Designing a marketing campaign of a small business and forecasting its financial growth Name of the candidate (University and

Enrol No) Name of Organization Place Month Year of submission.

Acknowledgement
All the admirations and praises are to Allah Almighty, who is the most beneficent, the most merciful, who is above all creations. Allah Almighty, who has directed us to the true path. O Almighty! We pray to You to make our way easy, and clean our hearts so that we identify, believe and speak the truth. After conceding the blessings of Allah Almighty in helping us in our hard work, I would like to express my heartiest gratitude to all others who stood by me in compilation of this project and making this report a possible effort. Specially, I would like to thank my beloved parents whose presence is a blessing itself, who have always been very motivating and compassionate throughout my academic career. It is also my pleasure to thank our supervisor __________________whose collaboration and support gave me the opportunity to complete this report in time and produce a knowledge full study. Special gratitude to all those who took part in my study by giving me time and priceless information which certainly helped me in sketching a better analysis

Abstract

Digital marketing also one of the major parts of social media marketing is one of the emerging trends in todays life. From personal to professional, no one today has left behind from its usage. As far businesses are concerned, social media marketing has become one of the major tools today in all parts of their supply chain management. In Pakistan, social media marketing is gradually picking up pace as many renowned brands from lifestyle category like HSY, Sana Safinaz, Deepak Perwani, Ufone, Warid, and ARY have gained world class popularity by using these tools. But are these activities only helpful for the customers in gaining profitability or does these have any positive impact for the digital marketing company itself is a question yet untapped. This research has been undertaken to devise a marketing plan for a newly opened digital marketing company Store Tailor with an aim to enhance its financial performance. For that a few competitors were observed with respect to their marketing operations. Primary data was collected with the help of questionnaires to know the point of views of entrepreneurs and SMEs. The results showed that small companies, entrepreneurs and businesses are very rarely using such media for marketing due to their financial constraints and most of them were in search of an economic and affordable service provider through which they can market their business online.

Table of Contents
Certificate/Letter By The Client/Organization ..........................................................2 Acknowledgement .....................................................................................................3 Abstratct4 Chapter I) Introduction...............................................................................................6 Background .............................................................................................................6 Project Rationale .....................................................................................................8 Problem Statement ..................................................................................................9 Research objective and Research Question.... 9 Project Purpose .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Broad Statement Of Scope.............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Anticipated Benefits ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Key Success Factors ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.0 Data quality definition ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.1 Major Deliverables..11 Estimated Timeframe..11 Estimated Budget....11 Constraints..11 Assumptions12 Potential Risks12 Chapter II) Literature Review ..................................................................................13 Chapter III) Marketing design & Implementation ...................................................16 Chapter IV) Findings And Results...........................................................................23 Competitive Analysis...25
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Pest Analysis ............................................................................................................28 SWOT Analysis..29 Positioning ...............................................................................................................32 Product Life Cycle..33 Marketing Mix Decision.34 Competitive Edge.......36

Chapter 1) Introduction
Background
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There are only two things in a business that make moneyinnovation and marketing. Everything else is cost. Peter Drucker Effective marketing is key to business success, is a well established notion. The traditional approach to marketing had been based on methods such as direct sales, television and radio advertisements, billboards and print media, which were effective for reaching a particular set of consumers and one-way marketing. But these marketing strategies are limited to place or time. E.g. developing radio or television ads requires a lot of budget. Similarly bill boarding your product is also no cheap activity. There is no track record of how many individuals really viewed the ad or the bill board. It also does not provide any source of getting feedback from the viewers. Moreover, it also requires a lot of manual effort. With the advent of internet, marketers got many other tools to use for the purpose such as an organizations website, search engine optimization activities and emailing. This was a new horizon, known as online marketing or internet marketing, which had emerged in the marketing world. Development of social media blogging sites such as Twitter, Facebook, myspace and LinkedIn, have provided an opportunity for the businesses to redesign their marketing strategies and to re-establish their relationship with their customers, employees, and other stakeholders. This is all digital marketing techniques. Digital marketing in layman terms is the utilization and application of interactive technological tools to marketing activities through a defined strategy in order to advance customer knowledge, experience and loyalty by identifying and delivering effective business message and services as per the customer requirements. Marketing itself, has been seen by business professionals as a vital element of their processes, but with the advancement in technology, information systems, customer relationship management and web 2.0 tools, it has taken under various digital gadgets that have not only helped businesses to flourish but have also assisted them in economic growth. Pakistan has a multi dimensional culture depicting various Asian, western, urban and ethnic colors of life. From households to businesses, one may find all aspects of likes and dislikes in peoples lifestyles and practices. Many national and international brands have successfully gained grounds here in a very less time due to the fact that Pakistanis are more open to other cultures and brands. Brands like Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericson, McDonalds, KFC, Hardies, Armani, Nike, D&G, Calvin Klein, and PepsiCo. Etc holds a major customer share in Pakistan. Besides, a few national brands are doing pretty good at business. The popularity of lifestyle brands in Pakistan can be seen from the fact that large branding hubs have been developed in almost all big cities of Pakistan that are known for their presence. But is this just a result of the accepting nature of the people or is it due to the remarkable marketing efforts and strategies of these brands is a point worth pondering upon. Social media has undoubtedly assisted these brands a lot to develop their brand name. Nokia the largest cellular company is not only operating ideally but is also catering its global customers effectively by understanding their needs more closely. Its customer orientation can be witnessed from its television ads, but how does it know what message to deliver to what group. The answer lies in its social presence such as Facebook, and Twitter. Currently Nokia
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is maintaining separate facebook pages country wise in order to closely know its customers, their needs, views about the product and also to keep an insight on the competitors. This is just one example. There are many international or even small businesses who are maintaining whole of their existence through social media. Besides products, social media is being used by many celebrities, politicians, artists, and event organizers etc for their promotion. Twitter is another actively used site that played an active part in developing the political campaign of Barrack Obama during his first term elections. Using right social media tools is no big deal; using them right is what matters. This concept took the form of a proper business called digital marketing by many vigilant and foresighted marketers. Helping businesses to grow through digital marketing techniques was the major idea behind the scene. Marketing in collaboration with IT gave birth to a wide range of activities and through careful insights of social media activities, studies of psychologies of people on blogs, and analysis of their communications came into existence the concept of digital marketing. Companies in Pakistan have been using social media marketing to promote their brands, products, and businesses but still the results are not up to mark. A number of brands have been using websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc for the purpose. Many have successfully done so but there are still many who have not achieved the desired results. The reason is not the failure of these websites but it is of the strategies undertaken by these brands. One of the examples is Indian marketing that has noticeably gained a real positive impact through social marketing. According to a survey, most of the social media users are youngsters and hence the probability of success is more for the brands primarily targeted at youth. Even many of the youth work as paid media promoter on different websites for various brands. Hence it shows that the only need is to smartly use the tools for the purpose and to hit the target at right place right time. Lets not talk about famous and internationally established brands for a while like Lux, Sprite, Nokia, Levis etc. There are many names that are using these websites to promote themselves among the general masses e.g. student biryani, Shan masala, PTCL. It is not only then products that are using this medium, today, everything worth promoted come under it. Political campaigns, ideas, services, even personalities are its customers. Presidents Obama, Bill Clinton, Perveiz Musharaf, even the Christian Pope have their presence over digital media like twitter Facebook and Myspace. A perfect case in point is of Pervez Musharraf who has been in advance fame through social media and these businesses can take inspiration from ex-president of the country. Even he has not been in Pakistan for the last 2 years or so but he has been able to increase his fan following using different social media websites. So, if political leaders can use this medium to great effect, then why not Pakistani businesses. This is an important message for all the entrepreneurs, small business owners and also large companies to make the most out of social media websites and make more revenues and reach more customers not only in the country but customers from different parts of the world.
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Companies like Lane12, Brawerz, Symmetry digital, Creative Jin, midigital, Converge, Team ants and navergence are some of the digital marketing concepts that are providing services and carrying out marketing campaigns for different giants. There are many others with same of different marketing concepts competing in the same industry. As far as Pakistan is concerned, one cannot deny the outstanding approach of Pakistani professionals in information and technology. Creative Jin, Converge Technologies and Lane12 are some Pakistani companies. But as we study small entrepreneurs and small enterprises, there comes up a starling difference in their marketing activities including all 4 Ps. Many are either not well aware of the latest digital marketing trends or are unable to cater it as a separate expense. So the need is to bring up some digital marketing platform which can customize a marketing campaign for such businesses. Project Rationale Store tailor is a private online business of digital marketing which was the brain seed of a fresh business graduate. The vision behind the idea was to help young entrepreneurs and businesses to progress by making use of social media revolution. This is a private online marketing business whose target market is both new and old businesses in search of enhancing their marketing skills, increasing traffic on their outlets and websites and gauging as many customers as possible. So the concept behind this new business venture is to combine the goodness of IT with marketing and design out of the box campaigns for the customers. Through this project, the main need is to gather proper market knowledge, including that of customers, their desires, needs and wants and of competitors, so that a better business is introduced. The main target market of Store Tailor is Young entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs who have a competitive business idea to be promoted, but do not have enough resources to take it before the screen. Established business increasing market by going online There are many already running businesses that have been working on the traditional pattern and thats why despite of the fact their products or services are competitive enough still could not come up to the mark.

The basic services Store Tailor will provide include Social media marketing By catering all the available social media websites to develop a full-fledged marketing campaigns including, online blogs, polls, online shopping facilities, promotions etc

Facebook stores Specially designed shopping stores for businesses who cannot afford presence at a physical location They can fully manage their sales through these online facebook stores.
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Facebook account management There are many online retailers who although hold a facebook account but are not properly managing it due to unavailability of an effective manager. Here comes the role of store tailor as an efficient facebook account manager.

Store tailor is already providing free trials and has a high probability of flourishing worldwide. Since its a start of business, it will be very much beneficial for the business to know its competitors and market in and out through analysis and forecasting. This will help to incorporate missing key factors in very start and this will be beneficial for future growth of the business. Problem Statement: Digital marketing has been an area of extensive research and application by almost all industries all over the world. Not only marketing and advertisement, but many businesses are using this medium to get fully operational over it. From promotion to placement, even delivery of the product or service is big done through it. And most of all if used properly, this medium can be most cost effective as least monetary investment is required over it. But the biggest proof of it can be seen through the financial returns a business gets after implementing this medium. According to a research by McKinsey & Company, marketing expenditures perk up a corporations performance, normally contributing noteworthy monetary profits that can remain for up to three years. However, inadequate statistical proof is available on the role of digital advertising in encouraging business expansion, as well as the aspects that add to its benefits. As promotion is an intangible asset of a company, a lot of carefully made apprehensions need to be tested before designing a marketing campaign related to digital media. For that we have collected primary as well as secondary data. Primary data has been collected using questionnaires while secondary data has been conducted through previously done researches. Research Objective and Research Question The research is basically meant to design a marketing campaign for a newly born digital marketing business with the name store tailor. As there are many competitors of this business already working and so catching up a noticeable market share from them requires a lot of homework. For that a complete competitive analysis must be done. And most important of all, the customers must also be kept in mind while designing it. Our main research question is What type of a marketing campaign should be designed for a digital marketing business to improve its financial growth?

Project Purpose: The purpose of the project is to facilitate the client in marketing and financial analysis as well as help him in placement of the project in a way that it is beneficial for the growth of the
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business. The main goal is to conduct different analysis to help management take right decisions at right time and to help the store tailor in placing the product and design marketing campaign and then conduct financial analysis and forecast based on the campaign. To accomplish this purpose, we have designed some short some SMART (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time scaled) Our main objective is to gather data about the competitors and the customer of our client which we have done through questionnaires. The success of our set objectives will be measured by the validity of the date we have collected. The sample size which we will set will be such that we can easily manage and analyze the data in our given timeframe. The sample size is 20. From 20 various business people we have tried to gather knowledge regarding this industry based on which we will design our marketing campaign. The companies and customers selected will be limited to the geographical location of Islamabad as this is where we are situated and we will be able to easily get access to data here. The time frame we have set for this project is 2-4 months.

Broad Statement of Scope: The base of the project is the comparison of our company with other online ventures running successfully. Since our target market is small businesses and entrepreneurs so to eliminate the constraints of geographical barriers we have hit only the city of Islamabad. But later we will be catering customers all over the world. Anticipated Benefits If our proposed project is completed successfully the main beneficiary will be our client Store tailor.com. We will provide them with the data essential for their decision making i.e. competitor analysis and customer analysis. They will be able to make smarter decision after the data which will be provided by us. Secondly we will also gain real time knowledge from this project as we are not working on a hypothesized organization rather we are working on a real example. Many aspects of digital marketing that we may never have come across will be catered by us due to this project. Key Success Factors: We will try to put in the best of our efforts for the accomplishment of this project but still there are some main factors which will determine the success of our project and will require a great deal of focus.

Reliability of data collected: Store tailor is a company about to be emerged and going to cater real customers. Hence while collecting the data; it matters a lot if the data is reliable and valid,

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because the whole marketing plan will be based on that data so its trustworthiness is worth counting upon. Level of satisfaction of our client: For a new company, combating the already working giants is only possible by gaining client satisfaction. The market we are tapping is very common yet untapped. So our purpose will be to satisfy our client Store Tailor in every sense by devising a complete plan for it. Level of feasibility of the promotion campaign designed by us: If the plan prepared by us does not fulfill the requirements of feasibility in real sense, it is of no use. This is another success factor for our project.

Data Quality Definition: The quality of the data will be determined by the validity of the data which we have collected and the lifespan of that data, Secondly the feasibility of the of the promotion campaign that we will design for our client. Major Deliverables: The two main things which we will provide are firstly the raw data collected and secondly the analysis of the data and the proposed decision based on that data.

Estimated Timeframe:
1st Month 2nd Month 3rd Month 4th Month Data Collection Data Analysis & Proposed Solutions sharing the proposed solutions with client and preparation of marketing campaign Implementation & Evaluation

Estimated Budget:
The costs will include the Data collection cost (Surveying), and the designing and implementation of marketing campaign will also incur a cost.

Constraints:
We might face the following constraints in our business project: Getting access to reliable data. Limited time frame. Communication barrier with client due to their day to day business activities. Resistance from respondents due to personal information leakage issues.

Assumptions:
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The following assumptions are made for the project: The data which will be collected is valid and we can easily access the data. The proposed solutions will be feasible to implement in the real time. The business project will end in the given frame of time.

Potential Risks:
Following will be the most serious potential risks: Risk of not getting the valid data from competitors and customer: Information of competitors and customers in very confidential and attaining it required a lot of effort. Moreover, the information related to social media marketing from Pakistan was not as openly available as this industry is not very tapped till the time. Risk of dissatisfaction of our client with the proposed solutions: We are particularly focusing on facebook. Most of the competitors are also working on the same medium. There is a risk that the customers may not find it unique or do not show willingness to switch from their previous choices. Risk of not getting the end result within the limited time frame: The time frame Store tailor has anticipated for its objective accomplishment is designed according to a calculated plan but there is a risk that the plan may take some more tie which can affect all the remaining sections of the bigger picture very negatively. Security Risks: Social media websites pretense potentially greater than before security risks, and if such a violation occurs from social media actions, Store Tailor has to face legal responsibility Legal Risks: The legal rsisk associated must be considered. These risks include Employment Privacy Security Intellectual Property Media Risks

Reputational Risks: Social Media has many reputational risks which can easily affect Store Tailor. These risks with no trouble can equal or go beyond the reputational benefits. Any prank, scam or privacy insecurity can draw negativity to a brand in no time. Store tailor is new and yet to be established. So this risk is very much in focus at the moment.

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Chapter 2) Literature Review

Internet marketing (IM), or online marketing, refers to the usage of the Internet to promote and sell products and services. A lot of this activity related to Internet Marketing is done to drive customers to an organizations website, where they are boosted to make purchases online or by other channels that is physically later on. The main activities performed through internet marketing, IM, are developing an organizations website, promoting it on the web, marketing through emails and using search engine optimization to do the task, so that the companys name appear top of the list when consumers search for something related on web. This is not about appearance of name, but this is about sending reminders to the back of consumers mind that this brand is there for their need fulfillment. According to a research the figures of revenue that internet advertising alone brings to the industry is $12 billion and the business is continuously growing every day. (Yuthas. K & Epstein. J) As consumers have adopted the usage of social networking mediums and skills at an all-time high, it is no marvel that these tools have begun to intertwine their way into the businesses. By linking connections with public from all features of their lives i.e. friends, family, colleagues, clients, neighbors, and others, human resources are allowing the blockade between their personal and professional field to soften. Meanwhile, in tune to worldwide development including, mobility, virtualization, and globalization industries are making association a main concern, and are hence often discovering the use of social networking as a chance to unlock a dialogue with their customers and stakeholders. (Cisco) Investment in marketing in social media is growing, yet marketers are still thrashing about with the ways of authenticating these investments. Brands in direct online selling business can easily go with social media strategies to get financial results, but for the businesses that do not sell directly to consumers; marketers assign a proxy value to analyze their rate of return. This proxy has the following risks Failing to measure true business value Getting in the way of achieving objectives Arriving at an incorrect value for social efforts Failing to attribute results to those channels and investments that deliver the results But social media conveys outcomes that are more considerable that mere financial returns. The best way to measure all the tangible and intangible benefits of social media is through a Balanced Scorecard. This method focuses on four major aspects Financial Digital Brand Risk Management A Balanced Scorecard helps to align measurement to all business objectives. Sales and financial returns are apart. An appropriately intended social media marketing Balanced Scorecard authenticates attainment of broader purposes rather than just calculating bucks. It is an all time useful method because it not only identifies measurement principle for use after
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commence of a business but also assists in the expansion of opinions preceding the commencement. Defining success actions and setting aims for those actions supply a solid basis for appreciative or rejecting projected policies and plans. It also helps in structuring agreement among stakeholders because social media activities that are conflicting with their objectives may be a source of issue. But gaining agreement on metrics and targets is a way to keep in concern the needs of all stakeholders and keep project teams collaborating around common objectives. A Balanced Scorecard also helps shun short-term benefits that can be achieved at the outlay of long-term brand wellbeing. Financial gains are vital but even when direct sales can be easily calculated by marketers, other major results must also not to be forgotten. Unhealthy but frequently bombarded advertisements may be helpful to attain any short term objective but in the long term it can be harmful. (Augie Ray, 2010) Those who have adopted social media from the very beginning of their investments are in advance in attaining real monetary value from their investments from social media. Another research suggests that customers who connect with companies by means of social media are more loyal and they spend up to 40 percent more with those companies than other clients. According to Bain & Company, no one can say for sure how social media is going to get evolved and which of the mediums ultimately will capture the industry but systematically driven, following principles are worth following Whenever developing business objectives, always link them up with social media because the success starts when a business has complete knowledge of its customers and there is no better way for this that social media. From brand awareness to trial based promotions to improve user experience to after sales service to brand loyalty, social media helps engaging the customers at every step. Focus over key customers should never be vague. Each activity done should be done with the same objective i.e. engaging key customers to your business. Bain & Company research signifies that an average Facebook user never likes more than 7 brands or companies of the same type. Bombarding your customers with corporate messages or promotional advertisements can be harmful instead of productive as no one likes interference in his or her privacy even on their Facebook account. Marketing activities must be done through an organized channel, an organization or a team. If a company has developed its strategies, known its customers the next step comes of targeting its pool with an organized way. This organized team must be holistic in nature i.e. every department besides marketing e.g. sales, public relations, CSR etc should be in place. The three strategies proposed by Bain & Company based on real time examples are Empowering of units Command and Control over media activities Decentralization of marketing tasks Continuous monitoring of results is very important. There are three ways in which companies can measure and track their performances
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Engagement Metrics: This term refers to the tracking of percentage of customers who are engaged with a marketing activity such as website traffic, fans and followers, message sharing. Companies can even deploy their own tracking methods to keep a run on these metrics. Customer Metrics: These are the metrics that are used to track the customer loyalty by gathering sentimental bonding through various tools. Financial Impact: Marketers assertively confine private identifiers to connect social media profiles and related behavior to customer records. Challenges and promotions that need listing of email addresses and Twitter handles help connect social characters. Once the relationship is made, companies can easily collect leads, track return on investments from social media campaigns. Truly successful media companies never remain the loop open later. They keep on taking insights from customer engagement and keep indulged in product improvement. This is the closed loop that gives strength to the companies in getting business value proposition. This helps in giving sustainability to the brand. Never be rigid and inflexible as if the company is still in its early days. There was a time when no one has thought of a social media. But when it emerged, a whole new world has developed with it. This shows that the learning and inventions have no end in this field. To be competitive, companies need to continuously experiment and bring innovation to their marketing tools. Hence the idea of learn, unlearn and relearn is what exactly fits here. Successful companies need to be adaptive and flexible; flexible to the changing trends, customer demands and market scenarios. When a company gets rigid in its strategies, it leaves no room for improvement, whereas the market never stops for anyone, it is changing with every second. This changing trend also affects the consumer behaviors. But in the middle of this nonstop commotion of a fast growing game, companies that relate social media to business strategies aim and adapt their appointment to target customers, construct a synchronized association, trail outcomes and close the loop, and stay elastic will considerably increase their probabilities of detaining real worth from social media (Bain & Company). Social/ Digital media marketing can help businesses increase their online sales, but what is its exact impact when this is done through Facebook is under consideration. According to NBC Chicago, 2012, Social media doesnt impact online sales. According to a survey IBM Smarter Commerce, tracked sales for 500 of the top retail sites reported that social media made up less than 1 percent of online traffic and sales on Black Friday ... down from last year. According to Business Insider, this doesnt actually bother most retailers because they use platforms like Twitter, etc. to raise brand awareness more than anything. On the other hand, another survey by Mobiadnews.com, social media marketing can boost sales to a great level in telecom industry. According to this website, Social media can be a key to a mobile or internet commerce site. Ahead of simple Like or Follow buttons, sites that

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use social media sites for login gain a lot of advantages. And actively sharing with consumers also can increase a brands success.

Chapter 3) Marketing Design & Implementation

Before designing the marketing plan for Store Tailor, it is necessary to analyze the primary data collected through questionnaires. These questionnaires were designed in order to gain relevant information from SME and entrepreneurs regarding the digital media industry, their needs, and perceptions about the already working companies. What is your age?

30%

15% a) 20-25 30% b) 25-30 c) 30-40

25%

d) 40 and above

Most of our respondents were from age groups 25-30 or 40 or above. These age groups can be considered crucial for new business ventures or entrepreneurships, but the division shows that there is not much difference in the age groups and a person of any age group can easily run a business or can be a businessman. Hence this factor is not very influential in choosing a target market with respect to age. What is your Gender?

50%

50% a) Male b) Female

We collected data from both males and females to eliminate the gender issues that can arise while devising a social media plan. The reason behind this approach was that both males and females are equal users of social media websites. The difference lies only in their interests.
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What is your education level?

5% 40%

a) Matriculation b) Intermediate 55% c) Bachelors d) Master degree and above

Most of our respondents were educated up to bachelors and masters level. Starting up a business no matter small requires some education and knowledge. Moreover, catering the educated class will be easier for Store Tailor rather than targeting the uneducated about the new social media trends and internet usage. How frequent you use social media network?

5%

10% a) Few times a day

30%

55%

b) Few times a week c) Weekend only d) Rarely

55% of the respondents use internet daily. It shows that the user rate of internet is much high and in this scenario socially active business can be easily made successful. A businessman who spends a great deal of his time on internet daily, can be really satisfied if he gets a chance to promote his business there as well. This is another proof of Store Tailors feasibility.

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What kind of business you own?

5% 40% 55%

a) Personal (home based business) b) SME (small and medium enterprises) c) Large organization (More than 50 employees)

Most of our respondents were either from small or medium enterprises or very small entrepreneurial home based businesses. This factor highlights one aspect that a small or medium enterprise falls in this category because of its financial health. A financially weak organization may not find it feasible to spend a considerable amount on social media activities or even pays for it to some other company. From which industry you are?

a) Food and beverages 0% 20% 15% 10% b) Cosmetics and beauty care c) Clothing and accessories 60% d) Electronics and home appliances e) Services and others

Clothing and accessories is an industry which is rapidly flourishing throughout the world. With the emerging new trends, one can find new brands being opened every now and then. This is ultimately creating a sense of extreme competition among the brands. To meet with this competition, better marketing strategy is very important. As shown by our data, 60% of the respondents are from clothing and accessories category. Store tailor should specifically design its marketing plan for this section on priority.

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How long have you been in business?

30%

35%

a) 1-2 years b) 2-4 years

10% 25%

c) 4-8 years d) 8 years and more

The average age of or respondents businesses is 30 years. It shows that since 30 years these businesses have been unable to grow up to the level of established or big organizations due to any reason. Either they did not want to or they were unable to because of their operational weakness. We can assume here that these brands could no touch the skies due to their weak marketing activities. They have not been able to touch their target market with that aggression that should have been there. Your business caters?

10% 45% 60% a) Local clients b) International clients c) Both

Our respondents were both from local and international client handling sections, but major deal with local clients. This is particularly good for Store Tailor as catering your own people is always easy than to assess the foreign ones. Store tailor can easily develop customized strategies for these local based brands which will ultimately help it cater the international markets also.

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Do you think online shopping odds incremental value to your business?

0%

a) Yes 100% b) No

Every respondent showed the notion that if an option of online shopping is given to them, it can add an incremental value to their brand. This shows that a new venture like Store tailor has all the space to flourish among its target audience, no matter how many competitors it has, because none has yet catered this segment. Have you used any promotional channel for your online shopping? (Social network)

45% 55% a) Yes b) No

Most of the respondents are already using a promotional channel for their brand. Hence they already have the insight to this marketing technique What do you think why business do not offer online shopping?

a) Delivery 15% 20% 30% 40% b) Guarantee and warrantee c) Price d) Reputation

When asked what do they think why brands dont offer an online shopping facility, 40% replied that due to delivery issues. 30% said guarantee and warrantee issues, 20% answered due to price or cost while 15% said due to reputation. These are the 4 major issues that are
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catered by these brands. Store Tailor should devise a plan that eliminates all these issues so that the customers feel satisfied by its services. How are you managing your shopping portal?

5%

10% a) In house b) Out sourced 85% c) N/A

85% of our respondents are managing their shopping portal themselves. It shows an untapped market for a business like Store Tailor. IF out sourced, how much do you spend?
5% 0% 20% 70% a) 5,000 b) 10,000 c) 15,000 d) 20,000 and above

To check the financial feasibility of Store tailor, the respondents were asked that how much would they be spending on such an option if given, 70% responded that they can spend up to 5000 Rs, 20% responded 10,000Rs, while only 5% can spend up to 15,000 Rs. None was willing to pay up to or more than 20,000 Rs. Store Tailor should keep in mind that its marketing campaign must not exceed its own cost and also can repay it after earning profits, as its target market is not very willing to pay much on this at this stage.

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If using shopping portal, what do you prefer?

30%

20% 10%

a) Increased reach to customer b) Direct sale portal c) Both

40% d) N/A

Most of our respondents desire to get objectives such as direct sale portal and increased reach to customers. Do you maintain customers database?

45% 50% a) Yes b) No

Half of the respondents maintain a customer database, the other half does not. You will use customers information for following?

0% 5% 45% 70% 15%

a) Promotion

b) Incentive

c) Selling information

70% of the respondents require promotional gains by getting customers information, whereas 45% need selling information. This information depicts that Store tailors marketing plan should focus on this area.

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Would you trust an outsourced company managing shopping portal?

30% a) Yes 70% b) No

When asked the respondents that either they trust an outsourced shopping portal or not, 70% asserted in positivity. Would you prefer social media marketing training and how much will you pay?

15%

20% a) No b) Yes _______

70%

c) Nothing

Using social media marketing is not that easy by ordinary businesses. It requires training of some kind. Store tailor aims to provide training as well to its customers. When we asked the respondents about it, 70% respondents answered that they are willing to get training and also pay something for it. Result Analysis: We are going to develop a marketing plan for Store tailor based on the primary and secondary data that was collected. The secondary data was solely gathered from some internet sources such as reports from various survey companies and articles. It is evident from our literature review that digital marketing is an important tool used by companies throughout the world. In this tool, comes many different ways such as website promotion, Facebook, Twitter, blogging, emailing, sms, etc. But to be successful with this marketing, a company has to be very flexible and adaptive, as social media is an all time emerging mechanism. It totally depends on human psychologies and consumer behaviors. Human minds are never static and hence to keep the businesses aligned with the target market one has to me active in market intelligence.

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But besides, it also has some potential risks such as legal issues, privacy concerns, financial outcomes, imbalance with corporate objectives etc. For that the best tool to be used is the Balance Score Card, that not only helps a company measures its financial returns from social media but also helps it to calculate the intangible benefits that it can gain in the long run. From our primary research conducted by questionnaires, we have highlighted a few very striking points that will help us devising our marketing plan. Firstly, Store Tailors target market is the small and medium companies that are in business from an average of 30 years. Most of them are from clothing industry. Most of them are educated and daily users of internet. Local clients are being catered by most businesses so we have to make a strategy according to the local mindset. Most of the respondents are in search of an online platform where they can sell their products online. It means that they need an online store. All of them think that using such a medium can increase their incremental value before customers. The main issues they think they can have in using this service is due to product delivery warrantee and guarantee, pricing and cost and reputation of the brand. Maximum of them are not willing to pay for such a facility for more than 15000Rs. Most of them not even willing more than 5000Rs. Hence Store Tailor has to be economic in its offerings. Store Tailors target market wants to reach the customer base and to increase its selling through the portal offered by Store tailor. Store tailors target market is also willing to pay for training on the usage of this facility.

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Store Tailors Marketing Strategy Methodology

As secondary data gathering, we will be doing following analysis based on already available information.

Competitors Analysis
The competitive analysis segment of a business sketch is a very important part. It illustrates investors that you are attentive of the rivalry that you recognize your marketplace and that you have strategies in position to struggle at the same level as well-known competitor. You can follow a number of approaches to exhibit how ready for action your big business will be in this segment of your business map.
Store Tailor
None

Symmetry Group
Holds major share of the Pakistani digital marketing with 3 major companies: Digital Symmetry, Iris Digital, and Creative Jin

Team Ants

Converge Technologies
rd

Market Share

nd

largest share

3 largest share Symmetry Group

after

Major Customers

None, but plans to target young entrepreneurs , and already established businesses in need of an affordable platform

Burj Bank, Coca EngroCorp, Caltex

Cola,

Djuice,

HSY, Truimph, Caf Blue Ginger, Mahnoush, Mantra, Sana Safinaz, Subway, GunSmoke, Deepak Perwani

PTCL , Telenor, ARY, Ufone, Mobilink, Zong, Warid

What do their customers Have no particular perception Commonly unswerving service. Its Creative and affordable about Store Tailor customers are very positive about it. think of them Product / Service Range Social media marketing, Provides 360o solution including Provides only Facebook services Facebook stores, Facebook Creative & Development, Social and applications 25

Its good and affordable

Content Provides,

based company. distributes and

account management

Media, Digital Media Campaigns, and Mobile Applications

maintains contents as per required by the situation. Main mediums to distribute contents are facebook, sms, mms and radio. Also provides production for TV channels. Produces IVRs

Early stages of brand building

Brand Recognition

Most popular among famous brand names.

Holds good reputation

Holds a good recognition mostly in the telecom industry

Length of Time in Business

About to be launched None

Since 2003, 10 years

Since 2010, 3 years

Since 2007, 6 years IndiaFM, Hungama Mobile, Udhum, Download World, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

Alliances

Symmetry FZC, Digital Symmetry, Iris Digital, and Creative Jin

None

Online

Premises / Location

17 - C, 12th Commercial Street, Phase II Extension, D.H.A. Karachi, Pakistan 92 21 3539 7930 92 21 3538 0066 info@groupsymmetry.com hr@groupsymmetry.com

3 Floor. Plot no 9-C, main south street, Phase II ext DHA Phone: +92 (21) 35886764-5 http://www.teamants.com/

rd

Plot No. D-22, Block-4 Clifton, Karachi Phone: +92 (21) 35879391-92 Fax: +92 (21) 35835018

http://www.converget.com

Social media research

Research & Development

Market Intelligence, consumer behavior

Research,

Market Intelligence, Research, consumer behavior, community building

Market Intelligence, Research, consumer behavior

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Manufacturer, Wholesale, Services Service, Retail

Facebook, Website

Services Through website, facebook, linkedIn, promotional campaigns

Services

Services

Advertising

Website. linkedIn

Website, campaigns customers

of

promotional clients and

Full after sales services

Customer Service
Best Facebook manager for small businesses

Positioning

Dependable and sociable, said to be high-quality on follow-up. Provides complete solution unless the objective is achieved A company that provides its customers with technologically progressive services in line with their business objectives

Building a complete fan base and maintaining it throughout even if the brand goes well afterwards

Its satisfactory

Social Strategy implementing company using all social media tools

A content driven company

Number of Employees

51-200 employees

11-50 employees

51-200 employees

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Market Analysis PEST Analysis: Political Factors: While developing a marketing strategy, one of the aspects to be undertaken is the political one. Every marketer requires realizing the political matters of their target audience. Political changes, predilections and emerging trends are decisive to building a plan. In a country like Pakistan where businesses and industries stand more due to politics than economy, developing a new business is a bit difficult. Due to privacy reasons, often the mobile services and internet services get blocked by government. The government is not stabilize at the moment, and may be it will be overcome by some other in a few months time. There is a sense of uncertainty in the market regarding the political situations. May be there comes a taxation system on online businesses. So, marketing campaign has to be a way that can combat such issues. This element can be a challenge for us. Economic Factors: Pakistan is a developing country where the majority of people are from middle class. When we talk about businessmen, the market we have targeted are those one who are either new or have not used any service yet. Economy today in Pakistan is affecting every industry. Businesses are getting flopped due to unavailability of resources, like gas, light water. Affording such a marketing tool is difficult for most of the businesses. Moreover, Pakistani rupee is getting devalued day by day against the Dollar currency. It will certainly affect our international clients. Social Factors: This is the most favorable factor for our new venture as it is the same as we are catering social media. Pakistan is a socially rich country where trends, lifestyles, fashions get their way very soon. Its all a matter of mind set. Moreover, if we analyze the facebook users from Pakistan, we can see that there is a large number of online businesses from Pakistan. It shows that this trend is already in full peak in the country. We just have to grab it at the right place and right time. Technological Factors: Technology is always vital for gaining competitive advantage, and for a business like store tailor that is primarily linked with technology based medium, it become more important. We can bring innovation to our business through technology. Currently we will have to work the most on this area, as our main focus is on facebook which is not enough alone. We are prviding service and services can be judged only from the quality of deliverance. To build a strong customer relationship and come up to the pace of competitors, we will put in more technological advancements.

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SWOT Analysis of Store Tailor Strengths: A worldwide market available to reach or disseminate. Effortless to set up as everything is to be done online, and no physical presence is necessary in the start. It will save cost. As it is a form of Digital Engagement strategy i.e. a strategic communicative approach for delivering business to its clients by paying attention, distribution and provision of appropriate and suitable services and sustainability, hence it will be very helpful for catering new and young people. There are many people whose favorite pastime is internet surfing, or social networking. Many are those who like to build social relationships of websites like facebook, twitter, linkedIn, Myspace etc. These people are active community members who can perform this job as a paid representative of Store tailor. Store Tailor can use the same medium to create its own brand image among the prospects by building a conversation and communicating with others and developing close connections. This medium is very fast for getting information and feedback. This medium is cost-effective, because these platforms are almost free to use. As our main focus is on online sales, and the medium is mostly maintained by people so building human relationships gives a life to the brand. Store Tailor can take a complete guideline from the performances of its competitors and can convert its weaknesses into strengths. Make well-built, long lasting associations through online community networking, at a quicker pace than just relying on traditional tools. Easy way to get loads of promotion. Store tailor can create as much creativity as it can for itself. Our competitive advantage is that we are the only company which is providing facebook stores We are catering the market which is untapped and willing, so we can again the most customer base in a short span of time. Weaknesses: It is really difficult to create a standard way for the team members to work on social media philosophy. Many people show a Why Bother attitude when hit by new businesses on facebook and other websites. Where social media helps to promote good aspects, it also is a source of scattering bad images. There is usually an imbalanced sharing of tweets. 90% of the posts are contributed by the top 10% of the users, and rest 90% either contribute very less or dont. Hence, knowing their views becomes difficult.
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The retention rate of social media marketing needs a continuous follow up. Its only 40 45 %. There is no proper tool or technique to trail and scrutinize the results of a social media campaign and the only way is through the financial profits at the end. There are always high risks of information outflow, accountability, security, and organization of data. When the results are compared with efforts, even if they are more quantifiable than other mediums, it is not easy particularly for small business ventures to stabilize the attempts done on social media channels aligned with the consequences gained. Appealing with your viewers at a direct level through digital media requires more hard work in terms of keeping a constant communication and business reflection. The mistake correction time is often very less. Brand building will take time Gaining competitors knowledge can be a difficult task Facebook is the only platform we are using, which our competition has a lot of options

Opportunities: Making and combining online existence on website where the business at present doesnt live. Immense chance for individuals and businesses to attach and switch information. New untapped segment or niche markets can be targeted easily. Rapid access to a new geographical market. Recruitment of interested new members, students, public support Permits you to erect short and long term associations with prospective clients. We can later take our business to other platforms as well besides facebook Our services are very limited in the start but we have all the opportunity to start new services as per gaining experience by time. Making alliances later by well known brand will help us building our brand and also in expansion. Social media or digital media is an industry which is easily vulnerable. Brands can be easily taken over through quality services and image building. No matter how experienced competition is, we can overtake them by our marketing. Threats: Economic factors can affect the user base There are a lot of well established competitors in the market. The services we are offering re almost the same as offered by the competition. The management team o store tailor is not as experienced as that of competition. It will take same time to get to the same experienced level. Facebook was previously banned by many people due to some religious issues. This can affect business graph. The biggest threat is that ignorance of ability as it can bring disability. So market intelligence is very important.
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Target Market We have targeted our customers on the basis of following segmentation. Demographic Segmentation Demographically we have targeted our marketed based on level of businesses and income level. Level of business Small and medium enterprises New entrepreneurs

Income Level: A business whose monthly profitability is Rs 50,000 or above

Psychographic Segmentation Psychographically we have targeted all those individuals who are open to internet usage and find it useful for their businesses. Most of our focus will be on those who are already using facebook or if not, can be inclined to use. Life style: Educated Culturally open

Social Class: Middle class Upper middle class Upper- upper middle class

Geographic locations We are targeting every businessman from Pakistan and also abroad who falls under our target market and is an internet user. Facebook usage is not necessary because any one who uses internet can be made Facebook user through marketing.

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Positioning
Store Tailor aims to position itself as an economic digital marketing company whose sole objective is to provide an online shopping portal and facebook page maintenance in an organized way. Although there are many other companies working in the same area but they are catering the large companies and groups. For a market that is highly untapped yet, Store Tailor finds a lot of area for intervention. Marketing operations for Store Tailor Facebook Page Management: Businesses will hire Store Tailor as their managing industry. It will be responsible for the management of all the related activities on Facebook and other media sources. Through this activity store tailor will assure that maximum of consumer traffic passes by the clients page. It gets promotion and maximum limelight among its competitors. Building audience, and regular posting, will be few tasks of Store Tailor. Concept Writing: Writing conceptual words for the clients pages will help the clients better communicate with their clients and help keep them engaged with them. A well written concept for a business always has a lasting impact on the minds of the customers. Creating unique page designs: Design holds a great importance in attracting new customers. Words may not do what scenes can. So creating such engaging designs will also be a task of Store Tailor. Fan following ultimately shows how much improvement a business has shown. But this is not enough, the rest will be one by our online store portal. Page updating: Store Tailor will keep a close contact with its customers to know every single new activity they are about to do so that its updates can be regularly posted on the pages. This way customer will remain engaged by these newsfeeds because visiting a page is not always a vital thing. Many a times customers just interact and get reminders by the regular updates. Facebook Store Portal: Besides the common attributes facebook is already providing, to its users, Store tailor will combine IT and social media tools to innovate and provide an online store portal. For businesses that are lacking behind in sales and profits, this will be platform to increase their presence in this way. This will be a complete online store with a complete package from promotion to sales.

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Product Life Cycle

Introduction Stage Market size and growth at the Introduction (or development) stage market size will be slight. There will be a probability that for Store Tailor major investigation and development costs would be incurred in getting the brand pass this stage. Moreover, marketing costs will be high in order to analyze the market, undergo launch promotion. It is extremely improbable that companies will make profits on products at the Introduction Stage. Operations at the introductory stage have to be cautiously watched over to ensure that they start to grow. Otherwise, the best option may be to withdraw or end the product. Growth Stage: Store Tailors growth Stage is known by rapid growth in sales and profits. When the number of clients will start to increase and more and more businesses will start engaging with store tailor, it will be growth stage. Profits arise due to an increase in output and possibly better prices. At this stage, it would be cheaper to invest in increasing their market share as well as enjoying the overall growth of the market. Accordingly, significant promotional resources will be traditionally invested in products that are firmly in the Growth Stage. Maturity Stage: Store Tailors operations are not very difficult to be copied. There are chances that in future, other such businesses emerge as competitors. Here Store Tailor will need to innovate something new and intervene in other marketing perspectives. The Maturity Stage is, perhaps, the most common stage for all markets. In this stage that competition is most intense as companies brawl to preserve their market share. Here, both marketing and finance become key activities. Marketing spend has to be watched over carefully, since any important moves are likely to be copied by competitors. The Maturity Stage is the time when most profit is earned by the market as a whole. Decline Stage: In the Decline Stage, the market starts reduces in size, falling the overall amount of profit that can be shared amongst the lasting competitors. At this stage, great care has to be taken to manage the product carefully. At this stage we will stop producing the declining

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products and will come up with new variants. Store tailor needs an extensive market intelligence to cope up with this stage effectively.

Marketing Mix Decisions

The marketing mix decisions for Store tailor will be based on the product life cycle discussed above. As this is the introductory stage for Store Tailor, hence we will start from the very beginning Product decisions & Recommendations: As it is an online business, so Store tailor is providing services. Services are intangible and can only be judged by their quality and delivery. We are totally catering social media marketing, and so before we actually start helping our target market promote their brands and increase their sales, it is more important for us to get promoted and recognized among the people. In the introductory stage we will need extensive market research. As a sample we did this activity through questionnaires, but this is not enough. First for all we will develop our website ideally showing and matching with our services and brand name. We will also promote ourselves at all social media sources such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and LinkedIn. Besides we will develop a directory of businesses owned by individuals that fall under our target market with their compete profiles. Then they will be targeted by customized emails, telephone calls, meeting and training sessions. This activity will incur a financial as well as time cost, but this will ultimately help this new venture to gain customers. Store tailor will classify its target market into segments according to their paying power. 5000 Rs 10,000 Rs !5,000 Rs 20,000 Rs 60% focus 25% focus 10% focus 5% focus

This classification will help us divert our attention towards customers in a systemized manner. Later in the growing stage, Store tailor will pick up a pace, it will convert all its focus on the operational activities. But the timely promotion will keep on and on a more rapid pace. We expect that Store tailor will hit its break even stage during its growth period. During this, we will also search for new market ventures and innovative ideas to expand into because facebook is not the end to it. We will also expand our business for the upper class customers by developing unique plans for them as well. When the maturity stage arrives, we will recognize it by intense competition. Here we will open new ventures or partner companies because at this stage we will have good sales volume and high profitability.

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At the declining stage, the profitability will start to decrease, and the processes will slow down. To cope with this stage we will renew our brand with marketing, innovation and IT tools. Pricing decisions and recommendations: Pricing is one of the 4 Ps of marketing and hold great importance in marketing plan. We are using cost based pricing method as we are targeting a price sensitive segment. In the introductory stage, we will charge the customers by cost base pricing method i.e. by adding a profit element to the cost of conducting the marketing activities for them. At the growth stage, when both Store Tailor and its customers are in profits, then we will use value based pricing method, because at this stage the customers will have gained a good deal of trust in the company and they will be willing to pay for the value Store tailor will provide to their brand. At the maturity stage, when Store tailor will open up new ventures, its pricing method will switch to premium pricing. As we will also start devising plans for the premium class of customers. Placement Decisions We are not having any physical location anywhere as we do not find a need of it at this stage. Nor are we financially compatible for that. All the operations are online and hence we will be contacting the target market using the same platform. Later as we find our business to expand and in profit, we will open up an office according to the situation. Promotional decisions and strategies: Introductory Stage Promotion at this stage will be highly extensive and complete as we need to build our brands image from the scratch. We will be using social media marketing, radio advertisements, SMS alerts and selective banners placement at this stage. Television ads would have been a useful medium but it will cost us t o a great extent. Promotion will incur us the maximum share of cost among all the other costs as this is the most important at this stage. Among social media tools, Internet marketing will include promotional campaigns on Facebook, and a few search engines. We will not be using Twitter, or any other site at this stage as it will create a sense of misperception among our target market. And the specific Facebookness will be diluted somewhere else. For our prospects that are not using facebook, we will use brochures to get them engaged and educated about the business. We will conduct a few workshops to fulfill the purpose for those who are not at ease with internet usage.

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When we will hit our growth stage, we will change our promotional strategy. At this stage, we expect our breakeven to meet and our company to be in profits. Here we will lessen our traditional approach and move it in other direction. Here we will try to cater new ventures like Twitter. Just like Facebook store, Twitter store can also be opened. LinkedIn can also be used for conducting human resource activities for Store Tailor. Here old customers will be brought to sms marketing and email messaging, while new prospects will be touched through telephone calls, appointments, meetings and ultimately getting business. Besides our own marketing, we will also engage our satisfied clients to perform the job for us in a valued manner, because the cheapest of all marketing activities is through word of mouth. At the maturity stage we will join hands with other ventures or open up our new sister companies. Here we will try to boost our promotional sources. We will try to seize our competitors customers. As expected we will be having superior personal relations with our customers at this stage so we will certainly use special SMS and e-mail services to remind our customers that we are always here for them.

Competitive Edge
Our biggest competitive edge is that we are targeting an untapped market with a selective service package. The segment we are targeting has the most percentage of all classes and hence we have a large space to cater yet. Moreover, as we are focusing only on facebook in the start, so our focal point will not be diluted. Moreover, there is none with the concept of Facebook Store yet in the market so this is our edge also. Although many businesses are using facebook as a source to sell their products, but not in this systematic manner as we are providing through properly designed website.

36

Financials

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Recommendations Based on the above findings, Store Tailor is recommended to thoroughly study this marketing plan and relate it to its budget. It has chosen a very price sensitive segment and it may also impact its profitability, hence Store Tailor needs to be very specific while relating its marketing plan to its financial budget. As far as competitors are concerned, although they are very established and are also catering a separate target market but still Store Tailor should be very vigilant about their market moves. Market Intelligence is an area Store Tailor particularly needs to cater. We also recommend our worthy client that it should hire good professionals for implementation of this marketing plan as the study of its competitors showed that one of the biggest strength of those brands is their professional team. Store Tailor should be particularly about its maturity stage that we have mentioned because that is the time when a company either rebuilds itself or loses because if not vigilantly catered, the decline stage approaches very fast

References
Bain & Company. (2011). Putting social media to work. Bain & Company. Converge Technologies. (n.d.). Converge Technologies. Retrieved from converget.com: http://www.converget.com/Default.aspx John Nosta. (n.d.). John Nosta . John Nosta. (2012, March). John Nosta: Thinkology. Retrieved February 2013, from johnnosta.com: http://www.johnnosta.com/2012/03/p-e-s-t-analysis-an-essential-marketing-tool-for-todays-digitalworld/ Marc J. Epstein, K. Y. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Internet Marketing Initiatives. The Society of Management Accountants of Canada, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. MobiADNews. (2013, January 15). MobiADNews. Retrieved from mobiadnews.com: http://www.mobiadnews.com/?p=6094 Ray, A. (2010). The ROI Of Social Media Marketing. Forrester. Symmetry Group. (n.d.). Symmetry Group. Retrieved from groupsymmetry.com: http://www.groupsymmetry.com/ TeamAnts. (n.d.). TeamAnts. Retrieved from teamants.com: http://www.teamants.com/

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Toby Merrill, K. L. (2011). Social Media: The Business Benefits May Be Enormous,But Can the Risks -Reputational, Legal, Operational --Be Mitigated? Information Law Group. Wolinsky, D. (2012, December 3). 5 NBC Chicago. Retrieved February 2013, from nbcchicago.com: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/inc-well/Social-Media-Doesnt-Impact-Online-Sales-Report181877751.html

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