ENTREPRENEURIAL MARKETING
When we look into traditional marketing in text books and being practiced in the marketing profession, it is very clear that the subject has been developed out of established businesses. Because marketing was a discipline practiced in every business organizations but visibly developed in larger scale businesses as a separate function. Larger businesses have a marketing department dedicated only for the marketing function. Because of this fact, only larger businesses had the freedom of practicing marketing as a separate function within their marketing department. Therefore when marketing developed as an independent subject, every scholars looked into larger business organizations and developed the subject. Fundamentally all theories in management have been developed through some real life managerial practices. Some people question “can we run businesses with theoretical knowledge alone?” This question was there for a long time, this argument mainly based on the fact that theory and the practice is totally different. But this is a prevailing myth in modern business societies. All theories built upon the real life practices. Academics observe some managerial best practices that are continuing for a longer time and built business theories or business models. So applying a theory means you really apply the best practice in the management.
This is the same principle applied in marketing as well. Many marketing theories and fundamentals developed by observing businesses that practiced marketing. In other words, they observed larger business organizations’ marketing departments and managers to develop theories. With this development traditional marketing is more suitable for larger business organizations and not for emerging or start-up businesses. Marketers also identified this issue and later developed the subject entrepreneurial marketing aiming emerging and start-up business organizations.
Entrepreneurial marketing is not about a new subject, it is a subject developed out of existing marketing fundamentals. Entrepreneurial marketing utilizes a toolkit of new and unorthodox marketing practices to help emerging firms gain a foothold in crowded markets. New businesses have few employees. Sometime only the founder work with his family members or have five to six employees in the business. Therefore they cannot form separate marketing departments but their employees work with multitasking grounds due to lack of resources. Every larger business today, started in the past as a small business and became a larger business today. Actually strategies used by small businesses also been used by larger businesses as well, for instance viral marketing strategies are emerged for small business but today not only small players but larger players also practice viral marketing. In competitive markets entrepreneurial start-up businesses can be lost due to massive competition and to stand up among the crowd, they have to apply different strategies. Entrepreneurial firms can adopt below strategies in promoting their businesses.
1.ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
Advertising is employed to pull the product through the distribution channel (Pull strategy). Promotion tends to be more price-focused or incentive-focused (Push strategy)
2.PUBLICITY
Publicity and word-of-mouth (referrals) are two of the most effective entrepreneurial marketing tools around because they don’t cost the company any money. Require a compelling story Network with the media Issue a press release
3. GETTING CUSTOMER REFERRALS
Ask satisfied current customers
Take a customer to lunch to get ideas
Do a global Internet search on rumors
Conduct in-depth third party interviews
Administering an open-ended online survey
Host an online discussion
Create a customer advisory board
4. GIVING IT AWAY
When the customer is likely to return The cost for each additional item is low and margins are high
When customers need to try the product/ service in order to risk the money to buy it When samples of the product/service can be offered at a large event
5. INTERNET MARKETING AND NEW MEDIA
Traditional media boundaries disappearing
Barriers to content creation have been breached
New challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs
Social Media
Search Engine Marketing
Affiliate Programmes
Privacy Issues
6. PERSONAL SELLING
Become a value-added company by tailoring products to meet customer’ needs
Improve personal selling skills
What do customers want from the sale?
Give them what they want
Trade shows and exhibits
Expose products
Network on site and after the show
7. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
CRM is a system for gathering/using customer information
Which combines
technology
Training
Business strategy
The CRM system contains
Names
Addresses
Attributes of people who are likely to purchase
For many companies 24 percent of its customers account for 95 percent of its revenues
Calculate lifetime customer value
8. COMPLIANT MARKETING
A dissatisfied customer will probably tell at least nine other people about the problem. Complaints should be viewed as opportunities for continual improvement and conduct Satisfaction surveys
Likewise entrepreneurial marketing is a subject which talk about different marketing strategies suitable for start-up businesses with no sufficient resources and experience in the market place. It talks how a business can cope up with existing giant competitors who possessed more resources and experience. Entrepreneurial marketing is an emerging subject in the field of marketing and entrepreneurship. Right knowledge in entrepreneurial marketing can enhance local entrepreneurial business into a larger level business in the long run.