Implementation of Markeing Plan at the targeted area for multiple avenues of promotional activities.

Marketing Plan:

The term ‘Marketing’ is commonly used to signify a wide range of promotional activities- may it be branding, business development, sales promotion, advertising, etc. In  the  online tutoring business, the objective is identical i.e. to promote the offered products, but the medium and methods of promotion would be different from the other types of goods. To have a well-designed and organized marketing plan in place, it is evident to study the marketing option at the targeted area with the possibility of multiple avenues of promotional activities. To assess the expected marketing methods, the product offered to the client is to be thoroughly analyzed to ascertain the pitch-in points.

SWOT Analysis:

The first step performed in the process of defining a correct marketing plan was to evaluate the product offered in terms of its advantages, drawbacks, areas of improvement, and probable factors to differentiate from others in the same business.

The SWOT analysis clearly informs about the prospect of the venture due to  the undercaptured market and possible chances of monopolistic competition in its own specialized domain. The detailed marketing plan can subsequently be formularized only with the possible understanding of market segmentation, targeting the desired group, and positioning with clear goals to capture a considerable place in the existing market.

Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning:

Segmentation: To demarcate the prevailing market into segments, it requires a clear understanding of the product and the target group. It is essential to segment the business in a way to have multiple marketing advantages:

- The Benefit of targeted product

- Benefit of Homogeneous product basket to target the identified group

- Have more clarity during promotional activities

- Clearer explanation to the target group- easy for them to choose the product

- Understand the segment-specific business prospect

Targeting:

Primary Level of Targeting: Considering the nature of the business and the overall geodemographic aspects of the country, the first level of targeting would be the ‘elementary’ segment. The notable reasons are:

- High initial enrollment at intermediate level

- Present level of awareness in Saudi Arabia on the importance of Mathematics learning

- The motivation to learn by innovative technologies from the beginning

- Developing interest in the very beginning with audio-visual applications

Secondary Level of Targeting: While the primary level of targeting has been finalized and developed, the next level of targeting would be the intermediate and secondary level. The biggest challenge would be to carry forward the elementary crowd to the next levels in the long run, whereas the new enrollments for the intermediate and secondary level can be targeted with the help of strategic marketing as enumerated in Dynamic Marketing Ladder segment.

Positioning: In marketing strategy, competitive positioning with respect to other players  is an area of pivotal importance. It depends on the expectation of the customers, the driving factors of the competitors, and the ability of your business to cater to the existing need alongside offering  a differentiated product to satisfy the unfulfilled  need of the client. This varies with four major factors:

- Expectation of the client (May vary with time)

- Differentiating Factors (Varies with geodemographic variance)

- Matching the expectation with the offered differentiating factors to grab market

- Sustainable betterment/maintenance of the positioning through strategic marketing

Sustainable Services Mix:

It is not recommended in this business venture to go with the traditional and conventional approach, i.e. the marketing mix in a service offering with the four Ps. Firstly, this service is about better quality offering with a high degree of innovation rather than offering a tangible product with a certain life period. Secondly, this product offering has an immediate impact on the target group and the feedback/reactions are expected within a short frame of time. This would surely impact the future business prospect of the venture. The impact related to the quality of offering would also be reflected during assignments and customized tests. Hence, the scope of negligence is minimal and the marketing of the product requires a broader perspective.

The eight Ps are: Product/Service,  Placement,  Price,  People,  Process,  Promotion, Physical Evidences,  and  Productivity/Quality. This can ideally be done with focused and strategic marketing orientation and proper planning. The focused strategies for this venture should be:

I.  Product: Highlight of homogeneity and relevance

II.  Placement: Targeting the right segment with correct order of preference

III.  Price: Should commensurate with the quality of learning and the expenditure capacity of the household

IV.  People: The right people should be chosen for marketing strategy

V.  Process: Key innovative areas to be strongly highlighted with examples

VI.  Promotion: The mission and vision of the brand is to be effectively highlighted

VII.  Physical Evidences: The satisfaction of the existing clients to be projected through strategic marketing. The differentiating factors are to be properly documented in the website for prospective clients

VIII.  Productivity/Quality: To elaborate the innovative and quality offerings of the venture  in all probable events of marketing and promotion

The ideal mix of the 8P’s highlighted above  can contribute immensely to the all-embracing development of strategic marketing and brand promotion. This may also be a guiding principle for future marketing strategies. Once the sustainable service mix exists, it would lead to scope for future development and area of improvement. If the factors involved in the 8P’s are subsequently analyzed, it would lead to identifying  the factors as per their order of importance.

In this venture of online tutoring, the rank of priority is as under:

Product -> Process -> Productivity/Quality -> Placement -> Promotion -> Physical Evidences -> Price -> People 

The focus is pivotal on the offered product and its innovative methods of teaching with the utmost focus on quality. This process requires a focused strategy for placement followed by strong promotional planning by showcasing physical pieces of evidence of effective output. The entire package is to be offered at an affordable cost considering the strata of the society the product is aiming for. The complete process is to be backed by motivational people taking part in the processes of marketing strategy and implementation.

Dynamic Marketing Ladder:

As the study gradually developed a clearer understanding of marketing whereabouts for this particular venture, the detailed SWOT analysis followed by market segmentation, targeting and placement immensely helped to identify the unique dynamic marketing ladder for this business.