Marketing objectives are one of the most important elements of a marketing plan. Without a precise definition of your marketing objectives, you won't be able to achieve anything.
In fact, despite the obvious importance of setting a clear marketing objective, many beginners fall into the trap of randomness when creating advertising campaigns. The organization finds itself spending a lot of money on marketing but not achieving what it wants.
As someone looking to achieve exceptional goals from your marketing campaigns, you must be well-versed in the different types of marketing objectives, define an appropriate objective for your organization, and work towards achieving them.
In this article, we share the most important and popular types of marketing objectives, along with important points on how to achieve each of these objectives.
1. Increase Brand Awareness
Companies aim to increase awareness of their products or services and build brand recognition among potential customers on an ongoing basis. The term "increasing brand awareness" has many meanings, including attracting the attention of the target audience and promoting the brand in the industry.
Increasing brand awareness can be achieved through traditional, on-the-ground marketing or digital marketing. We will discuss the most important ways to achieve this goal through both types:
A) Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing relies on traditional, non-digital means, the most important of which are:
1. Television Advertising
Companies use television advertising to reach a wide audience and increase awareness of their brand. In this method, innovative and attractive television ads are created to promote products or services and enhance their reputation.
These ads are shown on multiple television channels at times appropriate to their target audience. Television ads are expensive, and their cost is calculated per unit of time, such as seconds or minutes. However, these ads remain effective in many countries, most notably Arab countries.
2. Media Engagement
Companies communicate with media outlets such as magazines, newspapers, and television stations to increase awareness of their brand. Through this communication, companies can inform their audiences on these channels of their latest news, services, or offers.
These companies also communicate with the media to gain media coverage for the events and activities they organize. These events may include announcing their expansion, entering a new market, or introducing entirely new products or services.
3. Print Advertising Spaces in Newspapers, Magazines, and Billboards
Companies rent out advertising space in print newspapers and magazines to display their ads to increase brand awareness.
Don't be surprised! Print newspapers and magazines remain an effective means of reaching a large segment of customers in many fields.
Companies (especially local ones) also rely on non-digital billboards to advertise their products and services. While some have transitioned to digital advertising, which can be classified as one of the following methods, print advertising remains effective in advertising companies.
b) Digital Marketing
1. Creating a Website
Creating a company website significantly increases brand awareness online. Furthermore, we are in the digital age, and every company or project must have its own website that expresses its identity and brand.
For a website to play its role in increasing brand awareness, it must continually increase its traffic. This can be achieved through free methods, such as posting on social media platforms, or paid methods, such as advertising on social networks and platforms.
2. Social Media Presence
A presence on social media platforms is essential for building an online community and increasing brand awareness.
Most global companies have their own pages on certain social media sites and platforms. Here, these companies can communicate directly with their customers, whether by targeting them with content, ads, or even surveying their opinions about their products.
Companies can also create attractive ads and promote them on these platforms. The tools and features provided by these platforms, such as detailed targeting on Facebook, help companies reach their target audience precisely and at the lowest possible cost.
3. Content Marketing
Companies rely on creating unique content related to their field, products, or services to increase brand awareness and attract new audiences. Companies rely on various methods to create and publish this content, such as articles, videos, and podcasts.
The impact of content marketing depends on the means of dissemination, whether written, visual, or audio. Companies seeking to increase brand awareness publish written content on blogs relevant to their industries.
Written content can also be published on social media sites after adding appropriate images or videos. As for visual content, companies publish it on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook to increase brand awareness among their audiences.
2. Brand Authority
Brand authority can be considered the goal that directly results from increasing awareness of its audience. Awareness generally means simply knowledge, but brand authority means customers' trust in the brand and their awareness that it understands them and delivers what they want.
Companies can achieve brand authority over the markets in which they operate through several methods, the most important of which are:
A) Creating Unique Content
Creating unique content is the most important method companies rely on to achieve brand authority. We don't mean promotional content here, but rather content that provides value that directly serves customers, even if it relates to the company's field in general and not its products specifically.
For example, let's assume a company manufactures office printers. What content would enable its brand to gain market authority?
Well, this company could create visual and audio content explaining how to properly replace its ink cartridges after they expire.
b) Providing a Distinctive Customer Experience
Companies are committed to providing a distinctive experience for their customers even before they purchase their product by providing clear information about it. For companies, the customer experience doesn't stop when the product is purchased or even when the warranty expires, but extends beyond that.
Therefore, companies are committed to providing exceptional customer service and outstanding after-sales services to their customers. This makes their products the first to come to mind when customers want to purchase a particular product in the field in which they offer products.
With this approach, companies deal objectively with their users' negative experiences and opinions and attempt to resolve them as quickly as possible. These companies also ensure that this solution is incorporated into their new products to demonstrate to their customers that they are listening to them and aim to satisfy them at all costs.
c) Collaboration and Partnership with Other Companies
Companies collaborate with other reputable companies and brands with a strong market presence. This collaboration can take place within the framework of joint marketing campaigns or by appearing together at joint industry events.
This collaboration enhances the position of these companies and presents their brands as strong and reliable. Most of these partnerships occur between companies that do not offer the same products, so this collaboration does not turn into a form of competition.
In this regard, companies can use influencer marketing to expand their control and dominate the market in their field.
3. Increase Market Share
Increasing market share is one of the most common marketing goals that companies continually strive to achieve. Companies can achieve this goal by increasing their sales volume and marketing effectively to compete with other companies, with the goal of strengthening their competitive position and market position.
The following are the most important methods companies use to increase their market share:
a) Market Analysis and Understanding Customer Behavior
Companies analyze their target market and understand the needs and desires of their potential customers. This enables them to develop products or services that meet these needs and outperform those offered by competing companies.
Market analysis is an ongoing process because it is linked to people (customers), whose behaviors, temperaments, and, most importantly, their opinions about products change. This change forces companies to develop their products, and sometimes their operating methods, to keep pace.
Defining the target audience and their details also helps companies produce products that suit this audience and meet their needs and requirements. Understanding customers and their behaviors can be accomplished through several methods, the most important of which are direct communication with them, surveys, and opinion polls.
b) Achieving Competitive Advantages and Adopting an Attractive Pricing Strategy
Companies are constantly working to create or achieve competitive advantages in their products or services and highlight them to customers. These advantages can be in:
- User experience.
- Quality.
- Price.
- Innovation and the introduction of new technical or functional features.
- Customer service.
- After-sales services.
Achieving competitive advantages usually occurs after extensive market research. Companies first conduct a thorough analysis of their performance using a popular analysis method, such as SWOT analysis, to identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
The results of this analysis help companies develop a plan to achieve competitive advantages. This is achieved by developing an existing advantage into a competitive advantage or creating a competitive advantage from scratch.
Companies use attractive and competitive pricing tactics to increase their market share. They also offer special offers and discounts on their products to attract customers and encourage them to purchase their products instead of competitors' products.
C) Targeting Potential Customers
Companies focus on attracting potential customers to use their products to increase their market share. This is done by alerting these customers that their products effectively meet their needs. This requires companies to understand the behaviors and characteristics of potential customers.
This is because the characteristics of this customer segment differ from those of existing customers. This difference is what motivates them to use competitors' products. Here, companies attempt to understand the nature of these customers and then communicate with them through a variety of means and methods.
D) Expanding into New Markets
Companies rely on expansion and entering new markets as a means of increasing their market share. In this method, the company explores opportunities for geographic expansion or expansion into new product or service categories to reach new customers and increase its overall market share.
Entering new markets is in itself one of the most important marketing goals for companies, as it results in increasing their sales and market share. Finally, expanding companies requires adopting specific strategies, which we will explain in detail later in the article.
4. Enhancing Existing Customer Loyalty
Companies aim to retain existing customers and enhance their loyalty by offering additional benefits and distinctive services. This can be achieved by adopting several strategies and implementing several effective business practices to enhance customer loyalty, the most important of which are:
a) Providing a Distinctive User Experience
Companies strive to provide a satisfying and distinctive user experience. This can be achieved by improving the user interface (particularly in digital products), facilitating the use of physical products, or even easily navigating the company's website and products.
Companies strive to provide a personalized experience for each customer. This can be achieved in several ways, the most important of which is offering products or services tailored to the individual needs of each segment of this audience.
Individual needs require specific modifications and sometimes entirely new products, especially for individuals with special needs. Companies use data analysis techniques to better understand the spectrum of existing and potential customers and meet their current and future needs and expectations.
b) Loyalty and Rewards Programs
Companies create programs to support customer loyalty by offering them special rewards and privileges. These programs may include special discounts on future purchases, points that can be redeemed for products or services, vouchers, and discount coupons.
Companies design loyalty and rewards programs to suit their diverse customer segments. This helps strengthen their relationships with all customers, regardless of their purchasing power or the frequency with which they purchase products or services.
c) Regular Customer Communication
Companies communicate with their existing customers on a regular basis to enhance and maintain their loyalty. They use various means of communication with their customers, such as:
- Email.
- SMS.
- Social media.
Companies use these methods to send updates about new products, exclusive offers, and important news. They also rely on these methods to listen to and engage with customer feedback and comments.
Companies then rely on data analysis methods to understand what customers like and need to improve their products and services.
d) Providing Added Value
Companies consistently provide added value to customers. This is done through several methods, the most common of which are:
- Educational content, tips, and advice related to the products or services they offer.
- Free product samples or trial periods for services.
- Discounts.
- Thank-you letters.
- Product replacement policies under certain circumstances (damage due to manufacturing defects or in special circumstances).
5. Entering a New Market
Entering a new market is one of the most important steps companies take to achieve growth, but it relies on a large number of steps. Generally, when companies want to enter new markets, they use one or more of the following methods simultaneously:
a) Market Study and Research
Companies begin by conducting in-depth market research on the new market they aim to enter. This includes understanding the needs and requirements of potential customers in the new market, analyzing current competition and future prospects, and assessing the opportunities and challenges within that market.
b) Choosing a Market Entry Strategy
In general, there are several strategies companies rely on when they want to enter a new market, the most important of which are:
1. Gradual Expansion: This strategy relies on gradual, experimental expansion of business in the new market. This can be achieved by starting in a limited geographic area and then gradually expanding to other regions or markets.
2. Acquisition and Merger: This strategy relies on the purchase or merger of an existing company in the target market. The new company can leverage the strength, resources, and existing customers of the acquired or merged company to reach customers in the new market quickly and confidently.
3. Innovation and Product Development: This strategy is based on offering new and innovative products or services in the target market. The new company can gain market share by offering unique products or improving existing products in that market.
4. Online Entry: Companies rely on this approach to enter new markets by selling their products online. This is achieved by creating an online store or selling through existing e-commerce platforms to reach the new market audience quickly and effectively.
5. Direct Entry: Companies sometimes enter the target market directly by establishing branches or production units in that market. This strategy requires significant investments in the market, preparing its requirements, and adhering to its laws and regulations.
c) Modifying Products or Services Specifically to Suit the New Market Audience
The company may need to customize its products or services to suit the needs of the new market. This can include modifying the basic features of the product, such as its design, packaging, or even its price. It may also include secondary features of the product, such as color or language (especially for services).
d) Marketing and Advertising
Companies conduct local marketing and advertising campaigns aimed at reaching potential customers in the new market. Most social media platforms (most notably Facebook) allow targeting audiences based on their geographic location.
Companies also rely on marketing, advertising, and local media to promote products or services. These methods are useful for introducing companies to the new market audience and alerting them that their products are now available in their location (their city, country, etc.).
e) Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
Companies periodically monitor their performance in new markets and evaluate the results of their entry strategy.
In general, companies rely on indicators to measure the success of entering a new market and identify areas for improvement, such as:
1. Revenue and Sales: Companies' revenue and sales in new markets are compared to their previously set goals and financial forecasts.
2. Market Share: Companies measure the size of the market they have captured in new markets compared to other competitors.
3. New Customers and Repeat Purchases: Companies measure the number of new customers they engage with in new markets. They also analyze the frequency of customer purchases and whether they are continuous or intermittent.
4. Profitability: Companies measure their profitability and return on investment in new markets. This indicator reflects the companies' ability to achieve sustainable profits commensurate with the resources they have invested in new markets.
5. Costs of Geographic Expansion: Companies evaluate the costs of geographic expansion in the markets they have entered. This includes assessing the capital, operating, and infrastructure costs they incur to enter these markets and comparing them with their financial projections and expected returns.
Conclusion
In this article, we have tried to introduce you to the most important marketing objectives and the best ways to achieve them. Of course, there are other objectives, but they are often less important than or equivalent to the objectives we mentioned in this article. However, achieving the marketing objectives we mentioned will in turn achieve these objectives.
What are the most common marketing objectives you notice companies consistently trying to achieve? Share your opinion with us in the comments.