I read several related articles on this topic (those in the list of readings for this week). The one that I found most relevant was the “Creating a Marketing Plan: An Overview.” Below is my Marketing Plan. I had to search for more resources in the internet to get more insight on the subject [3][4].
Creating a Marketing Plan
Most of the time, before selling, there is marketing. The marketing plan aims to transform a product or service concept into a successful offering that meets the needs of target customers and fulfills the company’s expectations.
Following the content structure provided in the article, my marketing plan for the Senior Force venture summarize as:
Executive Summary
Senior Force provides online senior citizen job marketplace, a service for facilitating the connection of senior job seekers and job offerer. This marketing plan identifies the market segment and illustrates the strategies that will be used to attract our clients and retain their loyalty. The focused service towards the senior citizen together with social networking and usability feature will provide higher values to the user that the competitor. There are two different income sources: the senior citizens that will seek jobs, and the organizations that will post the job offerings. Two different approaches will be taken for those two targets.
Senior Force provides online senior citizen job marketplace, a service for facilitating the connection of senior job seekers and job offerer. This marketing plan identifies the market segment and illustrates the strategies that will be used to attract our clients and retain their loyalty. The focused service towards the senior citizen together with social networking and usability feature will provide higher values to the user that the competitor. There are two different income sources: the senior citizens that will seek jobs, and the organizations that will post the job offerings. Two different approaches will be taken for those two targets.
Current Situation
The SWOT Analysis
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population over 60 has been growing at an average rate of 4.8%, much greater than any other age range.
One of the client types is the senior citizens. As mentioned above, the senior citizen population is growing. Nowadays, there are about 76 million baby boomers in the United States in his/her 60’s.
The other type of the client is the organizations that offer jobs. News articles shows that the interest for business related to senior people is increasing [1]. Large enterprises such as Boston Consulting Group [2] are acknowledging that experienced senior workers are assets to the company.
My venture will approach those two type of clients.
- Strength: Focused on senior citizen: better accessibility options, better search criteria for experienced senior job seekers. Social networking capability features, and integration with other social platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
- Weaknesses: Late player in the domain. Although we will provide unique service in term of features, there are already business that provide alternative service. Another weakness is lack of expertise in the domain of senior citizen. Most of our data will be from internet and census bureau.
- Opportunities: Offline service, direct approach, is an opportunity. This is true as still many senior people may not be fluent using computer and internet.
- Threats: The internet is a low barrier market. Almost anyone can jump in to the business.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population over 60 has been growing at an average rate of 4.8%, much greater than any other age range.
One of the client types is the senior citizens. As mentioned above, the senior citizen population is growing. Nowadays, there are about 76 million baby boomers in the United States in his/her 60’s.
The other type of the client is the organizations that offer jobs. News articles shows that the interest for business related to senior people is increasing [1]. Large enterprises such as Boston Consulting Group [2] are acknowledging that experienced senior workers are assets to the company.
My venture will approach those two type of clients.
Financial and Marketing Goals
The initial marketing phase will take 6 months. In this phase, we will focus on the launching of the system and attracting clients until minimal critical mass is achieved. The second phase will take 12 months. This phase is where we will start making alliances with other organizations. The site the traffic will continuously increase. We expect to have profit in this phase.
The initial marketing phase will take 6 months. In this phase, we will focus on the launching of the system and attracting clients until minimal critical mass is achieved. The second phase will take 12 months. This phase is where we will start making alliances with other organizations. The site the traffic will continuously increase. We expect to have profit in this phase.
Marketing Strategy
For the job seekers, there will be two level of membership: basic level and premium level. The basic level will be free of charge and the user will be able to browse posted jobs. The premium level will be charged with a nominal membership fee of $10/annual. In this level, the user is allowed to post his/her resume in the system which will be accessible by the job provider. Also when a new job is posted in the area of his/her interest, it will be notified through via email/mobile.
Likewise, the organization will be charged for publishing a job opportunity for premium format (unlimited text, image, and highlight). A simple job posting will be free of charge (plain text up to 300 characters).
Takeaways from other readings
• Take advantage of new communication medium: the social networking.
• Add another “P” (People) to the four P’s in the marketing Mix. Creating loyalty among the customer is very important.
• Be creative when marketing, go beyond.
• When assigning price, break away from the cost-plus model.
References
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/business/06aging.html?_r=1&src=busln
[2] http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2011/01/27/why-companies-need-to-start-hiring-older-workers/
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_plan
- Young-Suk
Young-Suk,
ReplyDeleteI think it's a great idea to tap into social networks to reach out to your customers. However, your consumer base is mainly senior citizens older than 60. It would be crucial to define what portion of senior people actually use computer/internet let alone social networks.