Before defining any marketing strategy, it is necessary to have an abundant and up-to-date knowledge of all the components of the market structure, that is, those factors that are influencing the conditions facing the company.
These elements are: The Consumer or User, The Competition, The Marketers or Distributors, The Suppliers and the Conditions of the Productive Sector in which the organization is located.
CONSUMER ANALYSIS
Of potential customers, it should be borne in mind that it is possible that they are natural persons who act as final consumers, as well as organizations that acquire the good or service with intentions of institutional consumption, while those who acquire the products with an eminently commercial interest.
If the consumer is located in the group of natural persons, his study and understanding will be facilitated in the micro-segmentation processes, but a series of personal or socio-economic characteristics will always be considered, along with socio-labor characteristics, which allow set up a very valuable information map for the marketing strategist.
Knowledge of consumer, purchasing and communication habits is sought
Beyond the previous description, special emphasis will be placed on purchasing habits and consumption habits, as well as the communication habits that are associated with a specific product, completing the panorama with the identification of who decides to purchase, who makes the purchase and who consumes, which, as is well supposed, are valuable data when making decisions about measures that affect the purchase determination.
Regarding the legal entities that appear as corporate clients, their legal nature will affect the decision-making processes of the purchase action. The organizational, administrative and operational structure involved must also be taken into account, which will be visible when the inter-institutional negotiation framework is defined and the persons empowered to make such decisions are identified.
Even when it is not served directly, it is necessary to know the final consumer
On the other hand, legal entities also have a series of purchasing, consumption and communication habits, which can be identified for each productive sector, or from company to company.
Something that will have special attention is in the image and commercial trajectory of these organizations, to the extent that legal entities entail additional risks in managing the portfolio for the company.
ANALYSIS OF COMPETITION
Once the analysis of consumers or users has been exhausted and the competitors present in the medium have been identified, the study of the latter begins, trying to get to know and analyze them as best as possible, even anticipating their evolution and the strategic management they have projected for the market..
This task begins with the quantification, sizing and location of the competitors, establishing the participation they have in the market, in terms of the type and volume of clients, as well as their geographical coverage.
It will seek to know the business structure and its productive capacity, as well as the marketing strategies with which they are being competitive, the sales and customer service strategies that they have been implementing.
This analysis will also include the identification of the marketers and suppliers with whom they carry out various commercial agreements, to close the analysis with the investigation of the plans and projects that have been disseminated by each competitor.
The menu of related aspects will generate a comparative table of the main competitors and identify those factors that make them more competitive, while facilitating knowledge of the strategies on which the organization must improve its performance.
The best performances must be highlighted from the competition
ANALYSIS OF SECTORAL CONDITIONS
One of the elements with the greatest impact on the organization's business and marketing dynamics corresponds to the conditions of the productive sector, which originate in measures, facts or actions, stemming from the environment or context in which commercial management is carried out.
States, trade union organizations, political and social entities appear here as organizations that indicate in a different and differentiated way on one or another sector.
The first clarity that the marketing strategist must have is located in the knowledge and interpretation of the legal and regulatory framework that affects the specific productive activity.
Simultaneously, economic policy must be valued, both for the local market and for those who want to be influenced, for which the information must be complemented with the analysis of the socio-political situation, socio-cultural characteristics, demographic and geographical conditions that typify them, closing the study with an evaluation of the sector's union potential and a prospective analysis of the events that affect or favor the development of the organization.
The set of sectoral conditions are structural, that is, they cannot be modified. The only option is to adapt to them
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
Once all this information has been collected, the internal and external situational analysis can be carried out, which will guide the management decisions necessary to make the organization competitive, to the extent that the necessary internal adjustments are made and a coherent and strategic marketing plan is outlined. consistent with the information collected.
The other advantage of knowing the aspects on which the strategist must have information is that if some of these topics are not known, or the data that is available is unreliable or outdated, all market research can be structured. necessary to complete the analysis panorama.
The analytical exercise can only be started when all the information is available
