Introduction
Businesses are established with an aim of profit maximization. There are several businesses in the global economy, which leads to intense competition in the market. There are different functions of management that must be effectively coordinated towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of an organization. Marketing is the process of informing consumers of new and existing products, how to use the respective products, changes made in production and/or prices among others. Marketing is a process that all organizations, both profit and non-profit, must consider when analyzing and determining the consumer needs due to t dynamic nature of the last. Different authors have different views on global marketing aspects such as planning, increasing sales, and business growth among others. This is a critical analysis of three articles in support of and against the marketing contents of the respective articles.
Main Body
The article, “10 Steps of getting started with social media marketing” by Susan Gunelius discusses how to use social media towards developing a global business effectively. The author recommends 10 basic steps that individual businesses should consider when using social media as a marketing tool to succeed. The basic steps recommended by the author are determining the goals, evaluating resources, adequate knowledge of the audience, creating amazing content, integrating marketing efforts, creating a schedule, adopting an 80-20 rule, focusing more on quality, giving up control, and keep learning. Furthermore, the author discusses each step and how to implement them towards effective marketing (Gunelius 1).
Personally I, as a marketing student, support the contents of the article and the arguments of the author due to several reasons, for instance, effective application of the Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat analysis. The 10 steps proposed by the author on how to get started with social media marketing incorporate the SWOT analysis because it involves an analysis of the strengths of an organization, its weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Social media marketing is a marketing plan. Business organizations must develop effective strategies when implementing a marketing plan to succeed. The 10 steps discussed by the author can be used in the effective implementation of social media marketing. Therefore, I support the contents of the article and the arguments by the author (Gunelius 1).
The article, “10 Ways to stretch your marketing budget” by Robert W. Bly discusses useful strategies that organizations can utilize to maximize their campaigns while saving money. The author proposes 10 ways that business organizations can use to ensure accountability of every dollar, and get big results despite small budgets. The author proposes sticking to successful strategies, exploring lead generations, doing things by ourself, and paying vendors on time among others. The author has proposed effective strategies for saving money and accounting for every dollar. However, not all the steps proposed by the author are relevant to global marketing (Bly 1).
Business organizations operate within limited budgets. Budget limitations require organizations to plan in advance and ensure their operations and activities are within the organizational budget and achieve short term goals that contribute towards the achievements of the long term goals. The article is relevant to global marketing because it proposes accountability for organizational funds, which is a practice all organizations aspire to achieve. The ways proposed by the author may not necessarily contribute to the maximization of campaigns and saving money, for instance, doing things by yourself. An organization cannot execute all its functions effectively. There are some functions that require the involvement of the third party, for example, support services among others (Bly 1). The author proposes the in-house press release, which might not be effective at all times depending on the needs of the organization. Therefore, this way is not an effective strategy for all businesses, especially for those targeting the global market (Bly 1).
The author has also proposed effective ways such as paying vendors on time and appropriate payment for services. Timely payments to vendors create loyalty and build trust with respective vendors, which is an effective strategy because the respective vendors can supply on credit in the future. Appropriate payment is also an effective way of accounting for each dollar in an organization. All expenses must be accounted for and affordable by the respective organization based on their budget. Therefore, the article is appropriate for global marketing if improved (Bly 1).
The article, “Ingredients of a marketing plan” by the Entrepreneur is useful because it highlights the elements of an appropriate marketing plan. It demonstrates how to prepare a leading marketing plan that can be used by an organization towards achieving its goals and objectives within a specified deadline or period. The author highlights important areas to address when writing a marketing plan such as the objectives, strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities among others (Entrepreneur 1).
Conclusion
The marketing plan should be prepared to guide the marketing process of an organization. Considering the elements of a good marketing plan, the author has discussed the key areas of a marketing plan and how to handle them. Furthermore, the author has provided a budget range based on organizational size, which is effective in guiding individual businesses in writing an effective marketing plan. Therefore, considering the contents of the article based on the elements of an effective marketing plan, the author has presented an effective article relevant to global marketing (Entrepreneur 3).
Works Cited
Bly, Robert W. “10 Ways to stretch your marketing budget.” Entrepreneur Press, 2013. Web.
Entrepreneur. “The ingredients of a marketing plan.” Entrepreneur, 2013. Web.
Gunelius, Susan. “10 Steps to getting Started in Social Media Marketing.” Entrepreneur, 2010. Web.