E-Commerce Marketing Plan - Essay Example

?Executive Summary This report is a marketing plan for Fish Field LLC, one of the leading fishing equipments brand in Oregon. The marketing plan is designed for the company for expanding its customer base and brand name in the industry. An analysis of the competition has resulted in the finding that Fish Field has edge over most of its customers in terms of online sales. Based on this finding, the recommended strategies for Fish Field are revamp of website, placing ad banners, creating Facebook page, creating company discussion forums, introducing newsletters, search engine optimization and discounts based on the customer category. Market Summary “FISH FIELD LLC is a fishing tackle manufacturer, importer and wholesaler in Oregon.” (Fish Field, 2011) The company is a specialist in fishing equipments. Fish Field focuses more on ocean fishing though the company has significant presence in fresh water fishing too. What started as just a small company is now an established fishing equipment brand in the region. Being located in Oregon, the major market of the company is Oregon itself. But the company also has reasonable sales from other major states through its online sales of the equipments. The current customer groups of the company include both professional fishermen as well as hobbyists. But the larger portion consists of professional fishermen. The company has a huge portfolio of products that cater to the various needs of the customers. The products of the company are currently classified under categories such as fly fishing, general fishing, sea fishing, centerpin fishing and outdoor sport. The company sells around sixty three products through these categories. Fish Field is planning to expand its market by targeting more customer groups. In order to increase the sales of the products, the company will have to expand to other markets outside Oregon through its online presence. The new marketing plan of the company is aimed at targeting more of hobbyists in the customer category. The new marketing plan is intended to generate sales from markets like Florida which is known for saltwater and fly fishing for years. Another sub category that the company intends to target is the tourists. Tourists from other regions and countries form a major group among the hobbyists. This marketing plan is also intended to target more of students of the age group 10 – 20. This is a very lucrative market segment for the company. Competition Some of the major fishing equipment suppliers in Oregon are Anglers Manufacturing Inc, Bandon Bait & Tackle Sea Food, Caddis Fly Angling Shop, Cascade Anglers, Cascade Crest Tools, Charlton Deep Sea Charters, Dan Craft Enterprises, Englund Marine Supply Company, Fish Rite Inc Boats, and Glenn Struble MFG. Most of these players have fishing boats in their product portfolio compared to that of Fish Filed. Though Fish Field does not have boat among its product categories, the fishing equipment portfolio of Fish Field is very large than most of these players. This is where the company differentiates itself from other major players in the market. Fish Filed also differentiates from its competitors through its sophisticated online sales presence. Most of the products of Fish Field are sold through its online portal. Most of the competitors maintain their own websites. Some of the competitors’ websites are just informative in nature. Such companies don’t sell products online. Caddis Fly, Bandon Bait, Cascade Anglers, Englund Marine and Fish Rite are the companies that just maintain informative websites. All other players listed above sells their merchandise online. If Fish Field is able to leverage more on its existing online presence, it can generate more sales than that of its competitors. Most of the competitors are not established brands in fishing equipments though there are few companies that have years of experience. Therefore, to generate better sales, Fish Field should first establish its brand name or make its brand name visible to the prospective customers. Since Fish Field already has a sophisticated website, the opportunity for the company is very high compared to that of the competitors. A brand name will help the company to be easily recognized by the potential customers. Since most of the customers depend on internet for the information, an e-commerce marketing plan is the most suitable strategy for the company. Marketing Strategies Revamped Website: Fish Field should first revamp its website by introducing new design. The current website of the company is not very appealing to create an impact in the minds of the customers. The ambience of the website should stay in the customer’s mind. The customer should be able to easily visualize the website in their mind on hearing the name Fish Field. New website design and color theme is very much essential for creating a brand name. The website should also include more details on the company. The website should be an information hub not only about the company but also about fishing in brief. Ad Banners on Blogs & Forums: Fish Field should place ad banners on major potential websites. Ad banners should be placed on tourist websites, tourist blogs, fishing blogs and forums, etc. A click on the ad banners should take the user directly to Fish Field LLC’s website. The customers can then directly go through the various products offered by the company. Facebook Page: Creating a Facebook page is one easiest method for the company to reach more customers. The link to the Fish Field Facebook page should be embedded on the company websites and popular fishing blogs and related websites. Fish Field Forums: Fish Field should create a company blog and forum where people can come and discuss on the trends, issues and all other matters concerning fishing. It is an opportunity for the customers and potential customers to be informed about the industry trends as well as the company information. In order to start discussion or reply on a discussion, a forum visitor should be a registered user. The registration process should be made in simple steps. Through this activity, Fish Field can collect the email addresses of a large group of potential customers. Discounts for Frequent Customers: Fish Field should introduce a system of categorizing the customers based on frequency, volume and value of their purchases. Based on this category, the company can understand the product needs of their customers to an extent. Fish Field should introduce discounts for such frequent customers based on their purchases. Emails & Newsletters: A newsletter is a good option to inform the customers about the day to day progress of the company. The customers who create an account with the company for purchasing the products should be asked the option of receiving monthly newsletters. The newsletter should focus mainly on the new products, fishing activities by the company, and some general fishing FAQ’s. Based on the emails of the potential customers which are collected from the blogs, Fish Field should send emails to them informing about the products and services of the customers. A more scientific approach can be used here. Watching the discussions of a particular user on the blog will help to understand the type of product he/she is interested in. The emails sent to them should be related to such products. Search Engine Optimization: Search engine optimization should definitely be opted for appearing the company website in the search results. The current position of the company in terms of search results is very poor. A webhosting company should be hired in order to perform the search engine optimization for Fish Field. Measuring Success All the above strategies should be analyzed after implementation for measuring its success. Analysis should be done on a weekly basis after the implementation of all the strategies. Some of the methods that will help the company to measure the success of the marketing plans are sales volume analysis, website traffic analysis, likes and subscribers on Facebook page and frequency of customers. The increase in the online sales volume will help to determine whether the marketing activities have helped in creating the intended results. The traffic on Fish Field website should be analyzed on every week. Also, the source of traffic should be carefully monitored. Based on this, this source of less traffic should be identified and reinforced. The likes and subscriber base on the Facebook page should be analyzed on a weekly basis. The company should always try to increase the subscriber base of the Facebook page. The increase in the number of frequent customers should be checked in order to analyze whether the loyalty programs of the company are effective. Summary The above marketing plan will help Fish Field to establish itself as one of the most sought after fishing Equipments Company. The primary activity to be performed by Fish Field is to revamp its website. It should be done within a time span of one month. Professional web designers should be hired for this activity. A unique color theme should be created for the company website. Creating the Fish Field forums and blogs is also a part of this activity. All other activities should be performed after the website redesign. Based on the weekly analysis on the plan, changes should be made on the weaker areas. References “About Us.” Fishfield.com. 11 December 2011. < http://www.fishfield.com/about.asp> Read More