POst Response wk1p1

Respond to two or more of your colleagues in one or both of the following ways:

• Suggest a change in the strategy chosen by the colleague to increase your colleague’s company’s domestic market share. Explain why you think your suggestion would improve the anticipated outcomes or effectiveness of the strategy.
• Suggest a change in the strategy chosen by the colleague to increase your colleague’s company’s international market share. Explain why you think your suggestion would improve the anticipated outcomes or effectiveness of the strategy.

General Guidance: Your original post, due by Day 3, will typically be 3–4 paragraphs in length as a general expectation/estimate. Your responses, due by Day 5, will typically be 1–2 paragraphs. Refer to the rubric for the Week 1 Discussion for grading elements and criteria. Your Instructor will use the rubric to assess your work.

POST1

The company that I have selected to describe is my own, Zola’s Glory. Zola’s Glory is an organic cosmetic company that is owned and operated by my business partner and me. We are currently an online retail company with a shampoo, two conditioners, body butter, and a lip scrub. We plan to expand over time to offer additional hair products for women, men, and children including shaving, skin, nails, and makeup products. We also have a plan to open a flagship store under this name. Our products will be sold there and spa services will be provided as well. The building will also be used as an event space to promote the arts, social justice, health, and education initiatives.

Currently Zola’s Glory operates in an online market, which fortunately does not bind us to any specific region, nation, or state. The people who have an interest in our products are working class adults who wash their hair and their children’s, industry professionals such as hair stylists and spa owners, and women who have a heightened interest in personal care. Our products specifically target those who generally have a higher income and possess an appreciation for the natural ingredients used in our products. So, our marketing mix is tailored to fit these specific customers (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2014).

Marketing Strategies for Growing Domestic Market Share

One online marketing strategy that my company could use to grow its market share domestically is social media marketing. Social media marketing helps in building an audience because the content that is posted is what initially attracts the audience to your brand. It helps a brand to gain greater visibility and credibility as well (Demers, 2016). Social media sites, such as Instagram and Facebook, allow companies to connect with consumers based on location and interest so that it is easier for a company to hone in on its target audience. The content also comes off less aggressively than pop up ads, so site users can engage without feeling bothered or pressured.

Another online marketing strategy that can assist with domestic market share growth is search engine optimization. SEO makes a company’s site more visible in search engines, such as Google, so that more traffic is brought to the website from people searching for the products or services a firm offers (Demers, 2016). In addition to making the website more visible, other platforms of the company will be brought up, including social media sites, articles written about the organization, and product/service reviews. Since my company operates online, we don’t have the kind of foot traffic that stores in a shopping mall have for instance. Therefore, it is important to bring new customers in my market who may have never heard of my brand to my site, and SEO does exactly that.

Adopted Strategy

Both abovementioned marketing strategies should be adopted by Zola’s Glory to continue its growth in its current domestic market, but social media marketing would be the most effective. Social media has allowed many entrepreneurs a free or cost-effective platform to post content to increase their market share. Instagram, for example, offers a space for users to post real-time comments about their experiences with a company, tag the company in their posts for others to see, create searchable hashtags, it allows users to email and send direct messages to the manager of the account, and click on the website directly from the Instagram page. Instagram also recommends a business’s page to other users based on their location, interests, and mutual followers who like the brand. This kind of marketing, if managed properly and if the products and services are of good quality, allows the product or service to sell itself to the customers who have a need and desire for it which is exactly what marketing seeks to do (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2014).

International Growth Using the Social Media Marketing Strategy

Zola’s Glory should use this same marketing strategy to grow internationally or into other markets or regions. The internet is a broad market as I mentioned earlier. People all over the world have hair, skin, and nails, and are in need of cosmetic products on a regular basis. Using social media marketing is an exceptional way to achieve opportunities in market development because people across the globe also utilize social media. The internet has enabled social media to act as a platform that connects people across the globe to a single page, so it is a perfect and economically sound strategy for international growth. People in Germany or Japan may not be able to physically visit my future brick and mortar location, but they can order my company’s products from my social media account and have it shipped there.

Online Marketing Strategies’ Application in the Domestic and International Context

The online marketing strategies of social media marketing and search engine optimization would apply in the domestic context as a market penetration opportunity (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2014). I am familiar with the online shopping behavior of U.S. customers and our distribution practices, so marketing online domestically would be the most effective way to launch my product. The online marketing strategies I mentioned earlier would apply in an international context as a method of market development or expansion (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2014). Although people in various countries have unregulated access to the internet and have successful distribution channels as well, global marketing proposes challenges due to differences in taste, language, cultures, payment methods, and media preferences. After thoroughly researching global markets, Zola’s Glory will then be ready to expand using online marketing strategies tailored to effectively reach international consumers.

POST2

Publix, Food Lion, Martins, and Aldi are grocery stores in my area.  Authors Perreault, Cannon, and McCarthy (2014) believe with all this choice; these companies must work hard to meet customer needs and earn their business (p. 3).  Wal-Mart is the company I selected.  The first thing anyone notices when going into a Wal-Mart is the incredibly low prices.  This retail mogul offers products of all types, from beauty products, home cleaning supplies, toys, electronics, to even groceries.  Anyone could find something they have a use for, which gives them a much broader appeal to all personality types (Bagons, 2013).  With its continued leadership as the biggest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart expects to use the same marketing mix as it expands globally (Ferguson, 2017).

Two marketing strategies that firms can select for growing their market shares domestically include accessibility and pricing:

Accessibility

Wal-Mart has opened stores all around the world.  Being this accessible makes marketing much easier.  Focusing on social media resources has produced consistently positive results.  “Going viral” is another great marketing tool that allows consumers to share and post feedback online within various networking communities (Bagons, 2013).

Pricing

Founded in 1962, Sam Walton coined the phrase “low prices every day.”  Wal-Mart utilizes an Everyday Low Price (EDLP) pricing strategy.  The objective is to attract large populations of customers.  Even though this company provides low costs and low prices, it is their large sales volume that enables this retail giant to generate continuous revenue (Bagons, 2013).

In this situation, both marketing strategies will continuously enable this organization to establish customer loyalty coupled with the ability to maintain competitive advantages.  Wal-Mart continues to grow in current domestic markets by providing convenient service.  Also, this company continues to open new stores to reach even more customers.  For the most part, this strategy would be effective because nowhere else can individuals enjoy low prices, anywhere, twenty-four hours a day (Bagons, 2013).

Wal-Marts marketing mix has proven effective in supporting the company’s success.  However, there are still many locations where Wal-Mart stores are absent or difficult to reach.  This is particularly the case especially in the markets of developing countries.  Above all, to grow internationally or into other markets or regions, Wal-Mart should improve on the distribution component.  Specifically, the firms can enter new markets and penetrate current markets through foreign direct investments and joint ventures (Ferguson, 2017).

Finally, this week’s resources introduced students to the key parts of a marketing engine, principles, people, and processes.  According to Comstock, Gulati, and Liguori (2010) the frameworks do an excellent job of outlining marketing principles but not of translating them into action (p. 5).  My recommended marketing strategies would apply in both domestic and international context.  Domestically concentrating and appealing to target audiences allow active product promotion as well as an increase in their customer base.  Internationally expanding requires researching trends, language barriers, and culture needs.  If companies only focus on one product, they will ultimately fail (Bagons, 2013).  Therefore, Wal-Mart delivers results and positions their businesses to win.