Alaska Microenterprise Incubation Center Laura White-Ritchie - lwhite@ywcaak.org 9/2007 Page 1 of 12 Creating a Marketing Strategy Your business doesn’t have to be the best kept secret in town just because your budget is small. This seminar will walk you through the basics of creating a marketing strategy that fits in your budget and allows you to …

Step 2: A look outside The second step of this process is to take a look outside. You’ll need to consider three things before you can begin to develop an effective marketing strategy: 1. The industry 2. The customers …. SWOT Analysis Now that you have all of this internal and external information, you can use it to create a strategy. One way to do that is through a SWOT Analysis. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT Analysis considers both internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats) that impact your business and your marketing strategy. Completing a SWOT analysis helps you identify ways to minimize the effect of weaknesses in your business while maximizing your strengths. Ideally, you will match your strengths against market opportunities that result from your competitors’ weaknesses or voids. Benefits SWOT analysis can provide: * a framework for identifying and analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats * an impetus to analyze a situation and develop suitable strategies and tactics * a basis for assessing core capabilities and competences * the evidence for, and cultural key to, change You can develop a SWOT analysis in a brainstorming session with members of your team, or by yourself. To begin the SWOT, create a four-cell grid or four lists, one for each SWOT component. Then, begin filling in the lists. You can use the template included with this handout. Strengths Think about what your company does well. What will make you stand out from your competitors? What advantages will you have over other businesses? Don’t forget to mention the leadership of the organization if their background, education or experience serves as a competitive advantage or strength. Weaknesses List the areas that may be a struggle. What might your customers complain about? What are the unmet needs of your sales force? What processes have not yet been clarified? Be realistic with yourself when you list your weaknesses. The biggest step toward fixing a problem is realizing that it is, in fact, a problem. Opportunities Try to uncover areas where your strengths are not being fully utilized. Are there emerging trends that fit with your company’s strengths? Is there a product/service area that you could do well in but are not yet competing? Are there environmental or regulatory issues that you could capitalize on? Don’t be too limiting here. Consider all of the possibilities, this part should be fun. Threats Look for things that could possibly be damaging to your business. Are your competitors becoming stronger or quicker at responding to trends? Are there emerging trends that amplify one of your weaknesses? Are there social or regulatory factors that threaten your success? Do you see other threats to your company’s success?

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