1 of 20

MGMT 370: Training Allies, LLC

Reorganizing Marketing Strategies of Training Allies

“Seizing Opportunities in the Market”

Marketing Team B

Aezat Amin, Yili Wang, Nhu Nguyen, Jesse Quave

2 of 20

Table of Contents

  1. Defining the Challenge: Problem, Cause, Answer, Net Benefits
  2. Process and Timeline: Project Timeline
  3. The Three Marketing Strategies: Online Strategy, Delivery Capabilities and Growth & Retention
  4. Example Infographics
  5. Final Recommendations
  6. Conclusion
  7. References

3 of 20

Defining the Challenge

Problem: The current business performance of Training Allies in online training services isn’t responding as much as expected even though it is highly demanded in consumer electronics.

Cause: Training Allies lacks in marketing approaches and brand awareness in offering and delivering its online training services to many other potential clients.

Answer: Rebuild and expand social media platforms, take opportunities with other big companies, get exposed with a specific niche in the market and get involved with social networking events.

Net Benefits: Our solutions should improve performance, increase revenue growth and build competitive advantage of Training Allies because we make analysis based on current real-life examples in the industry.

4 of 20

Process and Timeline

Deliverable Task and Activities

April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

Target End

Phase 1: Market Analysis and Problem Identification

  • Understand business operations in Training Allies. Plan the project through completion of Statement of Work (SOW). Identify key problems in Training Allies through online call with Dave Chace.

April 20th

Phase 2: Market Research

  • Review and update SOW. Identify problem statement and scope of deliverables to be achieved in the project. Make research in building strategies to reorganize marketing strategies.

May 4th

Phase 3: Gather, Organize and Analyze Data

  • Provide key solutions to the problem by focusing in specific areas: online strategy, delivery capabilities, and growth & retention. Address a set of questions for Dave to answer. Attend group call with Dave to get feedback from proposed ideas.

May 18th

Phase 4: Assessment Completion and Solutions Development

  • Summarize findings and reconfirm proposed ideas with Dave. Develop strategies for Dave to implement in the business.

May 31st

Phase 5: Reporting Project Findings

  • Deliver proposed ideas and project findings. Provide recommendations for Dave to approach in the future.

June 8th

Process and Timeline

5 of 20

The Three Marketing Strategies

DELIVERY CAPABILITIES

  • Business opportunities with potential clients and industries

ONLINE STRATEGY

  • Social Media Presence
  • Website Rebranding

GROWTH & RETENTION

  • In-person Events
  • Social Networking

6 of 20

Source: 10 Essential B2B Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Professional Services Firm, Hingemarketing.com

Two strategies to improve Stage 1, 2 & 3; Visibility, Reputation, Client Base.

→ Attract Prospects

→ Build Engagement

→ Turn Opportunities into Clients

  1. Social Media Marketing Strategy

  • Website Rebranding

ONLINE STRATEGY

7 of 20

Social Media Marketing Strategy

Scope of Evidences:

  • SEO Optimization: Social media can improve website’s engine search rankings and increase traffics to your website. (Linkhumans.com)

  • Lead Creation: 1.8 billion connections were made on LinkedIn, which makes it the most effective channel. (Linkhumans.com)

  • Social Media Marketing Strategy:
    • Google Adwords, Google Analytics, etc.
    • Marketers invest money in Google to perform analytics, gain prospects and build website’s presence.

Solutions:

  • Grow social media channels by posting business contents regularly to educate and attract potential clients: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.
  • Start blogging by offering internship opportunities:

Hire undergraduate students majoring in journalism, communications, marketing, or with social media background.

8 of 20

Google AdWords Cost

    • Cost: Google Adwords is “pay only for results” based. Google AdWords Costs
    • Your advertising budget determines what you want to accomplish in your campaign.

9 of 20

Website Rebranding

Website Retitle: Training Allies by Dave Chace”

  • Highlight Dave’s personal expertise and knowledge in mentoring and providing training on one-to-one basis.

Other improvements:

  • Dave’s background
  • Client reviews
  • Social media buttons
  • “Sign Up” button for free first demos

10 of 20

Why BestBuy is a good client?

Past clients have positive comments on the training result (Azoine Unlimited)

Enable members to reach to customers effectively

Strong ability of training on consumer electronics and home integration

Efficient to increase the sales amount

What we have and what they need

Marketing share continued to fall down since 2010 and decreased to 20%

CEO Hubert Joly plans to apply more resources on retailers’ training due to the decline

BestBuy demands professional training on their electronics for the employees from 2016

11 of 20

Two Opportunities to take BestBuy as Client

Background: Bestbuy failed in the European and Chinese market in 2010-2014, and the CEO, Brian Dunn has the plan to enter the market again. Training Allies can offer great technique support for them with the help of both sales and product technology.

Background: BestBuy invests 50,000 hours of employee training to attract Windows 8 customers in 2012 and have a program called “Geek Squad”.

Oversea Training Opportunity

New Versions Training

12 of 20

Overseas Training New version training

Establish international training program

Customizable services based on local culture

Get resources from the retailers

Learn the new system early

Always enable to offer services in time

Prepare earlier before the product was launched

Find the demands of local customers

Offer services for retailers if we failed to work with headquarter.

International programs is necessary for continuing oversea development

Effectiveness and timeliness

Advance preparation for the clients

13 of 20

Nest is losing marketing share compared with their competitors

Nest having been acquired by Google is struggling to meet the demands of the market. Training Allies is a great fit to support them with the help of both sales and product technology.

Training allies can give both thermostat and home camera technical support, training them on technology and selling in the U.S. market.

Nest sells B2B. Linking up with Nest would mean access to a variety of other companies like Lowe’s, Best Buy and Google.

Potential Customer: Nest

14 of 20

Marketing strategies to increase competitiveness:

  • In-Person Events
  • Focusing on a Niche

GROWTH & RETENTION

15 of 20

Building relationships

74% of event attendees had a more positive opinion about companies after having attended events (Event Track study, 2015)

Getting message across without distraction

Endless amounts of online contents can prevent audience from fully absorbing your messages.

Events’ attendees are different as they're already more engaged than the average online lead.

That gives you a huge opportunity to deliver content that aligns with your message to an audience that's actually paying attention.

In-Person Events

16 of 20

B2B Networking Events: Since Training Allies’ clients are mostly B2B organizations, it’s crucial to join B2B Networking events in the area to share about the company and its services as well as to reach out and make connection with other businesses.

Upcoming B2B Networking Events in Philadelphia area:

Up to 30 events in the area can be found by typing B2B Networking in the Search engine of the website meetup.com (http://www.meetup.com/topics/b2b-networking/us/pa/philadelphia/)

Eventbrite.com is also a source to locate upcoming events that might be related

17 of 20

Building credibility as an expert in a particular niche allows the program, marketing messages and more to be altered to cater to the specific needs. Eventually, this builds credibility as the service to go to in this particular industry.

For example, for a refrigerator manufacturer to have their refrigerator sold at Best Buy, they need to have a salesperson who understands how their products work while at the same time know how to promote and sell a product. Training Allies could focus on this niche and be the go-to service for manufacturers wanting to have their salesperson trained.

Focusing on a Niche:

Residential Industry

18 of 20

Final Recommendations

  1. Build social media network for Training Allies and connect with B2B marketers.
  2. Subscribe to marketing tools such as Google Adwords/Google Analytics to increase impressions from other markets and businesses.
  3. Modify Training Allies’ website to build good reputation and engagements.
  4. Benefits from Nest as a potential customer to build the brand and bridge potential customers.
  5. Take eBay as client, search resources from the their retailers, find out what are their demands.
  6. Keep updating the latest versions of system, prepare the training early before the products were launched.
  7. If oversea training is possible, customize and localize the services. Establish international program which is differentiated.
  8. Attend and participate in social network events to introduce Training Allies’ services.

19 of 20

Conclusion

If we could have more time, we would perform more researches of PR companies that could establish marketing efforts for Training Allies. We would need to find what would they offer at what cost.

We would also look for suitable B2B events that provide opportunities for Training Allies to participate.

20 of 20

References