Marketing Plan Guide

ABMN Marketing Plan 2014

Marketing Plan 2014

Table of Contents

Summary 3

Business overview 3

Products & Services 4

Membership 4

Training Products 4

Consultancy Services 4

HR Management 4

Marketing 5

Quality Auditing 5

Small Business Advisory Service 5

Pricing Structure 6

Customer Profile 7

Key customers 7

Current Positioning 7

Customer management 7

3-element sales growth plan 7

Our competitors 8

Market research 9

Environmental/industry analysis 9

The Market 10

Unique selling position 10

Anticipated demand 10

Marketing strategy 11

Marketing objectives 11

ABMN Marketing Budget 2014 12

Media Strategy 2014 13

Summary

The Australian Business and Management Network (ABMN), continues to experience good growth across the product range, increasing market penetration at the expense of our competitors. Our concentration is on large corporations that are dissatisfied with the product and pricing structures of our competitors; who have become complacent after 20 to 70 years in the marketplace.

As we continue to attract clients at a faster rate than we can upgrade our systems and train new staff to meet the expected ABMN client service standards, service levels have shown inconsistencies. Consequently, our strategies for 2014 are to consolidate our business gains and prevent client churn. By making the required improvements to the system and having good service perfomance we can retain the clients and prepare the base for future growth on a more solid footing.

Business overview

ABMN is a professional membership association established in 2004, providing a range of products and Since it was established in 2004, the Australian Business and Management Network (ABMN) has grown from a modest business network of 22 business professionals to become one of the largest networking communities in Australia, with more than 2,500 members. ABMN has consistently embraced change in a constantly evolving business environment, but has kept the same goals: to provide members with opportunities to expand their network and to share information and knowledge.

While face-to-face networking remains at the heart of ABMN’s business philosophy and practice, ABMN has embraced technology and online mediums enabling members to engage with the ABMN community.

As well as offering its members opportunities for professional development through networking activities, events and seminars, ABMN has recognised the need for the ongoing skill development of its members. Over time ABMN has introduced a range of training products designed to ensure its members and non-members stay current and informed on new and emerging practices in their profession.

ABMN also provides reliable and expert support and advice in Human Resources (HR), Marketing, Quality Auditing (QA) and Small Business, to assist members and clientele in achieving their professional and business goals. ABMN employs experts from a range of professions and industries, handpicked to ensure that members and clientele are given the very best advice and support.

Products & Services

For over 10 years, ABMN has developed a suite of products designed to meet the needs of its members. The reason for our long term success is simple - we meet our members’ needs cost effectively. Below are some of the products and services that ABMN provide.

Membership

ABMN offers two levels of membership: Individual and Corporate. Aside from having access to one of the largest networking communities in Australia, membership offers a range of other benefits, such as free and discounted training, support and advice, as well as access to ABMN’s exclusive monthly eNewsletter and eBulletin, providing insight into new and emerging professional and business practices.

Training Products

ABMN offers both face- to-face and online training products, designed to meet the needs of busy professionals. One-day, face- to-face training services are provided at the Melbourne and Sydney offices and some other locations. The focus of training is on providing essential and specialised skills to professionals, as well as introductory knowledge on various operational aspects of a business. Webinars run for approximately two hours, and are designed to ensure participants stay current and informed on trends and emerging practices in their profession.

Training products are closely aligned with the needs of employers and industry, and ABMN conducts regular surveys with employers to ensure they receive the right skills to meet the training and development needs of their organisation.

Consultancy Services

ABMN recognises that industry and employer needs are constantly changing. Given this evolving business environment, ABMN acknowledges that its member and customers may require ad-hoc support and advice. ABMN’s consultancy services are designed to provide members with ongoing advice and support as needed, specifically in the areas of:

·  HR Management

·  Marketing

·  Quality Auditing

·  Small Business.

HR Management

ABMN provides advice, support and consulting on a range of HR and Management functions, including:

·  Recruitment and Induction

·  Workforce planning

·  Remuneration and staff retention

·  Separation and termination

·  360 profiling.

Marketing

Our Marketing Team uses their extensive knowledge and experience to assist members to expand their customer base, focus on their target markets and ultimately to achieve a greater return through tried and tested marketing activities. ABMN can assist marketing professionals to:

·  Undertake segmentation to identify their target market

·  Conduct focused market research

·  Develop marketing plans

·  Undertake marketing audits.

Quality Auditing

The QA team provides exceptional auditing assistance and advice to support the needs of its members working within a QA framework. TABMN certified quality auditors can assist with:

·  Internal Audit planning

·  Assurance mapping

·  Developing QA performance measures

·  Implementing a Total Quality Management (TQM) system

·  ISO 9001 compliance.

Small Business Advisory Service

Micro and small business represents the majority of businesses in Australia, so ABMN provides a range of specialist knowledge and advice for those working as sole traders and small business owners, including:

·  Business planning

·  Marketing and sales

·  Bookkeeping and financial management

·  Recruiting and managing staff

·  Website and promotions

·  Legal services.

Pricing Structure

Service

Non-Members

Individual

Corporate (11+)

Membership

Training Products:

Consulting Services:

Customer Profile

The current customer base consists mainly of individual members, typically made up of professionals and managers working in various industries, as well as corporate members concentrated in larger corporations with head offices located in the major cities.

Key customers

Typically, ABMN customers tap into a spread of business, training and consulting services, and are individuals based in major towns and cities around Australia. To ensure future growth ABMN will continue to promote services to large corporations and individuals that need on-going consulting services and want a pricing structure that is better than our competitors.

Current Positioning

ABMN currently positions its training products for two distinct markets:

·  Professionals
Professionals (including salaried workers working in small, medium and large corporations, as well as contractors and consultants) working in HR, Marketing or QA Management who upgrade their skills regularly to stay informed and current about new and emerging principles and practices in their profession.

·  Small business owners
Small business owners and managers that want to understand the fundamentals of HR, Marketing and QA Management so they can manage these functions in their small business.

Customer management

Good relationships are maintained with clients through the activities of the business development team who provide sales and marketing initiatives and Account Managers for larger clients. This is also supported by strong customer focus from the the Customer Service and Operations staff.

The results of customer surveys are evaluated closely to ensure that any issues are promptly dealt with. When a large client is involved, or when a significant issue occurs, the matter is brought to the attention of the senior management team at the earliest opportunity.

In addition, clients receive regular contact visits or calls, and are encouraged to participate in client surveys, regular state-based ABMN network events, conferences and seminars. Clients also receive weekly newsletters tailored to each market segment and an online help desk for immediate assistance with technical problems.

3-element sales growth plan

Where there is an untapped opportunity or a demand serviced by our competitors, ABMN will continue to build growth in the large corporate sector. There is a current client demand for professional services consulting, training and events/conferences, due to competitive pricing, aggressive marketing and the utilisation of online delivery. However, at times, there has been a level of dissatisfaction with service delivery. In some instances this has caused lost business. ABMN must remedy this situation and continue to successfully grow. As many existing systems were originally suited to the stsart-up business, they are inadequate for our new business and path ahead. A systems upgrade and better coordination between the departments will address these issues and enable ABMN to retain clients, build reputation and take the pressure off staff.

ABMN will continue to develop efficiencies in their products so they are not just meeting, but exceding customer expectations. This means some of the earlier consulting products require a further upograde to ensure the templates reflect current and expected business patterns, new technologies and increased download capabilities into account.

Our competitors

Although a number of competitors have been operating for over 70 years, ABMN is a relatively new player in the market, and therefore, has focused on establishing a presence and a high recognition profile.

The main competitor in the business services membership space is the Australian Institute of Management (AIM). AIM is recognised within the Australian business community as the leader in the business services market. There are also several other smaller competitors, offering specialised services and advice, and some competitors operating from outside Australia, slowly making inroads into the Australian market.

Competitor

Market share (%)

Value to customers

Market research

ABMN utilises DDB marketing to provide market analysis. The latest Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS), company data shown below, tells us the total number of businesses in Australia is currently at just over 2.1 million, with the largest proportion (16%) being Construction industry companies, followed by Professional scientific and technical services (12%), and Rental hiring and real estate (11%).

Business by state 2011

TOTAL

2,073,793

Businesses employing less than 20 staff (35%), represent the largest component of organisations by employee numbers, whereas, large corporations of over 200 staff represent less than 1% of total organisations.

At June 2011, there were 736,370 (34.5%) businesses with turnover from $50k to less than $200k. This was followed by 653,164 (30.6%) businesses with turnover from $200k to less than $2m, 617,755 (29.0%) businesses with turnover between zero and $50k, and 125,123 (5.9%) of businesses with turnover above $2m per annum.

In 2013 the Construction industry had the highest number of businesses operating in Australia (328,486). This was followed by the Professional, scientific and technical services (241,814) and Rental, hiring and real estate services (219,878), industries. The Electricity, gas, water and waste services industry had the lowest number of businesses operating with (5,606). This was followed by Public administration and safety (7,274), and Mining (8,094), industries.

Environmental/industry analysis

There has not been any requirement for a focus on environmental requirements at ABMN. However,anecodatally, the market discussion indicates that overseas trends may gain traction among local business. In some part this is led by overseas corporations that also have an Australian facility, that is required to operate at the same level as the parent organisation. In addition, the Labour Government implemented a cap and trade emissions program setting the standard for other governments, including those of our largest trading partners, China, India and New Zealand.

ABMN will conduct market data research and establish the current and potential future requirements and what could be a reasonably expected outcome for ABMN and their perception by others in the marketplace.

The Market

Total market:

In Australia there are a total of 2,132,412 companies, including government entities.

Current membership: 2,680 members (22% served market share)

Target market:

The focus is almost exclusively centred on private and public companies, and includes small numbers of partnerships and sole proprietors.

Market position:

Products are across a broad customer base, with established strengths in the training and marketing areas.

Overall, ABMN achieves about 22% served market share, but this is not evenly divided across the product offerings. Estimated market share by product is: