Supporting the Development of Marketing Capability of Small Businesses

Question : Describe Audits and Planning Tools for developing Business Capability. Your paper should be divided into two parts: 1. The Identification of Critical Success Factors in Marketing. 2. Showcasing/Evaluation of key diagnostic audit tools available to benchmark marketing capability (these should be actual audits/tools that are currently available to businesses). Answer : Introduction: In recent economic scenario, the level of competition in each and every industry is significantly increasing. After globalisation, there is increased interconnectedness and relationship between various nations. It led to increase in global organisations and the global markets were also created. Nowadays the business units not only have to compete with the local competitors but they have to compete with the global competitors as well. Thus the companies have to implement various strategies in order to gain the competitive advantage in the market. In recent times, there has been increased consideration for the entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial marketing. So the main aim of the paper is to identify the critical success factors in marketing and evaluating the key diagnostic audit tools that are available to benchmark the marketing capabilities. Background: In recent years it is evident that successful entrepreneurial marketing within the small business requires that the judgement and the competency in the part of the managers and the owners. However, it is stated that most of the small businesses have stifling growth potentials as the resource is one of the critical success factors. The lack of resource is not only confined to finance but there is inclusion of human capital availability, time and skill in this respect. In various situations the managers and the owners may not share the tacit knowledge with others even though they possess it. Thus as a result various small business units are not able to capitalise the opportunities due to the lack of potential resource or competency. It is realised by the UK government that the SMEs continuously try to gain funding and they target grants for increasing the competitiveness. The business capability can also be increased by the support of the universities (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick and Chaff ey, 2012). Thus it is very important that the competency gaps are filled by improving the marketing competency. Thus the critical success factors must be identified by the SMEs. Critical Success Factors: The critical success factors can be referred as the necessary element that is required for achieving the mission of a project or the organisation. In order to ensure the success of an organisation, it is very important consider the critical success factors. Here it can be said that in order to support the development of the marketing capabilities for the small business units the diagnostic audits can be used for assessing the critical success factors in terms of marketing activity. The critical success factors used in marketing can be discussed here (Clow and Baack, 2012). Planning: Planning is one of the critical success factors in marketing. The marketing planning is basically a systematic process that involves analysis of resources and opportunities in marketing, determining the objectives of marketing, and then developing implementing and controlling the plan of marketing. The marketing plan is one of the critical success factors for marketing as it is the main base for marketing strategies and it clarifies the elements of marketing at the initial phase (Finne and Grnroos, 2009). A broader perspective is drawn with the help of the marketing plan and the planning helps in transforming the idea into a financially viable proposition. In a dynamic market, it is essential and necessary that some degree of planning is conducted. Planning helps in identifying the source of competitive advantage, setting the strategies and objectives, acquiring resources etc (Kolassa, 2015). The two toolkits which are marketing planning toolkit and social marketing toolkit can help in the planning process for marketing. Marketing Communication: Marketing communication is another critical success factor in marketing. Marketing communications are basically the messages that are communicated within the market by using the related media by the organisation. In the marketing mix, marketing communication can be referred as the promotion part. It is also referred as the strategy that is utilised by the organisation for reaching the market that has been targeted through various communication types (Keegan, 2012). The marketing communication is very important and one of the critical success factors as the organisation communicates with the consumer by using various strategies in order to educate them about the effectiveness of the product or services offered to them by the company. Effective use of marketing communication can significantly help in achieving the goals and objectives of marketing. The two toolkits which are marketing planning toolkit and social marketing toolkit can be an effective measure of establishing communicatio n with the consumers. Internal Resources: The internal resources are another critical success factors in marketing. The internal resources are basically the resources that are available to an organisation internally. The internal resource can be physical or it can be in terms of the capability of the organisation. The internal resource may include the managerial capability of the managers for conducting and executing the marketing strategy, the available financial resource to the company for financing the plans, the skills of the employees and know-hows etc (Kotler and Keller, 2012). These are all internal resources of an organisation and also critical success factor for the success of marketing. The tools are used after assessing the internal resource of the organisation. The planning tool assesses the internal resources and then implements policies and the same is done in case of social marketing. Evaluation Management Control System: The evaluation and the management control is another critical success factor for an organisation. In order to understand whether the organisation is working effectively or not, it is very important evaluate the marketing strategies that are implemented by the organisation for branding itself in the market and attracting the customers. There can be various issues that can be faced by the organisation while implementing the strategies or the policies. Thus it is very important to execute effective control process for continuously fine tuning and adjusting in order successfully achieve the goals and the objectives (Kotler and Keller, 2012). Thus it can be said that effective evaluation and control process can help in achieving the desired goals of the company. The effectiveness of the planning tool and the social marketing tool depends on the evaluation and management control system. Product Development (Capabilities): Product development capability of an organisation is another crucial success factor for an organisation. New product development can be referred as process of developing and introducing new product in the industry. It is one of the opportunities for the firm to capture market share in the industry (Marketing-schools.org, 2015). Here it can be said that, the development of a new product can be very difficult especially for the small business enterprises. The main reason for such difficulty is due to the requirement of the resource, technology and skill to execute the new idea into the market. It is very important to launch the product using effective marketing strategy for achieving the goals and objectives (Miller, 2002). Customer / Needs: The needs of the customers can be a critical success factor as well. The customers are the main source of the demand. That means after the demand for the product is generated, the firms supply the products according to forecast of demand in the market. Thus the needs of the customers are another critical success factors. The organisations can utilise the needs and can also generate the needs and demand with the help of effective advertising and promotional tools. The customers needs and wants are researched with the help of social marketing and marketing planning tool and the various steps are undertaken. Strategies: The strategies that are implemented by an organisation in order to achieve the goals and objectives are also the critical success factors for the company. It is known that the strategies are basically the plans for achieving the main objectives and goals of a company in the presence of uncertainty. The tactics or the subset of skills can be incorporated in the strategies for achieving the goal. Thus effective marketing strategies are referred as one of the critical success factors (Shankar and Carpenter, 2012). The social marketing and the marketing planning tool implements various strategies for achieving the goals and objectives of the organisation. The Marketing Audit Tools: Marketing audit toolkits are very important in order to identify or benchmark the marketing practices of an organisation. The marketing audit toolkits are basically designed for providing with the required tools and a set of valuable resources that can be used for promoting the benefits of the organisation. Here two marketing audit tools can be discussed and compared. The two marketing toolkits are Social Marketing Toolkit by FINRA Investor Education Foundation and The Marketing Planning Toolkit for small businesses that are provided by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Toolkit 1: The Marketing Planning Toolkit for Small Businesses: The marketing planning toolkit that is provided by the Chartered Institute of Marketing is one of the diagnostic audit tools for small business units. The toolkit can help in the planning process of marketing for the small companies in the industry and it can also identify whether the organisation has the capability to compete in the industry with the help of the marketing strategies implemented by the firm (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009). The capability audit tool can also help in addressing the gap in the internal competencies and then the planning process of marketing can be implemented. Here it can be said that the gap measures the marketing capabilities of an organisation and that there can be excess capacity within the organisation that can be utilised for the growth of the organisation (Volkov, 2005). Thus the toolkit can help in addressing the gap and the benchmark can be reached by the organisation. Toolkit 2: Social Marketing Toolkit: Social Marketing Toolkit can also be used for addressing the capabilities and the gap in the capabilities for an SME. In recent years the social marketing has been one of the effective tools for addressing the needs of an organisation and for achieving the success in the market. Thus it can be said that the social marketing toolkit is used for assessing the effectiveness of various marketing strategies of a small enterprise (FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 2002). The toolkit is also an effective tool for identifying the gaps in the capability (Westwood, 2011). Comparison of the Toolkits: The Marketing Planning toolkit first identifies the how the marketing principles can help an organisation in the industry so that it can achieve the competencies and the competitive advantage from other competitors and it basically focuses on the small and medium businesses. It can also provide several critical success factors (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009). The main critical success factors that can be identified in the marketing audit are marketing communications, product development, evaluation management control system, internal resources, customer needs and strategies. In the toolkit the external and the internal factors are identified that can affect the capability of the organisation in executing the marketing decisions. The external factors that are identified by the toolkit include the understanding of the customer needs and the assessment of the marketing condition. It is very important to estimate the market and evaluate the product on the basis of the marke t like whether the product is a star, a cash cow, a question mark or a dog (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009). This helps in making appropriate product development and brand establishment planning that can help in the success of the organisation. Here the 80-20 rule can also be taken into consideration. It is stated that in operations, 80% of the issues are found in 20% areas (Wood, 2011). Thus it is very important to identify the 20% area and take preventive measures. Understanding the market conditions and marketing are also a part of the external factor evaluation that can be assessed with the help of various tools like PESTEL and Porters five force model. The external factor analysis can also include understanding the targeting, positioning and the sales effectiveness. The internal factors are also analysed in terms of assessing the planning process, core marketing competencies of the firms. Certain key elements that are considered in this toolkit for marketing plannin g are public relations, advertising, personal selling, packaging and direct marketing. The toolkit can help in estimating the action plan for the company (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009). On the other hand the social marketing tool helps in applying the commercial marketing technologies for the analysis evaluation, execution and the planning of various programmes that are specifically designed for influencing the target audiences behaviour towards the product or the services. In case of downstream social marketing, the behaviour of the people are identified and influenced and upstream social marketing affects the behaviour of the suppliers other businesses and the government. In the social marketing audit it is examined how the issues are framed and the project goals are designed keeping in mind the overall objectives of the business units. The main aim of social marketing is influencing the decision making of the consumers. The critical success factors that are identified in the toolkit are planning, marketing communications, product development, evaluation management control system, internal resources, customer needs and strategies. Various tools are provided in th e toolkit for internal and external market analysis (FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 2002). The situation analysis is performed where the market attractiveness analysis, customer analysis, competitor analysis, self-assessment and performance analysis is conducted. Conclusion: In conclusion it can be said that the marketing management is one of the major functions that are performed by SMEs and every other organisation at present. In this assignment the critical success factors in marketing are identified and it is also discussed how the factors can help in achieving the goals and objectives of an organisation. Here two diagnostic toolkits of marketing are also discussed and compared in terms of their functions and how these toolkits can help in increasing the marketing efficiency of the organisations. References: Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F. and Chaffey, D. (2012).Digital marketing. Harlow: Pearson. Clow, K. and Baack, D. (2012).Cases in marketing management. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE. Finne, . and Grnroos, C. (2009). Rethinking marketing communication: From integrated marketing communication to relationship communication.Journal of Marketing Communications, 15(2-3), pp.179-195. 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