Marketing strategies 

Are you planning to put a new product on the market? If products like yours already exist, you will want a plan to ensure that yours gets noticed. Here are three strategies that you can use to attract attention to your product.

The differentiation strategy — Being different

To compete using this strategy, your product should be unique and different than anyone else's. You can use different methods to make your product stand out:

• Have a design that is unusual or more stylish than what already exists
• Possess quality workmanship and detail
• Offer more features than other products offer
• Deliver better performance
• Offer services that aren’t available from your competitors
• Have a good image

Does your product do more than others that are out on the market? Do you offer delivery, installation, or repair services? Perhaps you pride yourself on having competent staff that provides good customer service? These are all strengths that can help you market your product. You can also create an image for your product by using a logo and effective advertising. By associating your product to a certain mood, you can attract customers who want to experience that feeling. Find out what makes your product special and use it to get noticed!

The overall cost leadership strategy — Selling for less

If you can produce and sell your product for less, you will definitely have an advantage over your competitors. Though you may not be able to compete with big companies that can manufacture goods cheaply, you can still save money by:

• Buying or shipping in bulk
• Using new technologies to save time
• Using experienced workers

By becoming more efficient, you can cut down your production costs and save money. You can then pass on the savings to your customers, and possibly sell more product.

The niche strategy — Picking your customers

You can choose to target a smaller audience by catering to specific needs and wants of your potential customers. This segmented group must be large enough to provide you with a solid customer base.

Examples of this kind of segmenting include:

• Demographic (age, gender, occupation)
• Geographic (urban/rural, region)
• Behaviour (attitudes, product knowledge)
• Psychographic (personality, lifestyle, values)

Keep in mind that you will need to have a tight focus in your marketing strategy and plan.

• Create your marketing strategy
  Applies only to: Québec

  Identify clients to concentrate on and your key objectives for reaching them, and learn what to include in your marketing strategy.

• Developing a marketing plan

  Your marketing plan is an essential part of your overall business plan. Find out what to include and how to develop each section.

• Export marketing strategies

  Find out how to promote your business on international markets.