Marketing in SMEs Some ideas and experiences

SMEs and marketing…
What?
Traditional marketing mix; 7 p’s
Product/service
Price
Place
Promotion
People
Process
Physical evidence

Some topics …
Marketing in Finnish small and medium size firms
What does it mean in practice?
Marketing efforts?
Marketing tools?

SMEs and marketing in practise
Limited resources
Human effort => most often no experts
Budgets => no big money in marketing
Market research? => expensive ⬄ missing
Main efforts in advertising
Visibility
Segmentation or lack of it
Unclear message
Short term planning => not enough for long term success

SMEs and marketing in practise ...
SMEs and brands
What is the brand?
Where it is?

SMEs and marketing in practise ...
SMEs and brands …globally

Brands … and their value…
A definition of the brand:
The meaning of the brand; how about SMEs?

Brands and their elements…
Four basic elements of the brand:

Smes and their products …
What smes are selling?
differentiation; pricing, quality, customization, flexibility in production, etc
Customer needs; quick changes and very quick reaction; proactivity
Packages; core product + several services; networking, partnerships

Smes and their products …
Segmentation, right customer groups
Segmentation of potential
Customers
Different behaviour, same needs
Different pricing, features, desing etc

Smes and pricing …
Business models
The place and role in the valuechain
What is the core product or is it service?
Ponsse:
Forest machines manufacturing
Very essential service and spare
parts deliveries
=> expensive machines + effective
and real-time service => profitable
pricing

Smes and promotion …
Advertising
New medias; FB, Twitter, Event marketing, mailing lists
How about print media/television
Expensive, targeting, focusing on right people
Promotions
Events, sponsoring, social media,
Sport, concerts, art exhibition, others

Smes and promotion …
Small Business Center:
In St Petersburg 16 years
Small customer base
Seeks for growth
Mainly with partners
- FinEc
- incubator

Smes and promotion …sales efforts
Sales organisation in Russia
Reliable service partners

Promotion …sales efforts
Sales is critical
Personal interaction
SMEs – is it possible?
Big customers
Slow decision making
process

Smes and promotion …event marketing
Sport, music, art, etc
- partnerships
- SMEs?

Smes and promotion …event marketing
Experience orientation
Interactivity
Self-initiation
Dramaturgy
The name of the event

SMEs and place …
Where and when SMEs can sell?
The place => distribution
In St Petersburg?
In the city – really expensive
Web shops – always open
How about services?
Incubator for technology
firms

SMEs and people …
SMEs the most critical resource
Expensive, difficult to find and recruite; why?
Salespeople!

SMEs and people …
SMEs
- How to build
the relationships?

SMEs and processes …
interaction with consumers
New technology – or services?

SMEs and processes …
interaction with consumers
Which is important for
consumers – technology
or services?

SMEs and processes …
interaction with consumers
Environmental
Issues
- SMEs?