The marketing plan is to use my social networking sites to promote my products. Provide potential clients with business cards and flyers. I will also check in my local area of any events that I can attend to promote my products in person.
Company Overview
Executive Summary
Polished Diaper Cakes was created by Beth Ulmer during the spring of 2014. My inspiration came from my two best friends who were expecting boys. I had multiple packages of diapers I purchase from couponing. I wanted to give the diapers as baby shower gifts but instead I uniquely crafted items made out of diapers as the baby shower gift. My sole purpose of starting Polished Diaper Cakes was to turn an ordinary baby shower gift and turn it into something more spectacular.
Targeting customers
Demographic profile
Women spending much time looking after their infants/ young children/ no age limit/ All ethnicity
Psychographic profile
Interests baby shower gifts ideas
Arts and crafts
Profession
There is no minimum or maximum income level.
Geographic location
Nationwide
Internationally
Wants and needs
Wants – a customize box with my company logo
Customize box that will also fit the diaper cakes
Needs– Wholesale prices off of items use to make the gift
Brand new quality baby items
Theme ribbons
Unique Selling Proposition
Unique selling proposition (USP)
My products are specially made for new mommies. Anyone can give diapers as a baby shower gift. Why not take your gift and create something special for the new mommy? I can customize and make the gift to fit the theme of the baby shower such as Minnie Mouse, Rock star, Lion King, and so much more. I want to make sure the gifts get s lots of compliments. I will also add in free name customization on the gift.
Marketing objectives
My goal is craft items and to persuade my clients giving just diapers as a gift is boring. I make customize items for the new mommy to be.
Pricing and Distribution Strategy
You will now consider your company’s strengths and weakness, along with your product or service price.
Strengths- Open to feedback
Competitive:
Weaknesses- It takes a couple of hours to make the items and the use of assistant is needed. Turnaround time on responding to emails and questions on social network sites could be better.
Opportunities- Grow my business and become more consistent with my marketing strategies. When there is enough revenue flowing in the business hire an assistant.
Threats- There are many other companies online who sell similar items.
Supply-chain and operational system
My business is operated out of my home in my office. I have everything organize with color scheme, theme, and gender.
Pricing strategy
My price ranges from $50 to $200. I checked other online retailers who sell similar items and I made my prices reasonably low and competitive. The actual price will base on what my clients wants to incorporate in their gift. I will provide a price quote or basic diaper cakes and the items that are more detail are higher. With my pricing I also include how the number of diapers use any additional items used.
Distribution strategy
Modern world can be characterized by a great level of rivalry. To become successful a person or organization should overcome great number of obstacles and become better than the rest of the world. Only under these conditions it is possible to count on high incomes and continuation of existence and struggle for survival. With this in mind, it is possible to say that the issue of management obtains great importance.
Speaking about The Polished Diaper Cakes business, it should be said that it is very important to organize distribution of these goods in the most efficient way for it to become beneficial. With this in mind, special distribution strategy, which takes into account peculiarities of the good, market and targeted audience should be created. Among the key objectives, the following points should be listed:
- Developing online shops for mothers of infants and young children;
- Organizing door-to-door product delivery;
- Creating a special sales team for selling products directly to hospitals;
- Creating a team of consultants available to women in social networks.
With this in mind, it is possible to suggest several steps to promote this plan and align distribution of goods. First of all, special distribution team should be created. This team should consist of experienced managers who will be able to provide goods of a company for women as fast as it is possible.
Additionally, the team of people, who will be responsible for online services, should also be organized. Finally, advertising managers should do their best to promote the company and its products. All these steps should be made in order to achieve a certain goal which is to make the company popular and recognizable.
Possible strategies
First of all, it should be said that the targeted audience of The Polished Diaper Cakes business provides a great number of different possibilities for distribution of the companys products. It is possible to organize online shop as young women, who comprise the targeted audience, spend much time at home looking after their children. With this in mind, online shop seems to be the ideal variant for distribution of this kind of products. Additionally, delivery could also be organized.
Special team should become responsible for door to door delivery. However, it should also be mentioned that hospitals could be taken as potential customers. Under these conditions, online shop will not be efficient. That is why a special sales team should sell products directly to hospitals. Additionally, shops which sell products of The Polished Diaper Cakes could be opened in different regions in order to attract new customers and, moreover, fulfill their need.
Besides, nowadays, advertising plays an important role in the development of business of any kind. With this in mind, it is also possible to devote much attention to different promo actions which main aim will be to promote the products of a company and make them popular (Varadarajan, 2010). It is obvious, that different means of media should be used to attract attention to the issue. Moreover, social networks can become rather powerful remedy which can help to achieve certain success.
In coherent society people spend much time in virtual space. Especially important this statement becomes within the framework of the targeted audience. Women, who have babies, spend much time in social networks (Srivastava, 2015) because they are deprived of communication when they have to look after baby.
Moreover, some pieces of advice could also be found..With this in mind, special community or group should be organized in different social networks for women to be able to get to know about the latest news connected with the company and obtain new information about its goods. Additionally, this group should be connected with the distribution and delivery team for women to be able to make the order and get it as fast as it is possible.
Main action steps and goals
With this in mind, it is possible to suggest several steps to promote this plan and align distribution of goods. First of all, special distribution team should be created. This team should consist of experienced managers who will be able to provide goods of a company for women as fast as it is possible.
Additionally, the team of people, who will be responsible for online services, should also be organized. Finally, advertising managers should do their best to promote the company and its products. All these steps should be made in order to achieve a certain goal which is to make the company popular and recognizable.
Distribution Plan and Promotions Strategy
Distribution strategy
- I will utilize my website distribute products to reach consumers online
- I market my products on my social media sites such Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Photos
- Business card and flyers will be given with permission at doctor’s offices, mall, grocery stores and more
Marketing goals
Discount codes are to be provided once a month and during the holiday season. I will also do a giveaway once a month. The giveaway each month will not always be the same. One month I may decide to giveaway onesie cupcakes and the next month a 2 tier diaper cake
Promotions Strategy
Seeing that social networks are going to be used extensively in the process of promoting the product to the target population, it will be reasonable to adopt the key principles of e-commerce as tools for promoting the company’s products. Particularly, the update of the company’s popularity with the help of Google Search Optimization techniques should be viewed as an option. Additionally, the organization should consider blogging in social networks as a tool for advertising the product to the target population.
The latter is especially important, as most of the denizens of the target population engage in conversations via social networks. Researches show that the incorporation of e-commerce techniques helps sell products designed for young women and mothers of young children several times more efficiently than other approaches (Heaney & Israel, 2008). Therefore, a major emphasis should be put on carrying out the promotion campaign in social networks and other types of modern media.
Seeing that discounts are going to be the focus of the financial aspect of the promotion, the marketing campaign should also mention a flexible discount system for not only loyal customers, but also the ones, who have only started trying the company’s products.
Thus, a vast amount of clients can be attracted; more importantly, the specified approach will help spread information about the organization and its services faster by the word of the mouth as one of the key promotion tools. Despite the fact that the latter is rarely viewed as significant in product promotion, it, in fact, is very powerful, as it increases the number of people aware of the company and its products in geometrical progression (Mousavi & Esfidani, 2013).
Conclusion: Action steps
The first step to move my plan forward is to share my products on social media sites and upload products on my website.
The next step is do a giveaway. I will ask friends and followers to share my photos and company info on their page and that will qualify them to participate. There is no purchase necessary. The hashtag polisheddiapercakes must be used. I keep a track record of all who participated then do a live video drawing.
The final step is to hire help to help with making diaper cakes and answering any questions for my existing and potential clients.
Reference List
Heaney, C. A. & Israel, B. A. (2008). Social networks and social support. Web.
Mousavi, M. & Esfidani, M. R. (2013). A comprehensive model of customers’ complaint behavior. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(5), 548–568.