Many nascent entrepreneurs believe they also need a business credit card. But while a corporate credit card may impress the folks at the local office-supply store, it’s important to understand the risks.

Business credit cards are exempt from the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act that was signed into law last year, says Bill Hardekopf, chief executive of LowCards. That means business card issuers can do a lot of things prohibited by the CARD Act. They can increase the interest rate on your existing balance, jack up your rate after just one late payment and apply payments to the balance with the lowest rate first.

CHARGES: Penalty rates, fees on credit cards not always clear

Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., charged credit card issuers with marketing business cards to consumers in an effort to evade the new restrictions on consumer cards.

“Credit card companies are purposely hawking corporate cards to consumers who don’t own a business and may even be retired,” Schumer said in a statement. “This is more than deceptive marketing. It is a dirty trick meant to get around the new credit card law.”

Schumer called on the Federal Reserve Board to require issuers to make clear on business credit card applications that the cards aren’t intended for personal use.

Officials with the American Bankers Association say they’ve seen no evidence that credit card issuers are marketing business cards to consumers. It’s clear, though, that issuers have ramped up solicitations for these cards. Card issuers mailed out 46 million business credit card offers in the first quarter, up 256% from the first quarter of 2009, according to Synovate Mail Monitor, which tracks direct-mail offers.

Small-business experts strongly recommend using separate credit cards for business and personal use. That way, you’ll have a clear record of tax-deductible business expenses when you file your tax return.

But if you’re concerned about losing CARD Act protections, consider designating a personal credit card for business expenses. If you’re self-employed and don’t have a lot of business costs, you may not need a business card, says Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research for CreditCards.

Still, there are benefits to getting a business card, Woolsey says. Reasons to consider a business card:

•More credit. Business credit cards typically have larger credit limits than personal cards, says Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings. Having a large line of credit “helps you with your cash flow, and thanks to the grace period on a credit card, you’re using their (banks’) money interest-free as long as you pay it off,” he says.

Be mindful, though, of interest rates. Some business cards have higher interest rates than consumer cards, Woolsey says, which could be a problem if you can’t pay off the balance every month.

•Better rewards. Some business cards provide discounts and perks that aren’t available on personal cards. American Express’ Plum Card, for example, offers a 1.5% discount to business card holders who pay their bill in full within 10 days.

Many of these cards come with an annual fee, Arnold says. Still, if you have a lot of expenses, the rewards could pay off.

•Better recordkeeping. Many business credit cards provide monthly, quarterly and year-end records of your purchases by category, Woolsey says. Issuers of consumer credit cards are subject to federal disclosure rules that make it difficult for them to provide that kind of analysis, says Nessa Feddis, senior counsel for the ABA.

As with all credit cards, it pays to shop around. Some business-card issuers have decided to voluntarily comply with provisions in the CARD Act.

Earlier this year, for example, Bank of America announced that it won’t increase interest on business card holders’ existing balances. Business card holders will also receive at least 45 days’ notice before rates on future purchases are increased.

Several credit card websites provide reviews and ratings for business credit cards. For more information, go to LowCards, CreditCards, or CardRatings.

Maximize Social Media Marketing

Keyword Search Pros, the award-winning Search Engine Marketing (SEM) company, release a new update that identifies top strategies in social media marketing.

Los Angeles, California – (27 July 2010) – Keyword Search Pros, the award-winning Search Engine Marketing (SEM) company, release a new update that identifies top strategies in social media marketing.

The latest update features insights from the industry’s top experts including Flip the Funnel author Joseph Jaffe, MarketingProfs’ Ann Handley and MarketingSherpa’s Sergio Balegno.

“Social media provides marketers a remarkable opportunity to understand what customers want and deliver an immediate experience with their brand,” said Peter Dulay, KSP CEO and Director. “Customers now expect companies to engage and serve them via social networks,” Dulay added.

The update includes key topics such as: (1) The importance of planning and implementing a social media strategy, (2) How to build stronger customer relationships using social media outlets, (3) Operating social media marketing and how it directly impacts your bottom line, and (4) The value of social media testing and optimization efforts.

Forrester Research predicts social media marketing will grow faster than any other form of interactive marketing. In its 2009 U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast Report, the independent research firm estimated social media marketing will grow at compound annual rate of 34 percent, reaching $3.1 billion by 2014.

With the release of the latest social media marketing strategies, the Pros have proven once again that they continue to lead the world of online marketing. Today, KSP offers search engine optimization (SEO), search engine reputation management, social network setup and consultation, and web development in addition to PPC advertising services, managing over $12million in annual advertising spend.

Whеn starting уουr home-based business уου ѕhουld develop a business рlаn аnd research уουr options thoroughly. Mаkіng wise decisions аnd following уουr business рlаn each step οf thе way саn hеlр уου іn сrеаtіng a steady stream οf income. Operating a home-based business wіll require hard work аnd effort. Yου wіll nοt become wealthy over night. It wіll take determination tο succeed аѕ аn internet marketer. Thе amount οf money уου mаkе wіll bе directly related tο thе amount οf work уου аrе willing tο dο.

Whеn mаkіng уουr business рlаn, include both short аnd long term goals. Determine hοw уου wіll achieve those goals аnd рυt уουr рlаn іntο action. Affiliate programs аrе ехсеllеnt home-based business programs аnd thеrе аrе numerous οthеr internet marketing offers thаt wіll сrеаtе steady income іf уου аrе willing tο mаkе thе effort. Sοmе οf thеѕе opportunities mау require аn initial investment frοm уου аnd others аrе advertised аѕ free. Research аll internet marketing opportunities carefully tο mаkе sure уου understand thе terms аnd conditions.

Aѕ аn internet marketer, уου wіll hаνе tο distinguish yourself frοm thе competition іf уου want tο succeed. Yου ѕhουld know уουr target audience аnd know уουr competition even better. Dο nοt lеt self-doubt ѕtοр уου frοm accomplishing уουr goals. Eνеrу successful internet marketer gives thеіr business thе very best effort possible. Hard work аnd determination wіll mаkе уουr home-based business a success аnd provide уου wіth a steady stream οf income.

Starting a home-based business іѕ one οf thе mοѕt exciting аnd challenging endeavors уου wіll еνеr undertake. A sound business рlаn аnd thе wіll tο succeed wіll set уου apart frοm thе competition. Chοοѕе thе products οr services уου provide carefully. Mаkе сеrtаіn уουr services wіll bе needed over thе long term аnd mаkе customer service уουr top priority. A loyal customer base іѕ thе key tο thе success οr failure οf уουr home-based business. A home-based business іѕ аn ехсеllеnt way tο gain independence аnd financial freedom. A sound business рlаn аnd a strong work ethic аrе аll іt takes tο succeed.

Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, e.g. free ads papers or Pennysavers. Classified advertising differs from standard advertising or business models in that it allows private individuals (not simply companies or corporate entities) to solicit sales for products and services.

Classified advertising is usually text-only and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold and a telephone number to call for more information. It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products (“pants and sweaters, size 10″ as opposed to “clothing”, “red 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix” as opposed to “automobile”). There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used.

Classified advertising is called such because it is generally grouped within the publication under headings classifying the product or service being offered (headings such as Accounting, Automobiles, Clothing, Farm Produce, For Sale, For Rent, etc.) and is grouped entirely in a distinct section of the periodical, which makes it distinct from display advertising, which often contains graphics or other art work and which is more typically distributed throughout a publication adjacent to editorial content.

A hybrid of the two forms — classified display advertising — may often be found, in which categorized advertisements with larger amounts of graphical detail can be found among the text listings of a classified advertising section in a publication. Business opportunities often use classifieds to sell their services, usually employing 1-800 numbers. Classified ads are also among the tools used by many companies in recruitment for available job opportunities.

Printed classified ads are typically just a few column lines in length, and they are often filled with abbreviations to save space and money.

Developments
In recent years the term “classified advertising” or “classified ads” has expanded from merely the sense of print advertisements in periodicals to include similar types of advertising on computer services, radio, and even television, particularly cable television but occasionally broadcast television as well, with the latter occurring typically very early in the morning hours.

Like most forms of printed media, the classified ad has found its way to the Internet.

Internet classified ads do not typically use per-line pricing models, so they tend to be longer. They are also more readily searchable unlike their offline brethren, tend to be local, and may foster a greater sense of urgency as a result of their daily structure and wider scope for audiences. Because of their self-policing nature and low cost structures, some companies offer free classifieds such as Craigslist, Loqqad, Kijiji, and Gumtree internationally. Other companies focus mainly on their local hometown region, while others blanket urban areas by using zip codes. Craigslist.org was one of the first online classified sites, and has grown to become the largest classified source, bringing in over 14 million unique visitors a month according to comScore Media Metrix. A number of online services called aggregators such as Trovit and sumavisos.com crawl and aggregate classifieds from sources such as blogs and RSS feeds, as opposed to relying on manually submitted listings.

Additionally, other companies provide online advertising services and tools to assist members in designing online ads using professional ad templates and then automatically distributing the finished ads to the various online ad directories as part of their service. In this sense these companies act as both an application service provider and a content delivery platform. Social classifieds is niche that is growing in online classified ads.

Statistics
In 2003, the market for classified ads in the United States was $15.9 billion (newspapers), $14.1 billion (online) according to market researcher Classified Intelligence. The worldwide market for classified ads in 2003 was estimated at over $100 billion. Perhaps due to a lack of reporting solidarity Market Statistics vary concerning the total market for internet classified ads. The Kelsey Research Group lists online classified ads as being worth $13.3 billion, while Jupiter Research provides a conservative appraisal of $2.6 billion (2005) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau lists the net worth of online classified revenue at $2.1 billion (April 2006).

Newspapers have continued their downward trend in classifieds revenue as internet classifieds grow. Classified advertising at some of the larger newspaper chains has dropped 14% to 20% in 2007 while traffic to classified sites has grown 23%.

As the online classified advertising sector develops, there is an increasing emphasis toward specialization. Vertical markets for classifieds are developing quickly along with the general marketplace for classifieds websites. Like search engines, classified websites are often vertical in nature with sites providing advertising platforms for niche markets of buyers of sellers.

Green Marketing will only succeed if it leads to more sales. Over the past three years, I have tested and evaluated every internet marketing technique with one question in mind: How can green and responsible businesses attract more visitors to their websites, generate more leads and sell more products online?  I hope that I can save you many hours and great expense by revealing what I believe I have proven, through my own research, is the most effective online marketing strategy for achieving this goal.

I have checked out every big idea, every fad and every “secret tactic.” I have invested a small fortune in training, spent countless hours in dialog with other internet marketers and, most importantly, researched and evaluated over 100 online marketing strategies. These include all types of advertising on every search engine, Facebook, Twitter, email, webinars, press releases, joint ventures and many more.

My advice is always to implement multiple marketing campaigns, yet there is one strategy that I am sure you must do. It is the foundation of everything else, and I am so convinced of this that I have redesigned my own marketing and our services to focus on this strategy.

So let me reveal all. The one online strategy that is guaranteed to transform your marketing is search engine optimization, often called SEO.  Specifically, I am talking about getting on to page one of Google for your keywords. This means appearing in the top 10 results when someone searches on Google. Keywords are the search terms that your prospects are using when they are looking to buy products. So if you are a sustainability consultant the keywords might be “sustainability” or ”sustainability consulting firm” or “sustainability consulting San Diego.”

If you apply this strategy you will be far more successful and increase your profitability. Yet I rarely see a green marketing campaign or responsible business and nonprofit that fully leverages the benefits of this approach.

You might have heard of SEO, but do you realize just how important it is to your business? Here are the reasons why:

Google dominates

Over 60% of all searches are on Google. You can also appear on Bing and Yahoo, but Google is the search engine you need to focus on. This is where you will find most of your prospects. Just think about it yourself – what do you do when you want information. You search on Google.

Page one on Google is everything

When you truly grasp the significance of this, you will transform your thinking about internet marketing. Do you realize that if you are not on page one on Google you are almost invisible on the web? Did you know that over 91% of users never leave the first page of search results when they are searching? And did you know that a number one position will get you around 40% of clicks through to your site? Again, remember the last time you did a search – I bet you chose a page one listing.

Page one has the best ROI

Once you are on page one you will get visitors to your site without the cost of advertising. The return on investment is excellent, especially over the long-term. The vast majority of clicks go to the “organic search listings” rather than sponsored links or Google Ads.   In fact, I have heard that this is as much as 95% of clicks. This is largely because people trust the organizations on the search listings more as they assume they must be credible and successful to be there in the first place.

So I urge you to think carefully about what I am saying here. In simple terms, you can have the most beautiful website in the world, you can have the best product in the world and you can have the best brand in the world. But this will mean little if you are not on page one for the right keywords.

If you want to get to page one you can find out how to do so by watching my new video .  Once you are high up on Google search rankings you are assured low-cost, quality traffic for the long-term. After a great deal of research and practice, I am certain that nothing is more powerful or more cost-effective than a strong search optimization strategy.

The sector’s ad spending totaled $2.1 billion in the first quarter, up 10.5% from the $1.9 billion spent in the year-earlier period, according to marketing research company Kantar Media. Spending on TV spots rose 27.5% year-over-year to $821.8 million, and magazine advertising climbed 22.8% to $173.2 million.

Radio advertising saw the biggest jump, with spending hitting $191.6 million in the first quarter, up 49% from the year-earlier period, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. By comparison, overall radio advertising increased just 6% to $3.68 billion in the first quarter.

“While financial services is a very diverse category, ranging from credit cards to banking, investment products, loans and more, the gains in advertising spending are disproportionately coming from the credit card sector,” said Jon Swallen, senior VP-research at Kantar.

A number of factors are driving the financial services sector’s increased commitment to advertising, said Brad Strothkamp, principal analyst at Forrester Research. Among these is the desire to repair its shaky reputation following the meltdown of late 2008 and the federal bailout that followed, Strothkamp said.

“They’ve been kicked around over the past 18 months by everybody, and maybe in a way they’re getting back on the offensive here,” he said. “As much as anything I think it’s PR.”

A wave of mergers in the industry is also having an effect.

“A lot of merger-related advertising is going on right now,” Stroth-kamp said. “Wells Fargo bought Wachovia, which is being progressively transitioned over to the Wells Fargo brand. And I fully expect that to continue in the case of Chase’s acquisition of Washington Mutual.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co. confirmed that assessment. “We were strong during the recession and acquired Washington Mutual,” said Michael Fusco, a spokesman for the company. “We had to spend a good amount of money marketing the Chase brand in California and Florida where we had never been before.”

American Express Co. took a big step forward in terms of radio advertising in the first quarter, spending $20.5 million on the medium, up from virtually no spending in the year-earlier period, according to RAB.

“For the small-business portion of our portfolio, radio is the No. 1 consumed media by small-business owners,” said Lou Paskalis, VP-global media, sponsorship and mobile communications at AmEx. “A lot of our appeal on the small-business side is rational. [Radio] lends itself to conversational marketing, talking through points to consider.”

One medium that has not seen recent growth is newspapers. According to Kantar, financial services companies spent $369.1 million on newspaper advertising in the first quarter, down 3.1% from the year-earlier period. Some companies, though, remain strongly committed to newspaper advertising. Among these is JPMorgan Chase, whose “The Way Forward” campaign, aimed at small businesses, has been running regularly in The Wall Street Journal.

“We wanted to get the word out to small businesses that, yes, banks are still here, still open, lending and doing other things to help,” Fusco said.

JPMorgan Chase has also launched “Chase Loan for Hire,” a campaign about the company’s program that rewards small businesses with progressively lower rates on lines of credit for every new worker hired. The campaign debuted June 30 using print, radio and TV.

While first-quarter numbers showed a drop in Internet advertising among financial services companies—Kantar reported that Web-based ad spending in the category totaled $506.1 million, down 18.1% from the year-earlier period—Strothkamp sees that as a temporary lull. “We’re forecasting that by 2014 financial services will make up the biggest percentage of interactive spending on the Web,” he said. “They were slow to the game but are really coming on.”

AmEx typifies this trend. The company was one of the advertisers in Vanity Fair’s inaugural iPad edition in June. Its ad featured an embedded long-form video, a mashup of print and interactive elements appropriate to the new medium. “We wanted a more immersive experience for the ad,” Paskalis said.

In a January report, Forrester projected that financial services companies will surpass retail as the largest investors in various forms of digital marketing, expanding at a 14% compound annual growth rate over the next five years to almost $11 billion.

“The financial services industry overall is investing more in marketing,” said Jim Speros, exec VP-CMO at Fidelity Investments. “In general we’ll see an increase in online marketing, as well as TV and radio.”

Speros said the “Guidance” campaign, launched last year to underscore the company’s financial advisory role, has increased Fidelity brand preference by almost 66%. M

When I teach small business classes on marketing strategy, I often ask participants the question, “Who are your customers? Who will buy your product?” I am often surprised that otherwise savvy small business people either have no idea who will buy from them, or they assume that ‘everyone’ will.

Assumptions like this can lead to wrong decisions, wrong pricing, wrong marketing strategy – and ultimately, business failure.

The most successful small businesses understand that only a limited number of people will buy their product or service. The task then becomes determining, as closely as possible, exactly who those people are, and ‘targeting’ the business’s marketing efforts and dollars toward them.

You, too, can build a better, stronger business, by identifying and serving a particular customer group – your target market.

One of the first things you need to do is to refine your product or service so that you are NOT trying to be ‘all things to all people.’ Become a specialist!

For example, in my business, an eco-tourism company, we made some specific decisions early in our market planning. As a charter boat business, we knew that there were plenty of fishing charter operators in the area, and ‘party boats’ as well. So we decided that we would offer sightseeing or special event charters, and that we would not allow alcohol on board, or fishing rods. Yes, this decision eliminated a percentage of the market – but it also gave us a ‘niche’ that we could capitalize on, and expanded our market in a way that other charter operators could not take advantage of.

Next, you need to understand that people purchase products or services for three basic reasons:

• To satisfy basic needs.
• To solve problems.
• To make themselves feel good.

You’ll need to determine which of those categories your product or service is the solution to, and be prepared to market it accordingly.

Your product or service may fit more than one category, too – our charter business primarily targets folks who just want to feel good – spending a day out on the water, relaxing and being waited on. But it also targets people who have visitors coming from out of town, or even overseas, because we represent a solution to the problem of “What will we do while our company is here? How can we entertain them, or show them our area?”

The next step in creating an effective marketing strategy is to zero in on your target market. Continue on to the next page to learn how to use market segmentation to define your target market.

Marketing is the most common problem that people running or starting small businesses ask me about. Typically, they say something like, “I’ve placed some ads but they just don’t seem to be doing anything.” – in other words, not bringing them the customers, clients or sales they desire.

Marketing is More Than Advertising

But marketing and advertising are not synonymous and ‘placing a few ads’ is never going to draw the kind of business a small business needs to be successful. Marketing is a process, not an event. It involves planning marketing goals and implementing (often a series of) marketing strategies to achieve them.

Now that doesn’t mean marketing has to be a complicated process. But it does mean you have to know what you want to achieve and get out there and work at it. Here are six simple marketing strategies you can use to increase your customers and sales.

6 Simple Marketing Strategies

1) Offer some free classes/workshops related to your products and/or services – in your home, in a rented venue or through a local education institution such as a Community College. Target specific audiences or events, if appropriate. For instance, someone with a beading business might offer special workshops on Beaded Christmas Projects or Beading for Girls. A yoga instructor might offer a class such as Yoga for Men.

2) Join local business organizations and networking groups. Many, such as home-based business groups, are inexpensive to join. And the marketing benefits are huge. Once they get to know you and what you do, the other business people in your group will mention your business to others and may even give you referrals. Local business organizations are also great opportunities to create and participate in some cooperative marketing strategies, such as holding special Market Days or other events.

3) Create or become front and center in a charitable event. You can get huge amounts of press for events like this – which can translate into new customers. One local artist has painted paper grocery bags which he is selling with all proceeds going to a selected charity, for example. But you don’t even have to go to the trouble of creating your own event; many charities have established events that you can become a very visible part of by becoming a sponsor.

4) Create your own blog – and use it to build an audience of people who would be interested in your products and/or services. Creating a blog is easier than creating a website – and savvier too. How do I Go About Creating a Business Blog? tells how to get started. Then write regularly about topics related to your business and what your business is doing. You’ll start connecting with other bloggers, business people and potential customers.

5) Join and use Twitter. If you have time to get to know and use a variety of social media, do. But if you only have time for one, Twitter is my pick of all the social media out there because it’s so quick and easy to use. How to Twitter: a Get Started Guide will have you up and tweeting in no time. As for marketing strategies, be sure you don’t use Twitter exclusively to promote your product but to find and converse with like-minded people who may be interested in what you’re doing. Read How to Use Twitter to Promote Your Business for details.

6) Ask for referrals – If you operate a service-based business, you know that I have saved the best for last here, because asking for referrals is the easiest and least time-consuming of all the marketing strategies in this post. It really makes me wonder why it’s also one of the least used marketing strategies. If you don’t regularly ask your satisfied customers for referrals because you don’t know how or feel awkward doing it.

Running a successful business is not like a field of dreams; you can build it but they might not come. Marketing is all about leting people know about the product or service you offer, and persuading them to buy or use it. And for effective marketing you have to let people know about your product or service repeatedly.

To do this, you’re going to have to come up with both a marketing strategy and a marketing plan.

What’s the difference between a marketing strategy and a marketing plan?

The marketing strategy is shaped by your overall business goals. It includes a definition of your business, a description of your products or services, a profile of your target users or clients, and defines your company’s role in relationship to the competition. The marketing strategy is essentially a document that you use to judge the appropriateness and effectiveness of your specific marketing plans. The CCH Business Owner’s Guidebook has an excellent explanation and checklist that you can use to work through your marketing strategy.

To put it another way, your marketing strategy is a summary of your company’s products and position in relation to the competition; your sales and marketing plans are the specific actions you’re going to undertake to achieve the goals of your marketing strategy.

The marketing plan, then, can be thought of as the practical application of your marketing strategy. If you look at my article, “Writing The Marketing Plan”, you’ll see that the marketing plan includes details about your business’ unique selling proposition, pricing strategy, the sales and distribution plan and your plans for advertising and promotions.

So in effect, you can’t have a marketing plan without a marketing strategy. But a marketing plan without a marketing strategy is a waste of time. The marketing strategy provides the goals for your marketing plans. It tells you where you want to go from here. The marketing plan is the specific roadmap that’s going to get you there.

The task of marketing research is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information. Competitive marketing environment and the ever-increasing costs attributed to poor decision making require that marketing research provide sound information. Sound decisions are not based on gut feeling, intuition, or even pure judgment.

Marketing managers make numerous strategic and tactical decisions in the process of identifying and satisfying customer needs. They make decisions about potential opportunities, target market selection, market segmentation, planning and implementing marketing programs, marketing performance, and control. These decisions are complicated by interactions between the controllable marketing variables of product, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Further complications are added by uncontrollable environmental factors such as general economic conditions, technology, public policies and laws, political environment, competition, and social and cultural changes. Another factor in this mix is the complexity of consumers. Marketing research helps the marketing manager link the marketing variables with the environment and the consumers. It helps remove some of the uncertainty by providing relevant information about the marketing variables, environment, and consumers. In the absence of relevant information, consumers’ response to marketing programs cannot be predicted reliably or accurately. Ongoing marketing research programs provide information on controllable and non-controllable factors and consumers; this information enhances the effectiveness of decisions made by marketing managers.

Traditionally, marketing researchers were responsible for providing the relevant information and marketing decisions were made by the managers. However, the roles are changing and marketing researchers are becoming more involved in decision making, whereas marketing managers are becoming more involved with research. The role of marketing research in managerial decision making is explained further using the framework of the “DECIDE” model:

D – Define the marketing problem

E – Enumerate the controllable and uncontrollable decision factors

C – Collect relevant information

I – Identify the best alternative

D – Develop and implement a marketing plan

E – Evaluate the decision and the decision process

The DECIDE model conceptualizes managerial decision making as a series of six steps. The decision process begins by precisely defining the problem or opportunity, along with the objectives and constraints. Next, the possible decision factors that make up the alternative courses of action (controllable factors) and uncertainties (uncontrollable factors) are enumerated. Then, relevant information on the alternatives and possible outcomes is collected. The next step is to select the best alternative based on chosen criteria or measures of success. Then a detailed plan to implement the alternative selected is developed and put into effect. Last, the outcome of the decision and the decision process itself are evaluated.

Marketing research characteristics

First, marketing research is systematic. Thus systematic planning is required at all the stages of the marketing research process. The procedures followed at each stage are methodologically sound, well documented, and, as much as possible, planned in advance. Marketing research uses the scientific method in that data are collected and analyzed to test prior notions or hypotheses.

Marketing research is objective. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. It should be conducted impartially. While research is always influenced by the researcher’s research philosophy, it should be free from the personal or political biases of the researcher or the management. Research which is motivated by personal or political gain involves a breach of professional standards. Such research is deliberately biased so as to result in predetermined findings. The motto of every researcher should be, “Find it and tell it like it is.” The objective nature of marketing research underscores the importance of ethical considerations, which are discussed later in the chapter.

Marketing research involves the identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information. Each phase of this process is important. We identify or define the marketing research problem or opportunity and then determine what information is needed to investigate it., and inferences are drawn. Finally, the findings, implications and recommendations are provided in a format that allows the information to be used for management decision making and to be acted upon directly. It should be emphasized that marketing research is conducted to assist management in decision making and is not: a means or an end in itself. The next section elaborates on this definition by classifying different types of marketing research