Once a Day Marketing, where business takes shape. Daily video blog that gives you the ideas and inspiration to market your business every day to make your company more fit.
Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™.Today we are continuing our series on pricing looking at four additional strategies.
Key factors that come into play when evaluating pricing strategies are the uniqueness of your product and what your competition is doing.
The first strategy we will discuss is called bundle.In this scenario various products are bundled together and sold at a lower price than the individual items.Supermarkets frequently practice this method, perhaps advertising bundles of house cleaning products or milk and bread to entice customer to buy additional items.
Next is psychological pricing.Here you determine a price that will be seen favorably in the eyes of your customers.Would a customer be more likely to buy a $1 order of French fries or an order for $0.99?The actual difference in price is negligible but psychologically the two price points are viewed very differently.
Then we have premium.A high price is established to create greater perceived value for the product.Some consumers will gravitate to a high price because they believe they are getting more for their money.
Last is optional pricing.This strategy may be employed by a car dealer for instance.They offer a base model and customers are given the option to add such items as stereos or leather seats to the product for a higher price.
There are numerous pricing strategies available.Determine which are most appropriate for your product and your market.You may want to try different pricing strategies for various target customer segments.
Pricing is the only one of the 7Ps that doesn’t cost anything to implement.Pricing drives your revenue and eventually your profits.It is essential to thoroughly evaluate the process of pricing and impacts to your customers.
Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers.Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at noon (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.
Hello, I’m
Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™.Today is Recon Thursday and I
am going to share my thoughts on trends in coupons, which seem to be everywhere
these days.
Numerous
types of coupons are available in newspapers, online, directly from merchants,
etc.Daily deal websites such as Groupon
offer discounts for local and national companies.Groupon enables businesses to market
discounts to broad audience.The
question is, should they?
The
proliferation of coupons and product discounts has created a coupon culture
among consumers.This is a pitfall for
small businesses when they rely on coupons as a means of driving traffic.However, there is a right place for coupons
in your marketing strategy, such as introduction of a new product.
At Once a Day Marketing™ we encourage you
to brand and market what makes your product unique in the minds of your
customers.A coupon is a pricing
strategy.Extensive use of coupons may
create an expectation on the part of your customers for a discounted
price.This results in moving your
product on price rather than the value proposition that you offer, which is the
reason you are in business.
Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target
customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James
Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday
at noon (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.
Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™.Today is Recon Thursday and we are talking about checking in on your competition's pricing.
Pricing is a major part of the 7Ps of Marketing and there many pricing strategies available to you to penetrate a market, introduce a new product or entice customers to purchase more of your product.Today you can't price in a vacuum.Consumers have the ability to instantly shop price on the Internet, therefore, you have to know the prices your competition is offering.
The good news is that you might be able to find a lot of product pricing information online.However, if you are a consultant or service provider you may have to be a little more creative to find out what prices prevail in the market for your industry.
The better you understanding pricing, the more prepared you will be to position your product against your competition.And remember, the more you can differentiate and brand your product the less significant pricing becomes (within reason).
Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers.Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com.You may also contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com
Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.Today is Smart Monday and we are going to dive deeper into the 7Ps of Marketing today visiting price.
Of all the 7Ps of marketing, price is the only one that drives revenue.The other Ps, while positioning you to profit, have a direct cost associated with them.
When you look at price you must consider supply and demand.Are there a lot of people chasing too few goods or a lot of goods seeking too few buyers?You also have to look at how your product is perceived in the market place and its position vs. your competition.Price also depends on how fast you want to move a product or penetrate a market.
Then you have to consider what I call the "reasonable test”.Just how much is your customer willing to spend to own your product or try your service?You might be selling a product at $15 a unit but your customer, based upon your value proposition and benefits they enjoy, might be very willing to pay up to $20.
Price is a key part of building your brand.Watch our Once a Day Marketing video to learn more:Pricing Approach
Once a Day Marketing positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers.Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com.You may also contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com
Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™.Today is Recon Thursday. I recently read a Forbes article that made me think about brand ambassadors, your top customers, and whether or not these individuals will be loyal in the future.
The article talked about how women tend to be very brand loyal but because of the difficult economic times they may now be seeking out a lower price over being loyal to a brand.This in turn caused me to consider how to ensure customers understand your brand so that you don't have to compete on price alone.
During these economic times it's very important to ensure your target customers clearly understand the benefits of your product.You must consistently communicate your messaging when times are tough.Ensure you continue to advertise, perhaps more than ever, because when it comes time for your customers to think about buying a product you want to be top-of-mine, you want to own that mindshare so they consider you at time of purchase.
You will have to think about price but you don't want to be only marketing on price because that's a losing proposition.
We need to take this Forbes article to heart and understand that brand ambassadors may not be as brand loyal as they once were and are seeking out price incentives and that it's essential to differentiate your product.I believe that you can accomplish this through your branding and marketing efforts.I also think your customers will continue to be loyal if they have a clear understanding of what your product is all about.Consistent messaging over time and delivering on your promise is key to maintaining that brand loyalty.
Once a Day Marketing assists brands to become #1 in the minds of their targeted customers.To learn more about our company, please visit us online at onceadaymarketing.com.I'm Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, and we'll see you next time.
Hello there, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™.Today is Digital Friday and I am going to share with you a story I saw on NBCNews.com that I think is quite fascinating for all you digital marketers.
Online companies spent $17 Billion last year picking up the cost of customer returns.That sounds like a tremendous expense, however, a new study indicates adopting Zappos’ model of free return shipping, no matter what the reason, can increase customer spending for an online business up to 357%.
A Washington and Lee University study looked at two online retail companies over a period of 49 months.Upon moving to the free return shipping model, one company experienced an average spend per customer increase of $620 over two years and the other $2,500.
In another study conducted by the Journal of Marketing, when a company required customers to pay the cost of shipping returns of merchandise, purchases could fall 74% to even 100%.
In this time of cost cutting that every company seems to be doing, it seems contrary to offer to your customer return of their merchandise at absolutely no cost to them.However, what the trends are revealing is that you may have the opportunity to increase purchases dramatically.
That concludes Digital Friday.Join us next week for Smart Monday.To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we’ll see you next time.
Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing.Before we begin our blog I would like to encourage you to join our Once a Day Marketing LinkedIn group or Facebook site or follow us on twitter.We would love to have your input and comments, for you to re-tweet and share with your friends.
Today we are taking a look at a very interesting pricing strategy that a major company is employing to penetrate the electronic device market which includes e-books, smart phones and tablets.
As I am sure you are very aware, Apple is a major player in the electronic device market.It is said that they have 70% of the tablet sales, are soon introducing yet another iPhone and are thinking about shrinking down the iPad even more.So how does a company like Amazon, which might only have 20% of the market, penetrate the market?
In yesterday’s blog we talked about performing SWOT analysis on your competition, and in particular using the 7Ps.Let’s imagine that Amazon did that.They looked at the Apple products and determined that Apple charges a premium price.There are many people who have the discretionary income to purchase an iPad, however, there are also many who do not.
Amazon decided to introduce their Kindle Fire at a much lower price point.They are able to accomplish that with advertising subsidies.The new Kindle Fire sells for a lower price, however, in return a commercial is displayed to the user every time the Kindle Fire is activated.The question is, will consumers embrace this model or not?
The strategy that Amazon is deploying is not new.Advertising subsidies have been around a long time.Case in point is broadcast television.We’ve been watching free television for years because we are willing to tolerate advertising and commercials.The Kindle Fire is in the same situation.It remains to be seen if consumers will accept it or not.I suspect that many consumers will accept the advertising in exchange for a lower price.
That concludes Digital Friday.Join us next week for Smart Monday.To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.
Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing.Today is Recon Thursday and I am going to share my thoughts on trends in coupons, which seem to be everywhere these days.
Numerous types of coupons are available in newspapers, online, directly from merchants, etc.There are also daily deal websites such as Groupon offering discounted gift certificates for local and national companies.I received two e-mails just today of Groupon offers.Groupon enables businesses to market discounts to broad audience.The question is, should they?
There seems to be a coupon battle going on, but more importantly there seems to be a coupon culture being created.This is a pitfall for small businesses when they rely on coupons as a means to drive traffic.However, there is a right place for coupons in your strategy.
Part of what we do at Once a Day Marketing is encourage you to think about your brand and market what makes your product unique in the minds of your customers.A coupon is a pricing strategy under the 7Ps of marketing.Through extensive use of coupons, you may create an expectation with your customers for a discounted price.You are then moving your product on price rather than the value proposition that you offer, which is the reason you are in business.
There are good reasons to add a coupon program to your marketing plan.One is introduction of a new product that you want customers to try.Another is to clear out a product that is slow moving.Lastly, coupons can be leveraged to increase sales when business is slow.
I want to point out that you shouldn’t be using coupons all the time to drive traffic.You will create a perception in the minds of your customers that your product is a discounted commodity and you do not want that.
My recommend is to tread lightly when using coupons.Spend more time creating the perception in the minds of your customers of what really makes your product unique and number one and focus your resources on marketing that message.
If you feel there is a need to engage in a coupon campaign, then go ahead and do it.Be sure to track the results.Again, don’t do it a lot because you’ll create that expectation of a discounted price and you don’t want that happening in the minds of your customer.
That concludes Recon Thursday.Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Digital Friday.To discuss an online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.
Hello, I’m Jim
Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Recon
Thursday when we get you thinking about topics such as your competition.
Since we
have been discussing pricing strategies, I thought we would dive into what you
should be doing to ensure you are thoroughly familiar with your competitors’
pricing.
No matter which
pricing strategy you pursue, you have to know what your competition is doing
with respect to their pricing. Are they
pricing higher, the same or lower? What
is their positioning compared to yours?
What benefits do they offer their customers compared to the benefits of your
product? Once you have the background,
then you can determine the best pricing strategy for your business.
Sometimes you
are readily able to determine competition information. Sometimes it’s very challenging and you have
to be a detective. There are numerous
ways to spy on competitors. If they have
a retail presence you can be a secret shopper and look at their pricing. You can also leverage the web; their social
media efforts and advertisements and the promotions they run. You may even want to seek others in the
industry to provide insight around how your competition is pricing. The objective is to be as knowledgeable about
your competitors’ pricing as possible.
The goal of your
pricing strategy is to choose a price point that will excite your customers and
entice them to buy. If you do a better
job pricing then your competition you are going to gain a bit more market share
and more dollars in your bottom line.
That
concludes Recon Thursday. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Digital Friday. We are unveiling the new LinkedIn Group
called Once a Day Marketing, which
is very exciting for us. To discuss an
online or face-to-face service engagement and enhance the marketing and
branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or
onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim
Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you
next time.
Hello, I’m Jim
Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. We are continuing our series on pricing
strategies. Yesterday we discussed four
pricing strategies: penetration, skimming, competition and product line. Today we will look at four additional
strategies.
Many years
ago pricing wasn’t utilized as a marketing ploy. Companies practiced “cost plus” pricing,
leveraging financial and accounting data to determine actual and fixed costs,
then added a margin. Or, a business may
have employed “castles in the air” pricing, charging whatever the market would
bear.
The factors
that come into play when evaluating pricing strategies are the uniqueness of
your product and what your competition is doing.
The first
strategy we will discuss is called bundle.
In this scenario various products are bundled together and sold at a lower
price than the individual items. Supermarkets
frequently practice this method. They may
advertise bundles of house cleaning products or milk and bread to entice
customer to buy additional items.
Next is
psychological pricing. Here you determine
a price that will be seen favorably in the eyes of your customers. Would a customer be more likely to buy a $1
order of French fries or an order for $0.99?
The actual difference in price is negligible but psychologically the two
price points are viewed very differently.
Then we have
premium. A high price is established to
create greater perceived value for the product.
Some consumers will gravitate to a high price because they believe they
are getting more for their money.
Last we have
optional pricing. This strategy may be
employed by a car dealer for instance.
They offer a base model to which can be added a variety of options. Customers
are given the option to add such items as stereos or leather seats to the
product for a higher price.
There are numerous
pricing strategies available. Determine which
are most appropriate for your product and your market. You may want to try different pricing
strategies for various target customer segments.
Pricing is
the only one of the 7Ps that doesn’t cost anything to implement. Pricing drives your revenue and eventually
your profits. It is essential to thoroughly
evaluate the process of pricing and impacts to your customers.
That
concludes our series on pricing. Stop by
tomorrow for Recon Thursday. To discuss an online or face-to-face service
engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization,
contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once
a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.
Hello, I’m Jim
Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today we are going to dive deeper into one of
the 7Ps of Marketing: Price. There are great pricing strategies you can
leverage to better penetrate the market or make more profit.
Today and
tomorrow I will be sharing eight different pricing strategies. Choosing the correct one(s) is dependent on
your goals. Do you want to distribute your
product in the marketplace quickly or are you establishing a position in the
marketplace as a very high-end product that commands a higher price. These are factor that you will have to take
into consideration.
Pricing is
driven by supply and demand. Are there a
lot of the widgets out there or not very many?
How unique is your product? Are
customers clamoring for your product or can they find something very similar
right next door? Also be attuned to what
your competition is doing.
The first
pricing strategy is called penetration. Very
low pricing is established to push product into the marketplace quickly. Margins will be low, however, this strategy
should drive increased volume.
Next is
skimming. A higher price is set at
product launch to capture dollars from early adopters (consumers who want a
product when it firsts comes out). You are
able to charge this customer a higher price because they will pay the premium
to be the first ones on the block to get a new/upgraded product. After you’ve exhausted early adopters you can
offer a slightly lower price and then another customer tier will come in, and
then another lower price and another tier will come in. Keep reducing the price until you have your
entire target market in the channel buying your product.
For competition
pricing you decide if you want to be lower than your competition, the same as
your competition or higher than your competition. Consider gas prices. When you’re at an intersection typically all
of those gas stations have the same price.
A station across town may have a lower price because they are trying to
attract customer. Perhaps another
station offers more service so their gas may be priced higher.
Lastly we
will discuss product line strategy where you offer a variety of products each
at a different price point. Customers on
a budget may buy the entry-level product.
Then there are middle and higher price tiers. You are essentially offering an ala carte
menu to your customers so they can choose which product they want to buy given
the benefits and the budget they have available.
There are various
approaches you can take with pricing. The
scientific approach is called price elasticity, determining what a marginal
change in price will do with respect to how much of your product people will
buy and the related profit. On the other
side is the psychology of pricing, which has no bearing on what the cost of the
product is. It’s all about what you
think the market will bear with respect to your product. You as the marketer have to determine the best
pricing approach to take.
Tomorrow
we’re going to talk about four more pricing strategies.
Thanks for
watching. Please join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday. If you need branding support, please contact
me to discuss an online or face to face service engagement. That information can be found at the end of
this video. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you
next time.
Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, where business takes shape.
Today is Smart Monday and we’re continuing with our series about the 7Ps of Marketing. Our topic is all about place, also known as distribution.
It’s interesting, when you think about what we are doing here at Once a Day Marketing. It’s like a new language, and often the best way to learn a language is total immersion. You go to a country and don’t hear a bit of English, you hear the language of that country. After a while you become fluent in that language. And that’s what we are doing here. We’re tossing a bunch of words, ideas and concepts at you and hopefully you come out of it speaking great Marketing.
When we define place or distribution in the 7Ps what we’re talking about all the places that your customers can find products. In today’s world there are a number of places that make products available including traditional modes and non-traditional modes like the internet.
Now, think about your daily transactions. What kind of experience do you have when you go to the grocery store? A Safeway visit is different than a Whole Foods? Or you might purchase a product online on this kind of website vs. that kind of website, eBay, Amazon or something totally different. There are all kinds of experiences that you have when you purchase a product.
What you have to think about are the shopping experiences that you love and then the ones you don’t like. You want to make sure when you are looking at your own company, product and places that you create an environment where your customers love to buy your products.
Where are your customers finding your products? There may be a direct way to your product or, there might be an indirect way to your product.
Let’s go back to the caveman days for a moment. Think about that very first caveman 10,000 years ago. He figures out how to grow some sort of grain outside the cave. Somebody walks by and says “What’s that?” He responds that it’s a new food source. The passerby offers some form of money, and he gives them the grain. So that would be the direct approach.
Perhaps someone stops by from another village and he says “You know, I think I can sell your grain to people in my village. Why don’t you let me have some, I’ll go sell it and we’ll split the profits.” This is the indirect approach.
So you have the possibilities of direct and indirect. The indirect mode is typically a manufacturer who uses a wholesaler, a middleman or a distributor to get to a retail outlet that finds the consumer.
But today everything is changing. You know that. The world is going digital. There are all sorts of interesting ways to get your product out there.
Let’s look at Apple Computer. When Apple first created its computers, it sold indirectly to sell their customers rather than directly. Numerous sales channels were in place and so they used these existing indirect channels to sell their products through wholesalers, distributors and so forth.
But over time it’s changed. There are physical Apple Stores and there is an online Apple Store yet you can still find Apple products in places like Best Buy.
Today distribution and place strategies are comingled and what you have to do is find the strategy that makes the most sense for the kind of product you’re pushing through those channels.
Place strategies, a.k.a. distribution strategies, are going to continue to change and evolve. Here’s an idea that you might think about. Let’s say you’re watching a video on your smart phone about how a craft brewer is making a specialized beer. As you are watching the video you can touch a button and instantly an option is available for you to order a case of that new micro brew. While you are still watching the show, the product is packaged, put into a distribution system, shipped and the very next day it’s sitting on your doorstep.
That’s powerful. That’s where the world is going. What you should do, as you take a look at where your place and distribution channels are, is make sure you are able to create strategies that really make sense for your customers and ensure that they love the experience, want to buy your product and want to buy it often. Maybe even tell a few friends. That’s your goal when it comes to place.
That’s Smart Monday for today. Stop by tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, where business takes shape. Hopefully your business is taking shape as you follow our blog. And we’ll see you next time.
James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com
Hello again, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing, where business takes shape.
Welcome back, glad you could join us today and hopefully you are finding us all over the internet. We’re trying to do that, but I’d love for you to find us on Facebook.com/OnceADayMarketing. We’d love for you to go there, like us as a Friend and a Fan and then share with your friends on Facebook as well, especially if you have peers out there who might need a little marketing nudge.
Today’s topic continues in our series on the 7Ps of Marketing is the “7Ps of Marketing: Price.”
I’ve talked about the 7Ps of Marketing. It’s interesting that “price” is the only one that drives revenue. All the other Ps are positioning you to be able to generate revenue but they’re all costs. So you can see that pricing is a very important factor for your business.
It’s important to remember that pricing is related to supply and demand. If there are a lot of widgets out there it’s harder to have a higher price. If your product is a little bit more scarce and in demand then you can raise the price and so usually what happens, if you remember your economics, is there’s an equilibrium point between supply and demand. You can control that intersection a little bit through your pricing strategy. But it’s also important to know that it’s not all about price.
There is something called commodity, I’ve mentioned it before. Certain products only compete on price and if you only are competing on price, what’s your competition going to do? They’re going to undercut you and you’re going to undercut them and so it’s a downward spiraling sort of strategy that doesn’t benefit anybody. But if there is no perceived value by your customers, then price is about the only thing you can compete on.
But what you want to try to do is create value. You want to differentiate yourself from the marketplace. You want your customers to value what they are getting. You want them to feel good about your product. And the more that you can do that, enhancing that brand, and that’s why we talk about that so much, then they’re not so particular about the price because they’re getting something more out of your product or service, they’re getting a benefit and satisfaction. And that’s what you’re trying to do with respect to brand building and relating that to your price.
Now what factors do you have to keep in mind when you’re pricing? Well, the first is your competition. Unless you’re a monopoly and the only game in town you have to keep in mind what your competition is doing with respect to their pricing. You might be a lower price, you might be the same price, you might be the higher price but you can’t price in a vacuum. It’s very important to know what your completion is doing out there. Next thing are goals and objectives of your company. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you trying to take time to build a market like I am, for instance, with Once a Day Marketing? Or are you trying to just penetrate the market overnight? Each requires different pricing strategies.
Also, how unique is your product in the marketplace and where in the marketplace is it? If it’s very unique you have the opportunity to price more. If it isn’t then you are going to have to price less. Again, we talked about being a commodity, you don’t want to be a commodity, you don’t want to be only pushing your product on price. That’s a bad competitive place to be.
And then finally who are your targets and their willingness to pay? If you build a multi-million dollar condominium in a low rent neighborhood, chances are it’s going to be hard to find a customer that’s going to be willing to pay the price that you want. Again the willingness of your customers to pay and also who they are is a big part of pricing strategy.
On our Strategic Tuesdays we’ll be talking a lot more about specific pricing strategies whether you’re penetrating, or skimming or option pricing. There are all sorts of things you can do with respect to your goals and targets and we’ll be talking about that in the future.
But the main thing you want to try to do and it’s just part of everything we do here at Once a Day Marketing is to build up the brand and build up that familiarity and the reward and the expectations that your customers have with your product. If you do so then pricing is less important. And again, as we said, you don’t want to be competing only on price.
So what is my pricing strategy you might ask for Once a Day Marketing? Well, I’m a young brand, a young product in the marketplace so I decided that I would provide value to my customers, you watching or reading this blog, by providing at this moment a free video blog. So, I’m able to penetrate the market a little bit faster because there’s no risk to you to watch my video, there’s no cost to you. And hopefully as you begin to trust my brand and become more loyal to my brand I have opportunities in the future to do monetize my brand and that’s my goal.
I want to thank you for tuning in today. If you can, stop by tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we will see you next time.
James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com
