Research and environmental analysis

It can be hard to understand users without conducting research. Research keeps you from planning in a vacuum. It is good to understand who the users are and what they need; but to earn their loyalty, one must dive deep. Assumptions, trends and so-called 'best practices' are all defeated by research. Sometimes co-workers rally around bad decisions. You'll be less likely to get dragged in the wrong direction when listening to users and focusing on customer experience.

Obsessing over your users is the only way to win. If you don’t care deeply about improving user experience, you will lose potential customers to someone who does.

Watch the following video to learn how the internet can be used to research marketing.

Traditional market research is a much slower and more complex process than online market research. With a few mouse clicks, you can obtain all of the information you require. This is because everything a person does on the internet leaves a data footprint. With this data footprint information, you can make well-informed business judgements rather than deciding on the spur of the moment.

You will be able to learn specific information from market research, such as:

• what your customers want in a brand
• what they need from your brand, and what they expect
• what they don’t like about the brand
• what makes them repeat customers
• what are the latest market trends
• engaging with your audience
• letting your customers help steer your business.

After looking at the 'why' that market research gives us, let us now look at the what of environmental analysis.

What is marketing environmental analysis?

Marketing Environmental Analysis (MEA) is a tool for strategic analysis. This procedure assists in identifying the internal (micro-environmental) and external environmental (macro-environmental) factors that impact the organisation's ability to function correctly.

A business leader creates a company's structure, culture and rules to provide employees with clear guidelines. However, the success of a firm is determined by how it handles any external environmental consequences.

The 'environmental analysis' evaluates the external business environment to identify risks and possibilities. One way to monitor the environment is by doing a PESTEL analysis (illustrated below).

A PESTEL study (also known as a PESTEL analysis), is a framework or method for analysing and monitoring macro-environmental elements that can significantly impact an organisation's performance. This is an extremely valuable tool--particularly when launching a new firm or entering a foreign market.

As shown in the illustration above, the PESTEL acronym stands for:

• Political
• Economic
• Social
• Technological
• Environmental
• Legal.

We will take a look at each element of PESTEL analysis in detail below.

Political factors

These factors all have to do with how, and to what extent, the government intervenes in the economy or a particular business. This is how a government's influence on your business is defined.

Some examples of these influencing factors include:

• government policy
• political stability/instability
• corruption
• foreign trade policy
• tax policy
• labour legislation
• environmental law
• trade restrictions.

Furthermore, the government can significantly impact a country's educational system, infrastructure and health legislation.

All of these considerations must be examined when determining the desirability of a potential market.

Economic factors

Economic considerations influence how well a country's economy performs. Economic growth, exchange rates, inflation rates, interest rates, consumer disposable income and unemployment rates are all economic factors.

These factors may have a long-term direct or indirect impact on a company because they affect consumer purchasing power and may change demand/supply models in the economy. As a flow-on consequence, the resulting impact affects how businesses price their goods and services.

Social factors

Social factors represent the social variables that make up the organisation's macro-environment. This entails researching demographics as well as potential customers. These criteria aid in determining the market's potential size. It covers research into population growth, age distribution, career and attitudes, among other things.

Technological factors

As we all know, technology advances at an incredible pace and customers are eager to embrace innovations.

Understanding aspects such as technological breakthroughs, the rate at which technology becomes outdated (e.g. the operating system in mobile phones), automation and innovation are all part of the process.

You might be able to prevent your organisation from spending a lot of money developing a technology that will become obsolete very quickly due to disruptive technological advancements elsewhere if you know what's going on in the world of technology.

Environmental factors

Environmental factors have only recently become more prominent. They've grown in importance due to rising raw material scarcity, government pollution targets and carbon footprint targets. These elements include ecological and environmental factors (such as weather, climate, environmental offsets and climate change) which can significantly impact industries like tourism, farming, agriculture and insurance.

Furthermore, as people become more aware of the potential consequences of climate change, businesses are changing how they operate and what products they offer. As a result, many businesses are becoming increasingly active in corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices.

Legal factors

Legal factors include more specialised laws such as discrimination laws, antitrust laws, employment laws, consumer protection laws, copyright and patent laws, and health and safety regulations--any of which may overlap with political factors.

Companies need to understand what is and is not lawful to trade profitably and ethically.

When a company deals internationally, this becomes even more complicated because each country has its own rules and regulations. Businesses should be informed of any potential legislative changes and their implications for the organisation in the future. It is strongly advised to seek the advice of a legal counsellor or attorney to assist with these issues.

It is easy for a busy business to get caught up and lose sight of legal factors in the day-to-day operations of a business. If this occurs, they will open themselves up to 'risk' in the sense that (at a minimum) they may be:

• losing opportunities to help their business grow
• allowing threats (internally and externally) to undermine their products or services.

But the truth is also that, like brushing your teeth and paying your taxes, marketing research is a crucial ongoing activity that businesses should follow.

So, where do you start? There are multiple strategic marketing plans that businesses follow; however, we will look closely at the 7Ps strategy.

Why are you about to delve into the 7Ps in such detail? They are, after all, quite important. They serve as the foundation of any successful marketing strategy.

The 7Ps of Marketing Mix

Product	Design Technology Perceived utility Perceived convenience Perceived quality Packaging Accessories Warranties
Pricing	Skimming pricing Penetration pricing Value-based pricing Cost-plus pricing Loss leader pricing Cost leadership pricing
Promotion	Special offers Advertisement Promotion Direct marketing Competitions Joint ventures
Place	Distribution channels Web-based channels Peer-to-peer Multi-channel
People	Employees Organisation culture Customer service Customer relationship management
Process	Standardisation Service delivery
Physical evidence	Interface Artefacts Facilities

These are the 7Ps of marketing--they make up the 7 primary factors of the marketing mix. This combination strategically positions a company in the market and can be deployed at different levels of force. This is done to guarantee that the target audience is satisfied, that the value perception is correct, and that the company stands out from the competition.

Implementing the 7Ps in the best way possible for your business can be incredibly advantageous, but you must first thoroughly understand each piece of the 7Ps puzzle. Let us have a look.

The 7Ps of marketing

People	'People' aren't just the ones you sell to or advertise to. Staff, salespeople, customer service teams and anybody involved in the marketing and sales operations are all included. You want your employees to be productive and have a positive impact on your consumers.
Product	A tangible product or service that a company sells (it could be a wristwatch, an apple or software). Review the quality, features, intended or other uses, and post-purchase offers (like warranties or support) to assess your product and its place in the market.
Price	'Price' refers to a product or service's overall price methodology and how customers will react to it. Discounts, terms and fees are all included in the price. When it comes to price, you should think about where your company stands against its competition. If you promote that you have a high-quality product, you should price it accordingly.
Place	To evaluate your product's marketability, look at the distribution channels you now employ and see if they’re still viable. Is your website, for example, mobile-friendly? You must ensure that clients can quickly locate your goods or service. It also has to be available to customers at the correct time and in the right place. This P phase can be used to investigate selling products via e-commerce, in-store, or third-party channels.
Process	What processes do you take to bring your product or service to your target market? If the procedure is complicated, the client is likely to abandon it before completing the intended action. To evaluate your processes, consider what you'll need to make sure you're delivering the same high-quality product or service to your target market.
Physical evidence	To confirm their purchase, your customer should always receive something physical. Consider: braces straighten your teeth, hairstylists give you a fresh style, and receipts serve as evidence of purchase. Even if it is only a receipt, people like to receive something that recalls their senses to affirm that they've received a product or service. This tangible thing verifies the purchasing process and creates a sense of worth in the transaction.
Promotion	The act of marketing directly to consumers is known as 'promotion'. This P refers to the process of promoting your goods or service to the general public. This could also take the form of numerous advertisements, sponsorship and so on. It is critical to make your product known to gain new clients and increase revenue.

Still interested in learning more about strategic Marketing or the 7Ps? Have a look at the following video for a visual explanation.

In order to lead the market and confront business competitors, the company needs to develop a strategy that confronts all competitive forces. This will not only protect the company from competitors but also ensure a reliable competitive position in the market.

A corporation can strategically and tactically use external data to establish core competency and competitive advantage in a given market by applying external analytical frameworks such as the PESTEL and the 7Ps to get a competitive edge in the market.

Look at the 3 new innovative products shown in the images below.

Choose one of the products and develop a marketing strategy for your chosen product by applying the 7Ps of marketing.

Share a summary of your strategy to launch this new product in the forum. Share some tips that we might have missed.