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Small business and enterprises have thrived and developed in Kenya due to marketing strategies adapted by these micro-firms. Marketing is an important effort in gaining prospect attention, building product or service demand and winning customers. The marketing effort is the sum total of the sales, pricing, promotional and advertising efforts implemented to promote the flow of goods or services from businesses to the consumer. Marketing Includes having the right merchandise or service, selecting the right location, enacting effective sales programs and promoting he enterprises and its wares to the buying public.
It’s easy for the small business owner to find excuses for neglecting marketing because most small businesses operate on small budget and many owners consider marketing something they can’t afford. True marketing is an expense that can be reduced or cut. The question that then arises Is how without marketing do you propose to gain those much needed customers that mean sales. Therefore if you do not effectively market your enterprise, brand, image and products or services, you won’t be in business for long. Marketing is an investment in future sales.
As an entrepreneur, you must always be looking Into the future and to the next sale. Customers need to be aware of your business and what It offers. Marketing Is the way In which you gain those customers. Application of marketing principles and practices that is; price, product, place and promotion has help in average growth and sustainability of small and medium enterprises in Kenya. Without the marketing strategies most business would not have seen their first birthdays. 2. 0 IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING PRINCIPLES IN THE
GROWTH AND SUSTAINABILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES The heart of small and medium businesses success Lies In Its marketing. Most aspects of small and medium businesses depend on successful marketing. The overall marketing umbrella covers advertising, public relations, promotions and sales. Marketing is a process by which a product or service is introduced and promoted to potential customers. Without marketing, small and medium business may offer the best products or services In your Industry, but none of your potential customers would know about It. Without marketing, sales may crash and the enterprises may have to close.
Marketing solely depend on the following four principles. 2. 1 Product The product principle refers to the specific good or service to be marketed. Generally, a product is evaluated by its utility to the consumer that is, the degree to which it satisfies a need and provides value for a specific group of consumers. A product should clearly satisfy a perceived need and offer the features and accessories that a principle, factors such as brand name, warranty terms, ease of use, packaging and revive are considered as part of the consumer experience with the product.
For a business to succeed, the product or service it provides must be known to potential buyers. Unless your business is known in the community and have communication with your customers readily available, you have to use marketing strategies to create product or service awareness. Without marketing, your potential customers may never be aware of your business offerings and your business may not be given the opportunity to progress and succeed. Using marketing to promote your reduce, service and company provides your business with a chance of being discovered by prospective customers.
These will lead to higher sales. 2. 2 place The place principle considers the distribution channels through which a product moves to consumers. Consumers can’t purchase products that wouldn’t reach them, so distribution channels are vital in creating the structure of production, warehouses, shipping and sale points that make the retail product available. Distribution channels are evaluated on ease of use and reliability, an important factor in making a product ascribable and accessible.
When the distribution channel is effective and efficient, this will enhance flow or easy movement of goods from the production point to consumption point, this will enable prospect customers to get the goods with ease and consume more units of the product. Whenever small and medium businesses are strategically located it enables them to distribute the goods without incurring a lot of expenses which ensures huge savings which leads to high retained earnings used to develop and sustain the small and medium enterprises.