etc."

Define how you will introduce After-Sales activities to support your products in the marketplace using the table below.

Citation: https://www.webfx.com/ppc/pricing/google-remarketing/#:~:text=Our Happy Customers-,How much does Google remarketing cost?,however, that these are averages.*Source: The click-through rate (CTR) of a retargeted ad is 10x higher than the CTR of a typical display ad. [Source: AdRoll] The engagement advertisers can get from retargeting is significantly larger. While the average CTR for display ads is 0.07%, the average for retargeting ads is0.7%.

Source:

Source: Retargeting can increase conversion rates up to 10?ross industries.

Source: For most brands, we recommend putting 60-90% on prospecting budget toward prospecting, with the remaining10-40%toward retargeting. Using an average of 25% of the budget for remarketing for use in table above.

8. Define your content calendar strategy?

Over the course of a typical Week Only, our content calendar will be our map as to what, when, how, where we will employ a specific marketing activity to help achieve our sales goals and objectives. Please do so for only one week.

Choose a week in the year that has a variety of activities / posts that support your products in the marketplace using the table below.

A social media calendar is an overview of your upcoming social media posts, organized by date. Social marketers use content calendars to plan posts, manage campaigns, and review ongoing strategies. Complete the table below to outline how you will map out your marketing activities using the information from your Website, Marketing Channels, Social Media, Promotion, and after-sales strategies.

Part A - Content Calendar Table

Source: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19IREYexAm391_fRIJWQgk6s4xSJPVdJZGgMub8ai_98/edit#gid=1742421606

Part B Mockup examples

• Provide two mockup examples of posts on social media that you may complete. For example, if you say you will use FB, then put together a sample FP post that incorporates your product, and your themes and messages.

• Explain why this mockup will resonate with your target market / persona.

General information

Information for online publishing

There are several different ways that you can publish online, and the method that you choose will depend on your specific goals and needs. Here are some common examples of online publishing:

Blogs: A blog is a personal website or web diary where you can share your thoughts and ideas with the world. You can set up a blog for free using platforms like WordPress or Blogger.

Podcasts: A podcast is audio content usually published on third-party platforms like Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Podcasts are great because they can be collaborative; you can invite guests and experts to join you in discussions.

Social media: Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great ways to share your content with a large audience. You can use social media to promote your blog posts, articles, or other forms of content.

E-commerce: If you sell products or services online, then youre already engaged in e-commerce publishing for retailers. This type of publishing involves creating product pages, catalogs, descriptions, and other forms of content that help promote and sell your products or services.

Press releases: Press releases are short announcements that are often used to promote events or product launches. They can be published on your website or distributed to news outlets and other websites to generate publicity for your business.

Apps: You may decide to design and promote your own mobile app, whatever that might look like for your unique product/service. The app then becomes your published content, and you would manage and promote it accordingly.

Here are some popular types of content for online publishing:

Blog Posts:Blog posts are a great way to share your thoughts and ideas with the world. They can be about any topic you like, and you can easily incorporate images, videos, and links into your post to make it more engaging.

Articles: Articles are like blog posts, but they tend to be more informative in nature. If you have expertise on a particular subject, writing articles can be a great way to share your knowledge with others.

Digital Magazines: Digital or online magazines generally follow the format you would expect from a traditional, in-print magazineonly, they are entirely online. An example would beThe Ecclesiestical Review, an arts and culture magazine.

eBooks: eBooks are a great way to share longer pieces of writing with your audience. They can be downloaded and read on various devices, increasing functionality and convenience for busy people who want to learn more about a certain topic.

Audio Files: Audio files are another popular type of content for online publishing. You can create podcasts or simply record yourself talking about a particular subject. This is a great option for people who prefer to listen to information instead of reading it.

Interactive Content: This may include something simple like the ability to zoom in/out on a product photo but it can also go more in-depth with multimedia elements. Think: reader instigated animations,parallax scrolling, or embedded tutorials/wizards.

The Promotional Mix in the digital era

Source: https://4dp.com.au/pillars-of-promotions-mix/

The digital age has allowed for new ways of communicating and buying things. This provides marketing managers with many new channels and marketing tactics they can utilise. Some of these channels include affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards affiliates for each visitor or customer that they bring in. Affiliates receive payment based on measurable actions such as sales generated through their individual sales and marketing efforts.

Display Advertising

Display advertising is a way to show ads on websites or apps or social media. The goal is to show promotional advertisements and brand messages to people who might be interested. You can use text, images, flash, video, and audio in your ads. Display advertising is a great way to be creative and reach a lot of people.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is the act of sending emails to customers for the purpose of developing a better relationship with them, encouraging loyalty and repeat business, acquiring new customers, and persuading current customers to buy something immediately. Email marketing can also involve sharing ads from third-party companies.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a way to get new customers and keep old ones. You do this by creating content and sharing it with people. This can be in the form of blogs, videos, articles, or any other type of media. When you create good content, people will trust you more and be more likely to do business with you.

SEM Campaigns

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is a form of marketing that uses the internet to help promote a website. This is done by increasing the visibility of the website in search engine results pages (SERPs). This is usually done through paid advertising on websites like Google and Bing. Although SEM usually focuses on paid advertising, it can also involve using SEO to get higher rankings and more attention from search engines.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO refers to the work you do to improve the ranking of your website in unpaid search engine results. This excludes people who visit your website directly, people who come from other websites, and people who buy ads on search engines to promote their website. There are many different types of SEO, including work done on image search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

Social Media

Using social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service is called social media marketing. Companies use social media marketing to communicate with different kinds of people including customers, employees, journalists, bloggers, and the public. On a high level, social media marketing includes creating a plan for a marketing campaign, setting rules (active or passive use), and deciding the culture and tone of the companys desired social media presence.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing where experts or people with a lot of social influence promote a product or service. This can be done by making videos, writing articles, or just talking about it on social media.

Digital PR

Online public relations are the way companies communicate with the public on the internet. This type of PR uses different platforms, like search engines and social media, to talk to people about the company and its products. Compared to traditional PR methods (like TV, radio, and newspapers), online PR is more varied and reaches more people.

Video Advertising

This type of advertising is when you put an ad on a video that people can watch online. This type of marketing has become more and more popular over time. There are three kinds of online video ads: pre-roll ads, which play before the video starts; mid-roll ads, which play during the video; and post-roll ads, which play after the video has finished.

Mobile Advertising

Some people see mobile advertising as being like online advertising. However, mobile advertising is much bigger. It includes SMS and MMS advertising, in addition to the types of advertising that are done online. Mobile ads can be things like click-to-download ads, click-to-call ads, and click-to-message ads. They can also be videos, text ads, or banner ads.

Actionable Persona Ideas

Part F - Make your personas ACTIONABLE.

(source: https://founderpal.ai/user-persona-generator?persona=79VCVCCNMY

3 User Acquisition Ideas

• Create engaging social media content showcasing how the social robot companion can make studying fun and interactive for students like Emma. Use platforms like Instagram and TikTok to reach a younger audience.

• Partner with student organizations and online learning platforms to promote the social robot companion as a valuable tool for enhancing remote learning. Offer special discounts or incentives for students who join through these partnerships.

• Collaborate with influential education bloggers and vloggers to create sponsored content that highlights the benefits of using the social robot companion in remote learning. Provide them with demo units to try out and review on their platforms.

3 Conversion Rate Optimization Ideas

• Offer a limited-time free trial of the social robot companion to students allowing them to experience its benefits first-hand. Collect feedback and testimonials from trial users to build trust and credibility.

• Implement a referral program that rewards students for referring their classmates to purchase the social robot companion. Offer incentives such as discounts exclusive content or even cash rewards to encourage word-of-mouth marketing.

• Streamline the purchasing process by implementing a simplified checkout system with multiple payment options. Reduce friction by offering installment plans or discounted pricing for students with limited budgets.

3 Content Marketing Ideas

• Host a live webinar or online workshop specifically tailored to the challenges faced by students studying remotely. Share tips strategies and case studies that showcase how the social robot companion can address and overcome these challenges.

• Create a series of YouTube videos featuring tutorials and demonstrations of different ways the social robot companion can assist students in their learning journey. Cover topics such as personalized study plans interactive quizzes and virtual study groups.

• Develop a comprehensive blog post series that tackles common questions and concerns related to integrating a social robot companion into remote learning. Provide data testimonials and real-life examples to showcase the effectiveness and benefits.

A marketing plan is your roadmap for finding and keeping customers. By planning your marketing step-by-step, you give your company the best chance of success in todays competitive marketplace. From establishing a strong brand to understanding your ideal customer, to creating a compelling buying experience, the time you put into planning now will pay off many times over in the success of your business.

Mission:

Your mission is to develop a comprehensive in-depth marketing plan for an online in three steps over the term. This is Step One.

• Students do NOT have to determine a product that they would sell in the online environment as this will be predetermined for the class.

• Each student will develop their own unique and individualized Marketing Plan for the common product selected by your instructor.

• The target customer must be an end user consumer and not a business, therefore, all sales are B2C and not B2B.

• Your website must be the primary selling platform, but you may use other secondary or tertiary distribution channels such as the Amazon Seller Account or other such distribution channels. If you do choose secondary or tertiary distribution channels, you must be fully aware of how they work, their costs, etc. and include the details in your Marketing Plan and the pro-forma income spreadsheet.

• All students will follow the same detailed Steps of the Marketing Plan using the same templates that are provided for you.

• Please note: This is an individual effort and not a group effort.

Your Product:

iPal 2 robot

Originally designed as a teachers aid for children, the iPal2 offers an open development platform allowing users to leverage brain games, music therapy and other content to engage and entertain older adults with various levels of cognitive ability. The iPal2 is a 40 tall humanoid robot with a 10 Android tablet on the chest plus a hand-held remote control. In addition to Alexa, Zoom and other popular apps, AvatarMind offers proprietary apps to facilitate text-to-speech chats, changes in facial expressions and movement (using a smart phone or separate tablet). This easy-to-use robot can reduce stress on staff or volunteer caregivers when used for 1:1 visits or in group activities.

Unlike service robots that exist to perform manual tasks, the iPal2 robot itself is considered a social robot. It has wheels on the base so it can roll around and the arms and head move so the robot seems to dance. However, it is the aesthetics of the form factor of a cute robot that creates a fun and more engaging way to interact. People often name their robots and want to have their picture taken with them.

Social isolation, loneliness and boredom are critical concerns for the health of older adults. They can lead to accelerated cognitive decline and increased risk of early death. The form factor and fun additions in the iPal2 make AI voice technology feel like another person or some type of being in the room, versus just a smart tablet which feels like a device. That means iPal2 helps provide companionship, which can help people feel like they arent so alone.

Useful links to help get you started:

From the iPal Robot Website https://www.ipalrobot.com/

https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/prwirecenter/global-companion-robots-market-2024-updates-business-statistics-and-leading-players-analysis-by-2031

https://www.robotlab.com/store/ipal-autism-pack

https://robotiklab.co.uk/product/ipal-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoVWnN5i_vk

The marketing plan time frame is one (1) year from the launch date of January 1, 2025. Please develop this marketing plan with this timeframe in mind.

Your market is ALL OF CANADA and as such all aspects of your marketing plan must take this into account. You will be provided with a seed capital budget of $20,000 which must be paid back in full within the first year of operation. All initial expenses cannot exceed this initial seed capital as loans are not permitted. This includes everything from inventory to your website hosting, to content development for marketing, to marketing to promote your business on Social Media platforms to boosting your posts on various social media platforms. Expenses associated with implementation of your various strategies to marketing your company from launch date must be clearly detailed and included as separate line items in the proforma. Expense items in your strategies must match those found in the proforma exactly.

For all three Steps of the Marketing Plan, each student will develop and submit a concise NARRATED Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and upload it to the course Moodle site before the due date and time. Penalties apply for late submissions. There are no written reports for this course. Ensure the audio recording for each slide of your narrated PPT presentation is working, clear, easy to hear and understand. Presentations with no audio or audio that is of very poor quality will be rejected and receive a score of zero. There are no opportunities for resubmission.

Your presentations will be reviewed and assessed by the instructor using the grading rubrics provided.

The Maximum number of slides permitted in your presentation are 21 slides. The slides should be self-explanatory and stand on their own. You are permitted to provide limited slide notes however, that said, they are NOT to introduce new material that is not already presented on the slide, but to SUPPORT material presented on the slide only. This may take the form of showing your assumptions, calculations, analysis, and your citations. Given that you have a maximum of 15 minutes for your narrated PPT presentation, this works out to about one minute per slide, which is the accepted business standard. Any content beyond the 15-minute time limit will be disregarded as if it was not included or presented and will receive a score of zero. So do not go over the time limit practice and time your narrated PPT presentation.

Cover Page: Student name & ID number, Instructors name, Course name and number (MRKT 4331 R50), Date of submission, 1 slide

Maximum time limit for each narrated PowerPoint presentation: 15-minutes

Maximum slide count for the body of report: 15 slides

Slides that exceed the slide maximum will be disregarded and not considered for grading purposes. In other words, only the first 15 content slides will be considered as part of your presentation for grading purposes. Any slides beyond the 15-slide limit will be disregarded as if they were not included or presented and will receive a score of zero.

Your content should clearly address the Rubric requirements for each Step of the Marketing Plan as it is your recorded PowerPoint content that your instructor will assess for your grade.

Narrated PowerPoint slide presentations must be submitted on time to the course Moodle site as directed in the Course Presentation.

PENALTIES: (no exceptions permitted)

Late assignments: 15-mark (not percent) penalty for each day late. (One second past the due time is considered late. Date and time taken from Moodle)

Incorrect format: 15-mark penalty (not percent) for any assignments submitted in any format other than Microsoft PowerPoint presentation format for steps One through three. Student will be required to resubmit in the proper MS PPT format to receive a grade.

Incorrect Moodle Assignment folder: 15-mark penalty (not percent) for assignments submitted to the incorrect assignment folder. Student will be required to resubmit into the proper folder to receive a grade.

Incorrect template or order of topics: 15-mark penalty (not percent) for students electing to use their own template or put topics in an order other than what the template requires.

Students are required to use the Marketing Plan Steps 1, 2 & 3 Templates provided. Students are required to use the same headings and in the same order as found in the Marketing Plan Steps 1, 2 & 3 Template when developing their PowerPoint slide presentations.

Following the Template ensures you cover off and complete all aspects of the deliverables for the marketing plan and it is clear to your instructor which part of the marketing plan you are addressing. It is not the job of the instructor to find content in your presentation and then try to find a match as to which component of the Rubric it might apply to.

1. Define your products

Describe, in detail, the product assigned to you to promote in your online business. No face-to-face sales, of any kind, no drop shipping is/are permitted therefore you must overcome as much as possible the fact that online customers cannot use all their senses of touch, taste, sound, etc. Include detailed multiple pictures of your product(s) with details of their specifications such as weight, size, dimensions, colors, technical specifications, etc. For a good example, look at what Amazon does for their products.

2. Define your brand

Part A - Problem being solved

• What problem is your target audience solving by using your product?
  • Try to think less literally (i.e., they eat at my restaurant to solve hunger) and more about the specific motivations that bring them to your business (i.e., they need a healthy fast-food option they can use on their short lunch break)

Part B - Positioning Maps

• Use two different positioning maps with different axis criteria to help visualize how you want to be perceived relative to your major competitors. You should develop each positioning map using those critical axis attributes most important to your target market that will help differentiate you from the competition. Critical should integrate and relate to what your target audience determines as critical not what you might think is critical. You have this information from your Part Four: Identify your customers analysis.

Part C - Explanation of your two maps

• Explain / analyze what your Positioning maps indicate.

Part D - Actionable Insights

• Based on your analysis of the positioning maps, what is your positioning statement and how do you want to be perceived in the marketplace? Essentially, what is your sustainable competitive advantage? DO NOT default to the worst differentiator of Lowest Price as this is not sustainable or acceptable for this project.

3. Define your Goals and Business Initiatives to accomplish the overarching company goal(s)

Remember:

This is a Canada wide online business, no physical stores or any sort, no face-to-face sales of any sort. All sales are online to people you do not know. That means you will NOT be selling to your friends and family for this marketing plan. Far too many students default to this limited option.

Please limit the number of Initiatives/Goals/Objectives to a maximum of two.

Better to have an in-depth analysis on a few goals and initiatives than a superficial analysis of too many business goals and initiatives. You do not have time in your narrated PPT presentation to cover more than two initiatives.

Your online business goals and initiatives are for the first year of operation only. Use the following format below for each initiative. These should be S.M.A.R.T.

Part A - Examples:

[Your Company name] has the ambitious goal of [overarching company goal(s)]. To help the business do that, our marketing team will pursue the following initiative(s) in [current year]:

Example one

Example two

4. Define your customers

The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer. This makes understanding customers the top priority of any business.

Your highest priority persona

Create the highest priority persona or your best imaginary customer description. This persona should correspond to the most important customer segment or target market segment that you want to attract. For example, a coffee shop near university might be going after students as their primary persona, with parents of young children as their secondary persona and the local business crowd as their tertiary persona. You are to identify in detail ONLY your primary persona. This will help you focus and complete a deep dive and analysis of one target rather than choose several targets and dilute your focus and presentation.

Your persona will help you visualize the customer(s) you are targeting and develop brand messages and marketing tactics that will resonate with them.

For the highest priority persona, you must address each of the five (5) elements that describe this persona.

Part A - Geographic:

• This is already set for this project Online and digital landscape across all of Canada - where will your business and sales take place? Simply say you will be selling online across Canada.

Part B - Demographic:

• What is their demographic profile - who is your customer?

• Characteristics of your primary persona expressed statistically, such as age, gender identification, profession, income, social status, education, marital status, religion, birth rate, death rate, average size of family, average age at marriage, race, ethnicity, etc.
• The more demographic detail you have about your highest priority persona the better you will be able to understand them and the better you will be able to target them effectively with appropriate strategies.

Part C - Psychographic:

• What is their Psychographic profile Interests, habits or routine, preferences, values, hobbies - why do they buy?

• What is their Lifestyle profile Status, relationships, known associations like athletic and health/wellness preferences or career and family ambitions.

Examples: socially or environmentally conscious, health and wellness preferences, value saving time, communicate via digital media

Part D - Behavioral:

• Buying Factors / Sensitivity Price, quality, brand name, service, special product features, advertising, packaging, location, store design, ambiance, discounts, coupons, rebates, loyalty programs, contest, influencers, newsletters, blogs, IGTV, etc.? - what triggers their buying behavior?

• What specific Social Media platforms and sites do they use and if more than one, prioritize them based on frequency of use.

Part E - Target Market:

Using a combination of demographic, psychographic, lifestyle, and behaviours, profile your BEST customer. Crafting customer persona(s) are a great way to capture your clients story of doing business with you.

Note: See Persona Template provided in the Course Moodle Resources as this may help you flesh out this section more fully. Link to source: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/customer-profile-template-examples/

Additionally, HubSpot has a free downloadable make my persona template. Link is: https://www.hubspot.com/make-my-persona?hubs_post-cta=bottom&hsCtaTracking=1bc2de50-bb5b-4f9c-9e43-1869869a7e8b|1270b4df-4164-4c44-b3c5-1c7290afdfbe

5. Macro Environmental Analysis - PESTEL

Scan your organizations external macro environment. The important principle is identifying the key factors from the wider, uncontrollable external environment that might affect the organization. The PESTLE analysis should feed your SWOT Analysis as it helps to determine the threats and opportunities represented by macro-environment forces that the organization usually cannot control. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEST_analysis

Address ALL elements of a PESTEL analysis and develop Actionable Insights:

All elements apply to all businesses but do vary in importance / impacts. Use and complete the table provided below. Keep your Positive and Negative impacts to the ONE only, then address actionable insights.

Part A - PESTEL Table

Part B Actionable Insights

What activities can you undertake to mitigate the single biggest PESTEL negative element and take advantage the single biggest PESTEL positive element?

In other words, prioritize your positive impacts from the highest positive to the least positive and use the highest positive in your discussion about how to take advantage of this highest-ranking positive element. Similarly, for the negative elements, prioritize your negative impacts from the highest most negative impact to the least negative impact and use the highest most negative impact in your discussion about how to take minimize this highest-ranking negative element.

6. Define your competitors

Who else in this environment sells competing products? Anything that may be considered an alternative to what your business provides (please dont say you have no competition you do!).

You must understand what your competitors are doing and how their products stack up against yours. Analyze your competitors websites, social media, blogs, newsletters, online reviews, annual statements, product documents, brochures, etc. Talk to their customers about their needs. And dont overlook the opportunity to learn more by talking directly to the competition.

Part A - Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses analysis table

Find ONE significant and direct competitor, in addition to your company, that you can profile with Strengths and Weaknesses- things they do well and things they can improve upon. Use and complete the table provided below. No more than three strengths or weaknesses for your business and that of the competitor. Choose only the most important strengths and weaknesses.

Remember Direct and Indirect competition. If you are a sandwich shop: Other sandwich shops are direct competition; a sushi restaurant is indirect competition. Both stop a customer from being hungry. Only one of you gets their lunch money. Focus on the DIRECT only.

Direct Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses analysis table

Part B - Positioning Strategy

Once youve discovered your competitive landscape in the Competitor Strengths and Weaknesses analysis table above, its time to add yourself into the mix. Positioning refers to what differentiates your business from others.

Size up the competition and tell your reader how you will be different and take them on! Explain why customers would buy your product versus that of your competitor?

7. Analyze your business TOWS SWOT

Take a hard look at your own business. You are to do this with a classic TOWS SWOT analysis

- defining your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and developing strategies. Do not simply blindly compile lists, rather think about how these important factors contribute or detract from achieving your objectives. Use the TOWS SWOT table template provided below to build your Tows SWOT table.

Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis

Part A - TOWS SWOT Table

• You may have several elements for each category of the SWOT table.
• Limit your lists for each SWOT category to a maximum of two otherwise you will not have time to explain each element in the narrated PPT presentation.
• Explain the listed elements of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
  • Explain why each element is on your list for each SWOT category.
  • Explain how each listed element relates to your product and business.
  • Do not simply list your elements for each SWOT category in the table without an explanation and expect the audience to figure out what they mean and how they apply to your product and business.

• Strengths:
  • what characteristics does your business possess the give it an advantage over others?
• Weaknesses:
  • what places your business as a disadvantage versus others? Address these weaknesses immediately.
• Opportunities:
  • what conditions or situations in the marketplace or in your competitors offerings could you exploit to your advantage?
• Threats:
  • what conditions or situations in the marketplace, or activities by your competition, could work against you?

Part B - Strategies:

The strategies you list in the TOWS analysis are strategies you would implement in the first year of your launch.

• Focus on your TOP SWOT element for each element of the TOWS SWOT analysis. What is your strongest Strength / Weakness and what is the biggest Threat and Opportunity? Use this top SWOT to develop your SO/WO/ST/WT Strategies.

• Explain each of your four SO/WO/ST/WT Strategies. Do not simply list them on the table without an explanation.

• Use the accompanying table below:

8. Map your customers journey

This is one of the most important parts of the STEP ONE presentation. If you do not understand this, then you cannot be an effective marketer to your target audience.

Your goal is to deliver the right messages, to the right people, at the right time. Its essential to communicate your brand consistently throughout your customers entire journey with you from discovery to purchase to after purchase support and repeat business.

The key is to understand, at each point in the journey, what customers hope to achieve from the transaction and what their expectations of your business are. By referring to the customer persona you completed earlier, complete the following chart to clarify what marketing activities at each point on the journey are necessary for creating a loyal customer.

Persona

Attention:

• how will we make this person aware of our business?

Interest:

• how will we get them interested in our business?

Desire:

• how will we create a desire to purchase?

Action:

• how we get them to act and buy?

Loyalty:

• how will you make them loyal to our business?

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