CHAPTER 14
Developing a Startup Marketing Plan
SUMMARY AND AUTHOR’S NOTE
Determining how to make the customer aware of the product or service you’re offering and
demonstrating the benefits requires a plan in much the same way that starting the business did.
The marketing plan includes all the strategies, tactics, and techniques used to raise customer
awareness to promote a product, service, or business.
This chapter takes a more entrepreneurial approach to marketing, recognizing that startup
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students will be able to:
• Discuss the role of the product adoption/diffusion curve for marketing strategy.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
OPENING CASE: Ty’s Toy Box: From eBay to Powerhouse Online Retailer
• Figure 14.1—The Long Tail Phenomenon
I. The Product Adoption/Diffusion Curve—how customers adopt new products
Chapter 154: Developing an Entrepreneurial Marketing Plan 59
II. The Marketing Plan—a plan for building customer relationships in order to fulfill the
company’s mission
a. Creating Customer Value—selecting an approach to market based on the customer
• Figure 14.4—Some Marketing Metrics for Entrepreneurs
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: MAKING MEANING—Fabio Rosa: Bringing Energy to
Rural Brazil
h. Advertising and Promotion—creating awareness for products and services
• Table 14.1—Push or Pull Strategy?
III. Entrepreneurial Market Strategies—approaching marketing as an entrepreneur
a. Traditional Advertising—media options for entrepreneurs
c. When It Makes Sense to Give It Away—give-aways as a marketing tool
IV. Internet Marketing and New Media—moving beyond traditional media boundaries
a. Social Media—virtual marketing tools
V. Personal Selling—taking a service oriented approach to meet customer needs
a. Improving Personal Selling Skills—learn what customers want from the sale and
VI. Managing Customer Relationships (CRM)—gathering and using information on
customers to increase profitability
a. Identifying and Rewarding the Best Customers—keeping the best customers happy
RELEVANT CASE STUDIES
Case 1 Command Audio
Case 3 HomeRun.com
60 Chapter 154: Developing an Entrepreneurial Marketing Plan
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON KEY ISSUES
1. What are the differences between an entrepreneurial marketing strategy and a large
corporation’s marketing strategy?
Entrepreneurial strategies mimic what big companies do, but they do it for much less
2. Is it important to stick with your marketing plan even if it isn’t returning immediate results?
Why or why not?
Stick with the marketing plan, because it takes time to make customers aware of the
3. What role should new media play in your marketing strategy?
4. What are the critical factors that should be considered in building a brand?
Entrepreneurs should develop a brand concept, identify brand extensions that can take the
5. How can personal selling be used to build long-term customer relationships?
When entrepreneurs prepare to sell, their research tells them what customers want from the
SUGGESTIONS FOR EXPERIENCING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
1. Compare and contrast the marketing strategies of two companies in the same industry in
terms of the points in the marketing plan.
Have students find out whether the companies have thought about and included the issues
2. Find an Internet company that interests you. Contact the entrepreneur or the person in
charge of implementing their marketing strategy to discuss their plan for building a brand.
Are they undertaking any of the strategies or tactics discussed in this chapter? What is
working and what is now? Present your findings in a brief PowerPoint presentation.
Chapter 154: Developing an Entrepreneurial Marketing Plan 61
Have the students identify the particular brand-building strategies they see. Students should
SUPPLEMENTARY LECTURE MATERIAL
You Can Brand Your Product
It’s one thing to make your packaged product stand out on a cluttered shelf in a retail outlet; it’s
quite another to make a product or service that can’t be physically packaged stand out. Suppose
you have a financial services firm that consults to clients on their financial portfolios. Here are
some ways you can make this type of company stand out in a crowd.
• Identify an important core value of the company that is related to the customer, such as