Marketing – An Introduction

Course Ref No: BA12QQ001

NOCN Credits 3. Level 2

Why Should I be Interested In This Course?

If you are offering a product or service to others, how much evidence do you have that what you are offering is what your customers actually want? In essence, this is what marketing is all about - providing products and services that don't come back to customers that do!

Knowledge of your target market groups and what their perception is of the particular product or service on offer is vital. You also need to understand the nature of the market in which your product or service is offered and the activities of your competitors.

How Will I Benefit?

Through introducing you to some basic marketing concepts, you will learn how you can build and apply marketing techniques effectively.

Course Structure:

There are five modules, as follows:

1. Identifying target market groups and buyer benefits

2. Researching your market - identifying your customer base.

3. The product / service - what are you offering and what is it that will make customers buy it?

4. Offering "Added Value" and communicating the message - pricing and promotion techniques.

5. Making the product / service available to the customer.

What Will I Achieve?

You will achieve three National Open College Network Credits at level 2 on successful completion of this course

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Sales, Advertising and Promotion

Course Ref AE 520004

NOCN Credits 3 Level 2

Why Should I Be Interested In This Course?

Products and services are varied and diverse.  What works for one type of product often does not work for another. This course is designed to help you focus on the product and / or service offered by your business, or you can centre the course around another particular product or service with which you are familiar. It will enable you to develop the skills for both devising and monitoring the effectiveness of a promotional strategy.

How Will I Benefit?

This course will provide you with the basic foundation on which you can build an effective promotional strategy for the product or service you select.

Course Structure

There are five modules, as follows:

1. Buyer Behaviour and Influencing Customer Choice:  All about customers - understanding the purchasing process -    segmentation and targeting - understanding customers' needs.

2. What Are You Offering? The customer viewpoint - understanding the market - understanding the competition - what is  the real reason for buying.

3. Sales Forecasting:  How to construct a sales forecast - factors which influence the sales forecast - monitoring and review.

4. Promotional Methods & Materials:  What is  Best?  Promotional methods - communicating the message - monitoring the response - costing the promotion.

5. Developing a Promotional Strategy:  Planning a strategy - evaluating advertising and promotional methods - monitoring progress - reviewing the strategy.

What Will I Achieve?

You will be awarded three National Open College Network Credits at level 2, a UK nationally recognised qualification.

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Finding and Keeping Customers

Course Ref: AE52QQ011

NOCN Credits 3 level 2

Why should I be interested in this course?

If you have a product or service to offer, how do you know if it is what people want to buy, and if some do want to buy, how will you know if there are enough customers to make your business enterprise viable?

This course focuses on two key areas:

• Researching your customers and competition
• Devising the marketing plan

How Will I benefit?

This course will enable you to decide on the techniques you will use to attract and keep customers, compare you own product / service to that offered by competitors and assist you in developing a marketing plan for your business.

Course Structure:

There are 8 modules, as follows:

1. Researching the business idea – what are you offering?

2. Examine market trends - is the market growing, static or declining?

3. Identify your customers - who is going to buy your product / service and why?

4. Identify your main competitors – who are they, where are they, what are they offering?

5. How to attract customers and keep them – what can you offer so that customers will keep coming back to you?

6. The Marketing Plan (The product) - This includes identifying the features and benefits of what you are offering, your “USP”, and how to make it easy for the customer to buy.

7. The Marketing Plan (Promotion) - How you expect to promote your product / service and the associated costs and benefits. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of your own and your competitors’ product / service.

8. The Marketing Plan (Implementation) – Developing a realistic and measurable timescale for implementing your marketing plan.

What Will I Achieve?

You will be awarded three Open College Network Credits at level 2