0264 · 3.3.6Marketing strategy

Target markets and marketing strategy

0:00Imagine a beautifully made travel bag displayed among cheap clearance goods. Its packaging promises something special, while the surroundings suggest a bargain purchase. Customers receive conflicting messages about its value. By the end of this video, you will understand how a business combines its marketing decisions into a convincing offer. A target market is the group of customers a business aims to sell to. Those customers have particular needs, spending limits and shopping habits.

0:25For example, families buying weekly groceries may value low prices and convenience. Customers choosing a special anniversary gift may place greater importance on presentation and personal service. The marketing mix is the combination of product, price, place and promotion used to market goods or services. These elements are often called the four Ps. A marketing objective is a specific goal a business aims to achieve through marketing. Increasing sales of a new product is one possible objective.

0:54Marketing strategy is a plan that combines the elements of the marketing mix to achieve a marketing objective. The business begins with its intended customers and desired result. It then chooses an offer that those customers will find attractive. Available money and competitors’ offers help determine which choices are practical. Think of the elements as parts of one promise to the customer. What they receive, what they pay, where they buy and what they hear should support that promise.

1:19Each decision affects how customers interpret the others. A convincing strategy therefore depends on both individual choices and the connections between them.

The four Ps of marketing

1:28Product means the goods or services offered to satisfy customer needs. Decisions about features, quality and packaging help make that offer suitable. A waterproof hiking jacket, for example, keeps walkers dry in heavy rain. Meeting this practical need gives its intended buyers a clear reason to choose it. Price is the amount customers pay for a product. It affects affordability and can influence customers’ expectations of quality. A grocery shop serving families on tight budgets must consider their spending limits alongside its own costs.

1:59The chosen amount must attract buyers while supporting the business’s financial aims. Place means how a product reaches customers and where they can buy it. Convenient access helps turn interest into a purchase. A café serving commuters benefits from a counter beside their usual route. Customers can collect a drink quickly, so buying fits into their morning journey. Promotion is communication with customers to inform and persuade them to buy a product.

2:24It helps the intended audience discover the offer and understand its benefits. For a café near a station, a clear sign can reach commuters as they pass. Its message should highlight something relevant, such as quick service before their journey. Each element helps overcome a different obstacle to purchase. Customers need an offer that meets their requirements and a price they are willing to pay. They also need a convenient way to obtain it.

2:48Relevant communication gives them a reason to notice and consider the business. The importance of each element depends on the situation. For fresh sandwiches, convenient access can strongly influence sales because customers usually want food immediately. Price can decide sales when shoppers compare almost identical goods side by side. An unfamiliar service may initially need promotion to build awareness. A specialist product depends heavily on features that solve its customers’ particular problem.

3:16However, improving one element works best when the others support it. Effective promotion can attract attention, but customers also need suitable features and convenient access. An attractive price encourages purchases when buyers understand what they will receive. The business should check the complete offer from its customers’ point of view.

Creating a consistent marketing mix

3:35Consider a business selling luxury travel bags to customers willing to pay for craftsmanship. High quality supports a high price, while exclusive outlets reinforce the special image. Carefully chosen promotion can explain the materials and personal service. Each element gives customers a consistent reason to value the offer. A mismatch between the elements confuses customers. Luxury bags on a discount stall would make shoppers doubt that the high price is worth paying.

4:01A high price alone provides limited evidence of craftsmanship, so product quality and the buying experience must support it. Equally, everyday bread sells best with a low price, nearby shops and simple messages about freshness. The appropriate combination depends on the intended buyers and the business’s objective.

Kestrel Guard marketing mix case

4:19Kestrel Guard makes protective phone cases. It is a small business with four employees and a launch budget of three thousand dollars. Its aim is to increase sales among local students. Research shows that these students value durability, prefer buying nearby and will pay up to twelve dollars for a case. Each case costs five dollars to make. Shops near local schools are willing to sell the products. The owners are choosing between an affordable everyday mix and a premium gift mix.

4:46The premium option would use gift boxes, a price of thirty dollars and specialist gift shops. In Paper Two Case Study, you could be asked to consider this information and justify an appropriate marketing mix. Consider means review and respond to given information, while justify means support a case with evidence or argument. A strong answer selects one coherent combination. Each choice is then supported with details from the case.

5:11I recommend the affordable everyday mix for Kestrel Guard. Tough cases in popular colours would meet the students' need for durability. A price of ten dollars is below the twelve dollars these students will pay. It also covers the five dollar cost of making a case, so every sale adds five dollars towards fixed costs and profit. Selling through the shops near schools matches the students' preference for buying nearby.

5:33Posters in those shops and short videos on a student social media page would cost twelve hundred dollars. That keeps eighteen hundred of the launch budget for later needs. The messages would show how well the cases protect phones and name the shops that sell them. The premium gift mix is weaker for this business because thirty dollars is far above what the students will pay. I therefore recommend the everyday mix, because its four elements fit together and suit local students, so sales among them should rise.

5:59Notice how each choice has a reason connected to the business. The durable design comes from customer needs, while the shops near schools match the students' buying habits. The twelve dollar limit sets the price, and the budget keeps promotion small and local. Together, these links explain why the recommended strategy suits this particular situation. Common mistakes become easier to avoid when you keep that reasoning visible. Support each recommendation with a relevant case detail and explain its effect on customers.

6:29Treat price as one part of a wider offer whose features and message must reinforce each other. Keep place focused on customer access, including the route through which the product reaches them. To recap, the marketing mix is the combination of product, price, place and promotion used to market goods or services. Product means the goods or services offered to satisfy customer needs, while price is the amount customers pay for a product.

6:52Together, these choices shape what buyers receive and the value they expect. Place means how a product reaches customers and where they can buy it. The last element, promotion, is communication with customers to inform and persuade them to buy a product. These elements connect a suitable offer with an audience able and willing to purchase. Remember that a target market is the group of customers a business aims to sell to.

7:16A specific goal a business aims to achieve through marketing is called a marketing objective. Marketing strategy is a plan that combines the elements of the marketing mix to achieve a marketing objective. Choose the complete combination to fit those customers, the available resources and the intended result.