Facebook Help Centre

Here is the link for all the features: https://www.facebook.com/help/?page=260315770650470&ref=hcnav

There are individual sections for different topics, e.g.:

• Groups - https://www.facebook.com/help/groups
• Offers and Deals -  https://www.facebook.com/help?page=211712388852046

Twitter Tool - Find the first tweet of a Twitter account

Here is a tool that you can use to locate the first tweet of a Twitter account.

MyFirstTweet
For example, you can locate DellOutlet's first tweet here!

http://myfirsttweet.com/1st/delloutlet

How to add Facebook "Like" button to your Blogger posts

This is a short tutorial with 7 steps that teaches you how to embed a Facebook "Like" button to each of your Blogger posts.

If you completed the 7 steps successfully, you will be able to see a "Like" button that looks like the one below.

Interested to know how? Its easy, so read on!

A Facebook "Like" button at the end of a Blogger post

Step 1

1. Log in your Blogger Account
2. Go to Blogger Dashboard. 
3. Click on your Blog Title.
4. Navigate to Template tab.

Step 2

1. Click on Edit HTML button
2. Click Proceed button to view Template Editor.

Step 3

1. Check  "Expand Widget Templates"

Step 4

1. Type "Ctrl-F" to look for the keywords "<data:post.body/>" in the template

Step 5

1. Once you have located the position of "<data:post.body>", refer to the screenshot above to add the code below at the correct position

<br/>
    <iframe allowTransparency='true' expr:src='&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=&quot; + data:post.url + &quot;&amp;layout=button_layout&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=100&amp;action=like&amp;font=arial&amp;colorscheme=light&quot;' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:40px;'/>

Step 6

1. Click the "Save Template" button

Step 7

1. Visit your blog to view the changes!

Examples of Demarketing and why it contributes towards designing a winning "customer-driven strategy"

In Topic 1, we learnt about the marketing concept called "demarketing" (Reference: Page 33, Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler, 13th Edition).

Demarketing was briefly mentioned under "Step 2" of the "5 Steps of Marketing".

If you recall, "Step 2" is about marketing management.  What is marketing management?  It is the art and science of choosing target markets and building profitable relationships with them.  Good marketing management leads to the company's success in designing a winning customer-driven marketing strategy.

To design a winning marketing strategy, the marketing manager must answer these two questions:

1. What customers will we serve (what's our target market)
2. How can we serve these customers best (what's our value proposition)

Some people think of marketing management as finding as many customers as possible and increasing demand.  But marketing managers know that they cannot serve all customers in every way. By trying to serve all customers, they may not serve all customers well.  Instead, the companies can decide it only wants to serve the affluent.  E.g. Prada.
 
Some marketers may even seek fewer customers and reduced demand.  In the United States for example, Yosemite National Park is overcrowded in the summer and this will cause inevitably result in the drop in customer satisfaction of visitors to the popular tourist attraction.  Hence, it might be better for the management of Yosemite National Park to find ways to reduce the demand temporarily during this period.  The process of reducing the demand is known as "demarketing".

General demarketing seeks to discourage demand and consists of such steps as raising prices and reducing promotion and service. E.g. Many airlines price their tickets higher during peak periods such as the December holidays which then divert the customers who are more price-conscious to choose their holidays during the off-peak periods.

Selective demarketing consists of trying to reduce the demand coming from those parts of the market that are less profitable or less in need of the service.  E.g.  some insurance companies screen their customers to filter out those who may be more likely to file a claim due to their health conditions or medical history.

Do remember, demarketing does not aim to destroy demand, but only to reduce its level.

Differentiation using pricing

Price point is a common distinguishing characteristic used to market products. Thre are textbooks which devote an entire chapter to discuss how companies can use pricing strategies to differentiate themselves, but here, I will just share with you, three basic price positions that are often used in marketing.

A company can differentiate itself by using low price point. In this way, it expects to attract price-oriented consumers who are looking for products which are the lowest priced, yet meets a minimum standard.

A company can differentiate itself by using middle price point. In this way, it expects to appeal to consumers who are price-conscious, but also value-oriented. Such customers want to look for products which give value for money and has certain desired product attributes, not necessarily the cheapest.

A company can differentiate itself by using high price point. In this way, it expects to buy in customers who are not price-sensitive but are looking for a top quality product. A high price point is a common and expected match to a top quality product. Hence, high-end or luxury brands with high price points are typically marketed as best quality, best service or with other top-notch sought-after qualities to match their prices.

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The brand pyramid - building customer loyalty [LINK]

Recall that in Topic 1, Step 5, we discussed how a company can categorise customers into four relationship groups based on their loyalty and profits: strangers, barnacles, butterflies and true friends?

Today, I came across an interesting article that also correlates customer loyalty with their profitability, but in a much different way. The article describes how customers have different levels of loyalty at 5 key stages on a pyramid like the one below.



The higher customers are up the pyramid, the more money they're likely to spend with your brand.

So, companies should aim to move customers up to the higher levels of the pyramid.

But how do companies do that? The article gives practical advice such as the one below:

***
Performance (Level 3)
Here, customers begin comparing the brand with others, to see whether it delivers on its potential. It is now on the customer's "shortlist".

To reach this stage, you need to show that your brand is better than your competitors' brands.

Ensure that your marketing materials give customers the information they need to compare your product with competing products. Depending on your audience, show your customers how much better your brand or product is by communicating its benefits rather than its features.
If you haven't already done so, conduct a USP Analysis, which will help you identify your brand's uniquely valuable features."

*******

Great article really, so
spend some time if you have some interest in marketing and want to learn how to build customer loyalty. :)

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/brand-pyramid.htm#np


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Strategic Planning

As I was teaching the slide that explained 'Strategic Planning' under Topic 02 of this module, I found that this term was not an easy one for many students to grasp.

So I would like to use this blog post to further elaborate on the term.

Topic 02 focuses on the what, why and how of "strategic planning".

Besides what was mentioned in the slides, here are more ways of understanding this term.

First, let's start by understanding what is strategic planning.

What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is the process whereby a company considers its own capabilities and the changing environment to come up with a 'game-plan' that will let it achieve its long-term goals.

Why do companies need to do strategic planning?

• The business environment of today is highly competitive today.
• With the Internet, firms face not just local competition but global competition.
• Technological advancements make traditionally acceptable and profitable business methods outdated, unpopular and even unprofitable, causing the need for companies to introduce improvements to cope with these changes.
• However, improvements need money and resources, but companies have limited money and resources!
• Resource constraints and a dynamic global environment have made it necessary for companies to not just focus on their short-term goals, but to think in a strategic manner, who they are, what can they do, to ensure their long-term survival.

How do companies perform strategic planning?

Companies need to consider the following when performing strategic planning:

a) Establish mission statement that sets the overall direction for the company

b) Based on its mission, establish specific goals to accomplish over the next few years

c) Study what's going on inside the organization, including its strengths and weaknesses.  Study what's going on outside the organization and how it might affect the organization and identifying opportunities and threats. Look at the existing businesses of the company and decide which businesses to invest more or which to invest less.  Explore opportunities to grow the company in different ways.

d) Identify how the goals will be reached and set out action plans to reach them (strategies, objectives, responsibilities and timelines)

So if you consider the ideas elucidated above, they map directly to the 4 steps of strategic planning mentioned in the slides.

Hope that helps to give you a clearer idea of what Topic 2 - Strategic planning is about :)