Effective sources of marketing information
Both large and small producers of goods and servicesneed to conduct marketing research to successfully promote their product to the consumer. For this purpose, goals and tasks are defined, and sources of marketing information are determined, which will give the best result in this particular case. Sources exist primary (that is, collected precisely for this task for the first time) and secondary (already available and collected for other purposes).
Primary sources of marketing information include:
- Observation, which is characterized by purposefulness and plannedness and is carried out directly in the area of the subject of research.
- An experiment that is characterized by an impact on the process under study. This method involves the creation of two groups (normal and experimental).
Groups create different conditions, and then a comparative analysis of the results is carried out. This method can give the most accurate data.
- Internal reporting that provides informationon the company's activities, commodity stocks, product traffic, sales volumes, revenues, the cost of advertising. This information helps to analyze the profitability of specific groups of goods, distribution channels and so on.
- Sources of marketing information - this isobservation of the external environment. This includes legislative projects, changes in the country's economy, consumer incomes, competitive goods, changes in production technology. All this can help to avoid negative influence on the production process from the outside.
Heads of departments collect external informationfrom different sources - these are printed publications, discussions with distributors, suppliers and customers, heads of other divisions of the enterprise. Sources of marketing information in companies where this process is given due importance, are quite significant. Leaders are attracted to it by sellers who are in the middle of the events and have reliable first-hand information. Distributors, wholesalers and retailers are then encouraged to send important information to the firm. Information is also purchased from third-party suppliers. Many firms have special units that collect information.
Always there are problems of marketingResearch, such as unforeseen or planned changes, which can sometimes be prompted by consumers during the work. Often the customer can not clearly define his problems, he only knows that the sales volume is decreasing, the market share is also important here to find out what is really happening and what measures need to be taken.
Also, a complex of marketingservices, due to the fact that the market is constantly emerging new facilities in this area. This and insurance companies, both domestic and foreign, this is the travel companies, private clinics, educational institutions, and so on. F, Kotler, for example, offers such a model for this industry:
- company - personnel
- personnel - the consumer
- The company is a consumer.
Effective marketing in the service sector includesyourself working with these three links. That is, the company must take care of personnel, motivate it to serve the customer qualitatively. This includes the formation of wages, training, training, career growth, the provision of preferential services for the use of company products.
This is the first link. The second link is quality control of service delivery. This includes a successful location, the professionalism of the staff, the design of the office and so on.
The third link is the solution of issues with pricing, distribution channels and communications, competitiveness.
Thus, the complex of marketing servicessomewhat different from production marketing. Here the role is also played by the fact that the consumer perceives each individual representative of the company as an independent person. And if as a result of good work, for example, a hairdresser, the client will recommend it to his acquaintances, this does not mean that this applies to the whole company. That is, internal marketing should be included here, which will lead to better quality of service and attract more potential customers.
