Qualification - Certificate in Marketing

Learn to Promote, Sell and Deliver

• Understand marketing of any type of product or service
• Expand and deepen your knowledge of marketing techniques
• See the possibilities better than you ever have

Marketing is the art of convincing. It goes beyond just selling, and requires an open and trustful relationship, even in that short period of time when the sale happens, between salesperson and client. Learn the basics of the art of marketing in this certificate.

The certificate requires successful completion (including passing the associated exams) of each of 6 modules - 4 core (compulsory) and 2 elective (selected from 5 option modules).

This course is excellent for managers and marketing people who are good with general marketing but are not very sure about marketing on the web.

There are 8 lessons in this module as follows:

1. Introduction: What is e-commerce, scope of e commerce. E commerce problems & advantages, security, using the internet, contract law, How different electronic payment systems work (eg. credit card, bank transfer etc).
2. Success & Failure: What makes a web site commercially successful? Relaxing with technology, what can go wrong, site visibility, interactivity of a site, etc.
3. Promotional Strategies: Internet differences; Internet code of conduct, marketing management, target marketing, categories of url’s (search engines, ffa’s, directories etc).
4. Optimizing Web Site Potential: Monitoring visitors, Ground rules keep changing, Meta tags, Evaluation services, Submission services, etc.
5. Increasing Web Site Exposure: Developing a marketing plan, Promoting a site, Forms of advertising, Types of Marketing (Affiliate marketing; Free Content Marketing; Drive in Marketing, Buzz Marketing and User Group Marketing).
6. Automating Supply of Goods, Services and Cash flow: Ways to process payment; Ways to supply goods or services.
7. Managing Constant Change: Ways to keep information up to date, Resource Planning, Information Currency vs Cash Currency, etc.
8. Dealing with E Commerce Problems: Learning from mistakes (others & yours).

3. Management
Make sure you adopt and develop a tried and tested management style. This course outlines management theories and procedures, problem solving and decision making tactics, staff management, and more. Developed by professionals with a substantial amount of industry experience, it is the perfect foundation for a successful career. 

There are 6 lessons which are as follows:

1. Introduction & Organizational Structures.
2. Management Theories & Procedures.
3. Problem Solving & Decision Making.
4. Management Styles & External Influences.
5. Employing People & Interview Skills.
6. Staff Management

4. Sales Skills
There are 12 lessons in this course; as outlined below:

1. Presentation and selling: Personality. "Never judge a book by its cover." A wise old saying! but people who buy do make judgements especially about sales people. Dress and grooming are top priority in selling. As well you must learn how to develop a selling personality.
2. Communication and Conversational selling: Learn the art of written and verbal communication in easy to understand terms.
3. Marketing (Buyer analysis and motivation): Presentation of products to consumers and motivating them to buy.
4. Management (Hierarchy): Dealing with upper management; learn how to get your point across. How to be assertive and positive when dealing with your superiors.
5. Helping the Product Sell Itself 
6. Know your product and pre planning: Through observation, reading and listening get to know your products (pre planning is essential in today's complex society).
7. Selling made as simple as A B C: The procedure of selling.
8. "The Opening" (getting the attention of the buyer): Creating the right atmosphere for a sale to take place.
9. "Closing a Sale" (overcoming objections): Buyers will tend to look elsewhere unless a salesman can close a sale in an appropriate amount of time. Learn the secrets.
10. Stress Management: Learn the art of relaxation through stress management techniques.
11. The Law and Selling
12. Report Assessment Writing: Salespeople need to have the ability and skill to write a condensed and accurate report on which management will comprehend and act upon.

DO YOU NEED TO STUDY MARKETING?
Some people seem to have a natural ability that would enable them to "sell ice to Eskimos".

Base Your Marketing on Solid Information

Marketing sometimes works if decisions are based on intuition; but more often than not, results will be better if marketing decisions are based upon sound information.

There are many different ways that marketing professionals gather information upon which to base decisions. These include:

• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Interviews
• Observations
• Product Testing
• Testing Advertisements

 

Surveys

 

Consumer surveys are designed to provide information about the attitudes and opinions of consumers. Sometimes these surveys may address general attitudes and personality traits in order that these may be addressed in marketing strategies and product design. In other cases surveys may be created to explore the opinions and attitudes of consumers towards existing products or services. 

 

In order to be representative of the attitudes of the target group, surveys must be given to as large a sample as possible. Obviously, finances and time constraints will restrict the size of the sample a company is prepared to survey.  

 

Surveys should also be concise and comprised of simple well-worded statements which leave little room for interpretation. This way, more respondents will be likely to complete the survey and the data collected can be more accurately interpreted. 

 

There are several different ways to use surveys:

• In person - this is the most expensive option since it is quite time-consuming and may involve a team of people administering the survey for a number of days. It involves approaching passersby in public places such as high streets and shopping centres. They may then be shown samples of a new product or advertising and asked for feedback.  The response rate is often very high at around 85-95%.
• Telephone - this is the next most expensive option. It is quite difficult to encourage people to complete telephone surveys though because many people are suspicious of cold callers and don't like being hassled at home. Response rates are only in the region of 45-55%.  
• Mail - sending surveys out by mail is less expensive but the response rate is quite poor and can be anywhere from 5-15%, or sometimes less. Despite the poor response rates it remains a viable option for small businesses and start-ups.
• Online - surveys completed online is the cheapest option of all although there is no restriction over who completes a questionnaire. Response rates may also be quite poor. 

Focus Groups

These are an important means of research and most large scale companies use them. They are co-ordinated by trained professionals who act as a moderator and run through a series of planned questions and discussion topics. Questions may be closed to gain specific answers or open to encourage free thinking. Sometimes other techniques from psychology may be used like projective techniques which encourage free association, or role plays. Groups are usually held at neutral venues such as conference rooms in hotels. The idea is to gain insights into consumer behaviour and attitudes towards products or services.

 

Group participants are screened beforehand to ensure they meet the criteria required of the target market. They are often organised by market research companies. A typical group comprises between six and twelve individuals and sessions last between one and three hours.   

 

The meeting may be videotaped or observed from behind two-way mirrors. Observations are made of the group members body language, facial expressions, and reaction to the product or advertising material, as well as their communications.

 

Focus groups are most useful when companies are fishing for reactions to new or proposed products or ideas which have not yet got past the exploratory phase. Focus groups are a cost-effective way for companies to garner useful research but they can be infiltrated by dishonest participants who are only interested in the payout and who should not be in the group but for poorly designed screening techniques.  It normally takes the findings of at least three focus groups to gain useful insight into a new product.

 

 

Testing Products 

 

Another key part of market research is testing products. This may be done through field trials where a new product is put up for sale on a small scale through shops or online businesses. Reaction to the product is gauged from customer feedback and adjustments to packaging, product descriptions, pricing, or product details may be made.  

 

Field trials can also include approaching potential consumers in public places and asking them if they wish to review or test a product. The customer may be offered a small incentive such as a free sample or small payment for their co-operation. For something like a new type of chocolate bar the consumer can be asked to taste it and also answer a questionnaire about the product to record their views on whether they liked it, would they be motivated to buy it if it was available, what they didn't like about it, what they thought of the packaging, the prospective price, and so on.