Balloon Case

Before you can develop a strategy, we need to identify our objectives.

An example could be what you want to achieve in a particular market.

Once you have our objectives and a strategy, we are well on the way to having a marketing plan. Adopting a focused strategy allows you to avoid the shotgun effect.

Segment Our Market

Not all of our customers within our market have the same needs. Think of an orange as our market and within that each orange segment represents individual customer groups with distinct and different needs.

* To carry out a survey to identify our customer's needs.

* Group our customers according to their needs. These groups are our main market segments.

* Not to treat all of our market segments the same. We need to customise our product / service offering and our communication to be appropriate to each segments needs. The results will be worth the effort because there is substantial evidence to show that Balloon businesses that take account of their market segments in this way are more likely to be successful.

* Focus on a manageable number of segments to avoid overstretching our resources.

* We can use a 'rolling' promotional cycle, where, for example, you concentrate our promotional activity on a different segment every three or six months. Choose a time period for the 'cycle' appropriate to our business. In this way you can still cover several market segments but you will achieve a greater return on effort by focusing on one segment at a time.

* Focus our marketing attention on those customer segments where our main strengths have the best fit.

Focus On A Niche

Focusing on a market niche is a particularly appropriate competitive Balloon marketing strategy for small Balloon businesses.

* If you face heavy competition in a mass market, particularly from larger Balloon businesses, it takes a lot of resources to compete, and for smaller Balloon businesses, our size can also make you less credible.

* Take a look at our market and identify whether there are any market segments that are not being adequately served. Look at ways in which you can make an offering to fit their particular needs.

* Of course it has to make good business sense before go along this path, and it is not without risks in itself. There is no guarantee that larger Balloon business won't see what you are doing and achieving and start to concentrate their own assets on our niche, especially if it looks profitable.

* You always need to monitor the market and be prepared to move to another strategy if necessary.

Adopting