Global Marketing

Global marketing is nothing but marketing done on national and international level and which involves understanding the similarities, dissimilarities and taking advantage of the opportunities to attain the goal. Concentrating on global marketing is as important as concentrating on domestic marketing if a company is aiming to increase sales.

The domestic market has become saturated in most categories of products and services, in all industrialized countries and hence, they started to deal with other countries to increase their sales. Usually in such case, goods that are too expensive for the domestic customers to buy are exported to other well-off countries.

When a company does marketing within the boundaries of a specific county, it has to compete with other domestic companies as well as international companies who are a part of the market. The marketing steps taken by the professionals are based on the taste of a specific audience. The product might not suit the taste of customers at a higher level. The other domestic companies that plan to go global hinder the growth of such companies. They become invisible at the international level as they are unable to cope with the growing competition and might not be aware of potential competitors. The product development is dependant on the need of the local residents. Such kinds of businesses are ethnocentric and are only bothered about their performance in the domestic marketplace.

Companies planning to go global should start with export to a foreign client first. The returns wouldn't be satisfying in the beginning. The export department can be introduced at the headquarters that deals with all the laws. There can be a possibility of becoming secondary exporters by bringing export management company into the picture, who will deal with the language problem, time difference, paperwork and customers. If managing the exports without any help, the export department can be started at an office located abroad. This office works in collaboration with the regional headquarters. But the respective offshore offices take the marketing decisions, as they will have best knowledge about the particular market they are operating in.

Multinational marketing involves marketing in many countries. The marketing is based on the requirements of different countries and the returns are rewarding. Each region should be studied individually based on development, production and marketing. Such kinds of markets are known as region centric. Global marketing involves the whole globe. The entire world is summarized as a single market and the products that are released in the market should fit the needs of any regional marketplace. Marketers all over the world make the marketing decisions. Such a kind of market is known as geocentric.

Automotive industry is one such market that saw a global boost in sales during the last fifty years. Earlier only the local companies like Ford and General Motors used to produce cars in America, but today other international competitors like Toyota and Honda are operating in the same market and have out done the local companies. Another key factor to the global marketing is the Internet, which introduced e-commerce. Businesses went going online and global. This encouraged the sales of the company and the figures are only increasing because of ever increasing Internet users.   The geographical location of customers is no longer a hindrance. Global marketing management and business-to-business e-commerce is growing rapidly.  

Product, price, placement and promotion are the elements of global marketing. The product created should be such that it can sell anywhere using the same method.  It should consider the primary elements of all the markets. However, the language in which the product is named can be changed, where as the content can remain the same. The price is never constant. It should be decided after reviewing the market and the currency of the country. The variables which affect prices are location where the product is being produced, cost of ingredients, transportation charges, labor charges, etc.

Placement is how the product is distributed and how it reaches the targeted market. Like in third world countries, there is a lack of superstores, so they can be placed or sold at ordinary shops. After the product is developed and distributed, it should be promoted precisely known as advertising, promotion is one of the major steps of marketing and consumes major part of the budget. If it is possible to send out the same message worldwide in a relevant and cost-effective way, it sure must be put into practice but the challenge is really big. 

Doing Research on Marketing

Research on marketing is essential to understand the pattern of marketing. This is possible by searching existing knowledge related to business marketing. It is a form of business research, business-to-business marketing research and business marketing research. Marketing research is done in many forms and all these forms are known as problem-identification research.

Research in advertising is done to determine the copy testing of advertisements. It is also used to know the efficiency of ads placed in any medium, the customer attention it gets, the message it delivers and how it motivates the customers to buy the product. Commercial eye tracking is done to understand the visual behavior of the customer. Ads, websites, etc., are analyzed for this. Before an advertisement is released in the market, its performance can be forecasted with the help of copy testing which takes consumer's level of attention, motivation, brand liking, and entertainment into consideration.

When a customer buys something online he analyses it in order to make the decision, this one of the criteria on which consumer decision research is done. Interviews and surveys can be done to understand consumer's level of satisfaction, which is known as customer satisfaction studies. The demographic and psychology of the people of a particular geographical region can be studied with the help of segmentation research.

When analyzing is to be done about brand recognition, brand performance, brand preference and awareness, ad tracking is done. A favorite brand can be recognized with the help of brand equity research. Tests are conducted so as to determine what customer thinks about a brand or a product and it is specifically known as brand name testing. The demand of a product can be understood by demand estimation. After the demand of the product is taken care of, the quality should be checked from time to time. Appointing mystery shoppers who is usually an employee of the market research firm does this. He buys goods through a salesperson and notes down the whole experience. This procedure can be used to do research about rival companies' products.

Before practical application of a concept, concept testing should be done which tells whether the targeted audience will like the idea or not. Test marketing is done by introducing a product in small numbers in the market and observing the sales, after which the product is launched on a large-scale. After the initial phase, when the company thinks of increasing the price of the product, price elasticity testing should be carried out which shows customer reaction to price fluctuations. Distribution channel audits are conducted to understand the attitudes of retailers and distributors towards specific products and brands.

The more tech savvy form of marketing research is Internet strategic intelligence. The likes and dislikes of the customers can be directly known with the help of chats, blogs and forums. Online panels are a group of experts who accept the marketing research done online. 

All the researches that are carried out can be classified as primary research, which gathers original research, and secondary research, which is based on a primary research and information published by other resources. Secondary research costs less as research is done on already researched data, but the result isn't efficient.

The research designs used by marketing research are either based on questioning or are based on observations. Quantitative marketing research and qualitative marketing research are based on questioning. Quantitative marketing research is done to derive conclusions like questionnaires forms and survey. The number of respondents involved is high. Qualitative marketing research is done to understand something like in-depth interviews and projective techniques.

Marketing research based on observations is called experimental technique and ethnographic studies. Test markets and purchase laboratories are examples of experimental techniques. The quantity measured is determined by understanding the factors that are responsible for the success of a product and then one or some of the factors are changed and the result is observed.  In ethnographic studies observations are done longitudinally or done at several instances of time or cross-sectional, or done at only a particular time.

Research on marketing is similar to exit polling in politics. The market is studied from different angles, at different time, and under different circumstances.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is a derivative of Internet marketing where the advertisement publisher gets paid for every customer or sales provided by him. Affiliate marketing is the basic for all other Internet marketing strategies. 

In this type of marketing, affiliate management companies, in-house affiliate managers and third party vendors are effectively utilized to use E-mail Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, RRS Capturing and Display Advertising for the success of the product. The web traffic can be traced with the help of a third party or own affiliate programs. A lot of work is involved in this process. At first marketing by this method involved lots of spamming, false advertising, trademark infringement, etc. But, after the invention of complex algorithms and advance security this has been regularized to make it safer for doing business and shopping online. This even led to the better scrutinizing of the terms and conditions by the merchants. Affiliate marketing became more profiting with the opening of more opportunities but at the same time it also increased the competition in marketing.

Due to this pressure in house affiliate programs for merchants became a thing of the past and were replaced by out-sourced programs. The companies that offered this service have expert affiliate and network program managers who have various affiliate program management techniques.  These affiliate networks have publishers associated with them who help them with the advertising part.

Affiliate marketing was started by cdnow.com who had music oriented websites. They placed list of music albums on their site and they paid others if they put those links in their websites when a visitor bought their album through their site. The first company to link with cdnow.com was Geffen Records. Two months later, Amazon was offered by a woman that she would sell Amazon's books on her website and she should be paid a certain percentage in return if she sold Amazon's books through her site. They liked the idea and started the Amazon associates program. It was more of a commission program where they received a commission if a visitor clicked their links and banners on other's site and bought anything through it.

Since its invention, the affiliate network has been adopted by various businesses like travel, education, telecom, mobile, gaming, personal finance, retail, and subscription sites, the most common being adult and gambling sectors. In UK alone, affiliate marketing produced £ 2.16 billion.

The compensation methods used are Cost per sale (CPS), Cost per action (CPA), Cost per mile (CPM) and Cost per click (CPC). The first two are the more famous methods today. This is because in CPM and CPC, the visitor which turns up on a particular website might not be the targeted audience and a click would be enough to generate commission. CPS and CPA have a compulsion that the visitor not only clicks on the link but also buys something or signs up for some service after it which proves that he is among the targeted audience. Only in the above case the affiliate gets paid. So the affiliate should try to send as much targeted traffic as possible to the advertiser in order to increase his/her returns and for this reason affiliate marketing is also known as performance marketing because it totally depends on the performance of the affiliate. The affiliate team can be differentiated from a sales team from the nature of their jobs. The job of the affiliate team is to drag targeted traffic to a point and from that
point it's the job of the sales team to influence the visitor to buy the product or the service.

This is a very effective kind of method because the money is being paid only when results have been achieved. The publisher incurs all the cost except that of initial setup and development of the program, which is incurred by the merchant. Many businesses give credit to this method of marketing for their success.
 

Global Marketing

Global marketing is nothing but marketing done on national and international level and which involves understanding the similarities, dissimilarities and taking advantage of the opportunities to attain the goal. Concentrating on global marketing is as important as concentrating on domestic marketing if a company is aiming to increase sales.

The domestic market has become saturated in most categories of products and services, in all industrialized countries and hence, they started to deal with other countries to increase their sales. Usually in such case, goods that are too expensive for the domestic customers to buy are exported to other well-off countries.

When a company does marketing within the boundaries of a specific county, it has to compete with other domestic companies as well as international companies who are a part of the market. The marketing steps taken by the professionals are based on the taste of a specific audience. The product might not suit the taste of customers at a higher level. The other domestic companies that plan to go global hinder the growth of such companies. They become invisible at the international level as they are unable to cope with the growing competition and might not be aware of potential competitors. The product development is dependant on the need of the local residents. Such kinds of businesses are ethnocentric and are only bothered about their performance in the domestic marketplace.

Companies planning to go global should start with export to a foreign client first. The returns wouldn't be satisfying in the beginning. The export department can be introduced at the headquarters that deals with all the laws. There can be a possibility of becoming secondary exporters by bringing export management company into the picture, who will deal with the language problem, time difference, paperwork and customers. If managing the exports without any help, the export department can be started at an office located abroad. This office works in collaboration with the regional headquarters. But the respective offshore offices take the marketing decisions, as they will have best knowledge about the particular market they are operating in.

Multinational marketing involves marketing in many countries. The marketing is based on the requirements of different countries and the returns are rewarding. Each region should be studied individually based on development, production and marketing. Such kinds of markets are known as region centric. Global marketing involves the whole globe. The entire world is summarized as a single market and the products that are released in the market should fit the needs of any regional marketplace. Marketers all over the world make the marketing decisions. Such a kind of market is known as geocentric.

Automotive industry is one such market that saw a global boost in sales during the last fifty years. Earlier only the local companies like Ford and General Motors used to produce cars in America, but today other international competitors like Toyota and Honda are operating in the same market and have out done the local companies. Another key factor to the global marketing is the Internet, which introduced e-commerce. Businesses went going online and global. This encouraged the sales of the company and the figures are only increasing because of ever increasing Internet users.   The geographical location of customers is no longer a hindrance. Global marketing management and business-to-business e-commerce is growing rapidly.  

Product, price, placement and promotion are the elements of global marketing. The product created should be such that it can sell anywhere using the same method.  It should consider the primary elements of all the markets. However, the language in which the product is named can be changed, where as the content can remain the same. The price is never constant. It should be decided after reviewing the market and the currency of the country. The variables which affect prices are location where the product is being produced, cost of ingredients, transportation charges, labor charges, etc.

Placement is how the product is distributed and how it reaches the targeted market. Like in third world countries, there is a lack of superstores, so they can be placed or sold at ordinary shops. After the product is developed and distributed, it should be promoted precisely known as advertising, promotion is one of the major steps of marketing and consumes major part of the budget. If it is possible to send out the same message worldwide in a relevant and cost-effective way, it sure must be put into practice but the challenge is really big.
 

Is It Possible to Have an Accounting Career in Finance

There are so many jobs that you can choose from if you want an accounting career in finance. But choosing may not be easy because it will not only depend on you but also the companies and the industries that you want to go to.

You must persevere in finding the suitable job as soon as you have finished school. You will learn when you are already part of the workforce that there are still many things that you need to grasp that were not introduced in all your academic subjects.

For beginners, you can settle for the less paying ones. You must aim to gather experience in the field first before you target your goal towards a higher paying job. But if you already have earned master’s degree and an MBA, you can jumpstart your career with the higher paying jobs first then gather experience as you last in the industry.

Career Path

It is important to have a career path whatever field you are venturing into. This will guide you through the work life and will lead you to success or failure. Of course, you don’t want to fail. You have earned a degree and worked hard for it. You must not lose that idea of perseverance. Apply it when you are already in the workforce.

There are many jobs that you can choose from. Listed here are only some. If nothing interests you, you can still opt to explore the many opportunities that are available for you. You only have to remember to look at the right places with the right mindset leading you through everything.

Accounting Clerk

This is an entry level position. Companies may require you to know the Office applications. You must also be able to relate well with people and must handle stress very well. Your task will be to match the invoices to the vouchers. Data entry jobs will also be assigned to you. And, of course, you are to manage the accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Banking and Finance

If you already have one to three years of working experience, you can also try this field. You can apply as a commercial lender to banks. Your marketing skills will be you best asset on this one and you need to have good networking skills.

For this job, it is your task to determine if people deserve to get their loans and capital funding for businesses. You must review everything regarding the loan process. You must also verify each agreement that you have agreed on.

Billing Manager or Supervisor

This position will gauge you customer service skills. Most companies require at least five years of professional billing experience before they get you for this job. You must know everything about the Office applications. You must be knowledgeable with electronic payment as well as the remittance systems.

Your task is to supervise the billing system of the company and the department assigned to it. You need to reconcile the accounts in the billing to the overall ledger. You must also ensure that the invoices are accurate.

There are really a lot to choose from for accounting career in finance. The idea here is to understand what you are doing. Gather as much experience as possible with every task that you handle. You will be able to use such knowledge as you advance your career towards other paths with regards to the world of finance.

Helpful Reminders to Last in Your Chosen Finance Career

If you are a newly graduate, your ideas about the world are still naïve. You might still be dreaming about the land of the happy ever after. But you have to perform a reality check if your goal is to obtain a finance career.

This may be one of the hardest jobs there is. This involves everything in relation with mathematics which most people love to hate. You are also required to analyze the market. You also need to develop your problem solving skills.

Problem Solving Skills

You need not fear the thought. This doesn’t mean that this industry is that problematic that is why you are getting this advice. But it is better to be prepared for the worst. So that when a problem presents itself to you, you will no longer be surprised and you will know what to do.
Every day in the finance industry will pose a challenge for you to decide on. All you have got to do is pause and analyze things over and over again. Do not fear to take the risk if you have to. And choose the best option for you according to what both your heart and mind say.

Adult Coach

To succeed in this field, it is also recommended to have an adult to serve as your coach. This person should present as a model that you can pattern your career path from. Choose somebody who will accept you. That somebody should be wise in terms of knowledge. But they should also be wise enough to agree to share on that brilliant knowledge for starters like you.
A mentor will be helpful especially if you don’t have any idea at start on where to go and who to ask. You will be lucky to find one who will be generous with such knowledge in the industry that may guide you to your own success.

Learn to Relate

This business is not all about money. Yes, the work revolves around a lot about money. But your main asset to be able to withstand all the competition is your knowledge in relating with people.

You have to know what makes your clients tick and what are the factors that will turn them off. As you last in the industry and gather experience. You must take to heart everything that you learn.

This is especially true with the things that you learn about how to converse and listen to the different kinds of people. You must know what they want and you must know your way into telling them that it will not be possible or giving in into it.

The idea is to expand on your customer service skills. You will be able to profit from it really good as you thrive in the biz.

If you have a mentor, this is one sure advice that they will give you. Treat people right and you will never go wrong with your decisions. Being fair is the rule of the game. You need not take advantage of anyone to advance towards your ultimate goal. So gather the needed experience.

Learn from everything that the industry will present to you. And listen to your mentor. But the most important thing to last with your chosen finance career is that you have to grow as a person through time. This is also true in every aspect of your life. So lead on.

How To Make Money

With affiliate programs, it really pays to work well
with others. Also known as referral programs,
affiliate programs are normally commission based
sales. You’ll recommend a site to your visitors and
then pick up a percentage of any sale that those
visitors make. You’ll benefit from the commission
and the merchant benefits from the sales.

If you already have a website set up, you can run
an affiliate program from it, or you can simply
build a site to promote a particular product or
service. As long as it brings in more cash than it
takes to build or run it, you’ll be fine.

With any marketing program, you’ll need to be careful
when you select an affiliate program. The benefit
of an affiliate program will give you another way
to make money from your users. Instead of selling
them a product, you simply send them to a partner
then take a cut of the profits.

Even though it may seem tempting to go for programs
with the highest commissions, those programs won’t
pay you anything if your visitors don’t buy them.

Below, you’ll find some tips to help you select an
affiliate program that’s right for you:
1. Do not accept any less than 25% with
commission. You can find many programs with great
payment structures and high percentages of pay in
just about any field.
2. Look for statistic pages that list the
number of click throughs, sales, and earnings so
you’ll be able to see how you are doing.
3. Always look for programs that offer a
wide variety of tools to put on your web site,
including banners, text links, and of course graphics.
4. Find out hwo often you’ll be paid and
be sure that the payment schedule meets with your
own expectations. Some programs will pay monthly,
while others will pay quarterly.
5. Be sure that top level support is
included. If they can’t answer your questions in
a quick and timely manner, you don’t want to work
with them.

Once you learn what you are doing with affiliate
programs, you can make a lot of money. If you
are just starting out, you should always use common
sense and not rush into anything. As you become
more familiar with how things work, you’ll be well
on your way to making a lot of money – and
enjoying making it. If you have to work hard, you’ll
be glad you did.