Marketing strategy

betsykatie    August 22, 2022    Comment   

Definition of Marketing Strategy

Strategy is the determination of the company's long-term main goals and objectives, as well as the implementation of a series of actions and the allocation of resources needed to realize these goals (Tjiptono, 2015: 2), while Marketing is all activities related to planning and controlling the flow of goods from producers to consumers. , how to distribute these products to consumers, how high the price that should be applied to these products that match the conditions of consumers, how to promote to communicate these products to consumers, and how to overcome competitive conditions faced by the company (Gitosodarmo, 2001: 193) .

Marketing (English: Marketing) is the process of compiling an integrated communication that aims to provide information about goods or services in relation to satisfying human needs and wants. Marketing begins with the fulfillment of human needs which then grows into human wants. According to Khasmir (2012:171) marketing or marketing is all business activities related to the flow of delivery of goods and services from producers to consumers. William J. Stanton (in Khasmir, 2012:175) suggests that marketing is an overall system of business activities aimed at planning, pricing, promoting and distributing goods and services that satisfy needs, both to existing and potential buyers. The term marketing (Marketing) is defined by the American marketing association (in Khasmir, 2012:176) as the executor of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producers and consumers or users. This definition shows that this marketing includes activities such as doing trade (marchandising), promotion (promotion), pricing (selling), and transportation (transportation).

Marketing Strategy Indicator

Marketing strategy is a fundamental tool that is planned to achieve company goals by developing a sustainable competitive advantage (Tull and Kahle, 1990 in Khasmir, 2012:179). A company in carrying out its business activities has four main strategies in marketing known as the 4Ps, namely, price (price), promotion (promotion), product (product), place (distribution) or often known as the Marketing Mix (Marketing Mix). According to William J. Stanton, the general understanding of the marketing mix is ​​as follows: marketing mix is ​​a term used to describe the combination of the four major components that make up the core of an organization's marketing system. The four elements are product/service offerings, price structures, promotional activities, and distribution systems.

Indicators in the marketing strategy which include four elements, namely: product (product), price (price), distribution or product placement (place), and promotion (promotion) (Vernon A. Musselman, 1994:305). The marketing mix is ​​a tool that can be used by entrepreneurs to influence their consumers to become acquainted with then love and then make purchase transactions and finally consumers become satisfied (Gitosudarmo, 2001: 2003). The following is a marketing strategy in the marketing mix (marketing mix):

A. Product Strategy

In order for the strategy to be more effective in influencing consumers to be interested in buying and then they become satisfied, they must learn several things about this strategy, namely:

1. Product concept The product - concept is an understanding or consumer view of a product that is needed and wanted. Consumers will have a certain concept or view of an item. What is the meaning of this item for consumers, usually in giving meaning to consumers has two meanings. The first meaning of the technical meaning of the goods for consumers is that the goods are very useful. The technical meaning or technical function of a product is the starting point for the essence of a product, therefore this technical function is often referred to as "Basic Product" or "Genetic Product".

Besides the technical meaning, there is still a second meaning which is usually non-technical in nature, that is, the item is seen as not only useful but also there is an expectation that by using the item, consumers will be able to appear "prestigious". This second meaning is often known as social aspect. culture of the product.

Products that are able to give meaning to these two traits will be able to attract consumers and then make these consumers motivated to buy them and after buying they will be satisfied. So there is repeated purchases by consumers of these products. In this case, the product can be said to be a product that is able to sell itself.

2. Product Life Cycle - Each product will actually have a stage or cycle of life cycle. The earliest stage of a product's life span starts from a stage known as the introduction stage. At this time the product was only introduced by entrepreneurs to the public. The next stage is the growth stage, which is a continuation of the successful introduction stage. After many community members know about the product, it is hoped that the community will like the product and if this happens then the product will be in a growth stage. This stage is marked by an increase in the number of sales of the product.

The next stage is stepping on the stage of maturity or "Maturity". This stage shows a period of saturation where consumers are already saturated so that it will be difficult to increase sales of these products. The last stage is the decline stage or "Decline". At this stage, people no longer love the product, so sales will decline sharply. This will happen if the entrepreneur is no longer able to maintain his product in the maturity stage.

3. Types of products - In order to be able to market a product well, it is necessary to know which type of product it belongs to, because each type of product will require different handling in marketing the product to be successful. In this case there are several product classifications, namely:

• Consumer Goods Consumer - goods are goods purchased by the public for their own use or for their own consumption to meet their daily needs. These items include food, beverages, clothing, household furniture, stationery and even motorcycles and cars and so on.
• Industrial - Goods Industrial goods are goods that have different characteristics from consumer goods. Due to the nature of the users who are not consumed by themselves but to be re-entered in business, in general the purchase motive for this type of industrial goods is not emotional but rational or based on profit and loss considerations or cost considerations.

B. Pricing Strategy

Entrepreneurs need to think about setting the selling price of their products correctly, because the wrong price will result in not attracting buyers to buy these goods. Therefore, the determination of the selling price must be well thought out and in this case there are several basis for determining the price, namely:

First, costs, production costs that have been incurred to produce these goods, of course, will be the main consideration for entrepreneurs in determining the selling price of their products. The selling price which is set below the cost of production will certainly bring loss to the company. On the other hand, the selling price set above the cost of production will certainly generate profits. Therefore, in general, entrepreneurs use the basis for determining the selling price of their products on the basis of production costs and then adding the desired profit margin. 

Second, consumers, certain conditions where consumers still need to be introduced to the product, even though the cost is high, it is necessary to apply a low selling price. Thus, it is necessary to determine the selling price on another basis, namely on the basis of the condition of consumer tastes or consumer demand. If consumer tastes or demand wants low, the selling price should also be set low and preferably if consumers want a high selling price, it should also be set a high selling price. Pricing as above is the setting of prices on the basis of consumer taste or demand.

Third, competition, another basis for setting prices is on the basis of competition. In this case setting the price according to the needs of the company in terms of competition with other companies of the same type and its competitors. In certain situations, companies often have to set the selling price below the cost of production. This is done because they consider to win the competition.

C. Promotion Strategy Promotion

is an activity aimed at influencing consumers so that they can become acquainted with the products offered by the company to them and then they become happy to always buy these products. Promotion is one of the four elements of a company's marketing mix, where the main means of promotion are advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and personal selling (Amstrong 1994:127). The tools that can be used to promote their products, entrepreneurs can choose several ways, namely:

1. Advertising - Advertising is the main tool for entrepreneurs to influence their consumers. This advertisement can be done by entrepreneurs through newspapers, radio, magazines, television or in the form of posters that are installed on the side of the road or strategic places.
2. Sales Promotion Sales - promotion is a company activity to peddle the products it markets in such a way that consumers will find it easy to see and even with certain placements and arrangements, the product will attract the attention of consumers.
3. Personal Selling - Personal selling is a company activity to make direct contact with potential customers. With direct contact, it is hoped that there will be a positive relationship or interaction between entrepreneurs and their potential customers. Included in the personal selling category are: Door to door selling, Mail order, Telephone selling, and Direct selling.
4. Publicity (publicaton) - Publicity is a method commonly used by entrepreneurs to form an indirect influence on consumers so that they become aware of and enjoy the products being marketed. This method is done by making news about products or companies that produce these products in the mass media, for example news in newspapers, news on radio and television as well as certain magazines and so on.

D. Distribution Channel Strategy

Entrepreneurs must spread their goods to different places where consumers are. It is the duty to distribute the goods to consumers. For this purpose, entrepreneurs can use various forms of distribution channels that can be divided into several types, namely:

1. Direct Distribution Channels - In this distribution channel, entrepreneurs try to distribute the goods purchased by consumers directly to where consumers live. Thus, it is expected that consumers will feel satisfied because consumers no longer need to think about the problem of transporting the goods they bought to their homes.
2. Indirect Distribution Channels - In this case, entrepreneurs use outside parties to help distribute their goods to consumers. The outside party is a distributor or intermediary trader (Middle Man). This method of indirect distribution is generally carried out by direct distribution entrepreneurs which will be very expensive. In terms of indirect distribution, entrepreneurs can make several more choices which include three indirect distribution methods, namely: exclusive distribution channels, selective distribution channels, and intensive distribution channels.

Based on the opinions of the experts above, it can be concluded that marketing strategy is a way of preparing an integrated communication process that aims to provide information about goods or services in relation to satisfying human needs and desires. Where the process of fulfilling human needs and desires is the marketing concept, starting from product fulfillment, pricing, delivery of goods, and promoting goods.

Factors influencing marketing strategy

According to Sugiyanto (2012:45) the factors that can affect the marketing strategy of a company:

1. The microenvironment of the company

The microenvironment of the company consists of the actors in the environment that are directly related to the company that affect its ability to serve the market, namely:

• A. The company - That is the organizational structure of the company itself, the marketing strategy applied by the marketing management section must take into account other groups in the company in formulating its marketing plan, such as top management, finance, research and development, purchasing, production, and accounting as well as human resources that own the company.
• B. Suppliers (Suppliers) - Suppliers are companies and individuals who provide the resources needed by companies and competitors to produce certain goods and services.
• C. Marketing - intermediaries Marketing intermediaries are companies that assist companies in the promotion, sale and distribution of goods/services to final consumers.
• D. Customers - That is the target market of a company that becomes consumers of the goods/services offered by the company whether individuals, institutions, organizations and preferably.
• E. Competitors - In its efforts to serve customer market groups, the company is not alone. The efforts of a company to build an efficient marketing system to serve the gelati market are rivaled by other companies.
• F. Society - A company must also pay attention to a large number of people from certain levels, big or small, who pay attention to the company's activities, whether they accept or reject the company's methods of running its business.

2. Macro environment The macro

environment consists of forces that are larger in nature and affect all actors in the microenvironment within the company, namely:

• A. Demographic environment/population - demographic environment shows the conditions and problems regarding the population, such as the geographical distribution of the population, the level of density, the tendency to move from one place to another.
• B. Economic environment The economic - environment shows the applied economic system, government policies related to the economy, a decline in real income growth, sustained inflationary pressures, changes in consumer spending, and so on with regard to the economy.
• C. Physical - environment The physical environment shows the scarcity of certain raw materials needed by the company, increased energy costs, increased pollution rates, and increased levels of government intervention in the management and use of natural resources.
• D. Technological environment Technological - environment shows the increasing speed of technological growth, unlimited renewal opportunities, high research and development costs greater attention is paid to the refinement of small parts of the product.
• E. This social/cultural - environment shows the state of a community group regarding the rules of life, norms and values ​​that apply in society, community views and so on that formulate relationships between people and other communities.