Marketing in Israel - Your corporate GPS

To understand the importance of Marketing in Israel, we decided to quote Mr. Bryan Polin, Professor of Marketing at Mahon Lev University in Jerusalem:

1. Getting your business off the ground without a marketing plan is like driving a car without a GPS.
2. Eventually, you'll get to your destination, but you may make some costly (in time and money) mistakes along the way.

You may think there's a demand for your product, but there isn't!. Or you risk offering your services for less than they're worth.

Marketing plan = confidence

The only way to launch a business with confidence is to develop a good marketing plan, one that's backed up by facts and research.

This document clearly demonstrates how you're going to get customers interested in your product or service, and convince them to buy.

Contrary to popular belief, a marketing plan is not a one-off document that needs to be tucked away in a filing cabinet on your desk.

Like your business plan, it needs to be updated regularly to reflect the changing needs of your business and your customers.

There are many models for marketing plans in Israel. Here are five of the essential ingredients.

Analyze the situation

Many companies start by carrying out a SWOT analysis, i.e. assessing their strengths (Strenght), weaknesses (Weakness), opportunities (Opportunity) and threats (Threat).

This means finding out who your competitors are, fully understanding how they operate, and knowing their strengths and weaknesses.

Forces These are all the competitive advantages, skills, expertise, competencies or other factors that enable your company to position itself better in the marketplace, and which cannot easily be copied.

For example: a well-trained sales team, low staff turnover, a very loyal customer base and low production costs due to the superior technology used.

Weaknesses These are the factors that reduce your company's ability to achieve its objectives independently.

For example: unreliable stock delivery, production tools outdated by newer technology, insufficient marketing and a lack of management and planning talent.

Opportunities These are the elements that can help boost your company's profitability.

For example: new markets, managing technological change or adapting to new consumer trends. You need to determine how to use your company's core competencies to exploit these opportunities.

Threat These are the obstacles that prevent you from penetrating your key markets.

For example: a shortage of manpower, legislative obstacles, or an unfavorable economic or political context.

Describe the target market

Demographic profile

It's all about demonstrating that you know almost everything about your customers, including their expectations and desires. Your description should include basic demographic data that paint a clear picture of your customers.

Estimated demand

You'll also need to provide the results of your research into the estimated demand for your product or service, and the rate at which you expect this demand to grow.

Purchase motivations

It's also important to understand exactly what motivates customers to buy. Are your customers looking for bargains or a way to simplify their lives, for example, or are they shopping for pleasure? Ask yourself why they would buy your product or service.

In the same vein, you'll also want to know what keeps your customers from using your competitors' services or buying their products.

Establish clear marketing objectives

In this step, you describe the desired impact of your marketing plan, setting achievable and realistic objectives, targets and a precise timetable.

The most common approach is to use business metrics. For example, your marketing objectives might take into account total market share and market segments, total number of customers and percentage of customers who have remained loyal, the share of your potential market that makes purchases, and the volume of those purchases.

Establish your marketing strategy

Once you've determined your objectives and targets, you need to find ways of promoting your company to potential customers. Strategies generally take into account the 4 "Ps" of marketing: product, price, place and promotion.

Establish your financial health

A marketing plan without financial statements is more imprecise. Financial statements can also be included in a general business plan.

One of the documents you'll need to produce is a budget and sales forecast.

This type of document is simple in name only, and it is often advisable to call on the services of a firm of experts to support you in drawing up this financial section.

Finally, the last step in your Israel Marketing Plan is a business case.

This analysis tells you exactly how much you need to sell to cover your operating costs. If you can exceed your break-even point and get more from your sales than you need to cover your costs, you have a good chance of generating a profit..