Internet Market

 Introduction

The aim of every business organization is to make profits, since it is by the making the profits that an organization is able to sustain itself in the market and consequently grow.  Due to this, it is important that an organization is able to sell its products and services, being able to make profits. Therefore, it is important that an organization has a good marketing plan which will ensure its ability to reach out to the market, hence being able to makes sales. Over the recent years, the Internet has become a very important marketing tool. Consumers are also turning to it to find the products of their choice (Moon, 2004). Internet marketing has taken the marketing world to another level, where the players are battling it out in the smartest of ways, limited by their imagination concerning the use of the Internet. A&M is a building and construction company, located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which has not yet embraced the use of Internet marketing. The following paper will develop an Internet marketing plan for A&M Building and Construction Company, using the SOSTAC model. On this point, it is important to acknowledge that A&M Building and Construction Company is a theoretical company which is being used for the purposes of writing this paper only.   

Background Information

A& M Building and Construction Company has existed for 25 years. It was established by Eng. Khalif, a very prominent Civil and Structural engineer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Over the years, the company has grown to be a giant company in the building and constructions field. The company offers services in all civil and structural works, including buildings, constructions and plumbing works among others. In addition to this, the company is also a supplier of construction and building materials in the country and the region at large. Over the years, the company has relied heavily on Eng. Kahlif’s reputation in the region to market itself. In addition to this, it relies on the word of mouth, customer retention and advertisements on mass media to market itself. Over the recent years, the turnover of the company has been reducing by a substantial margin, which is associated with the rise in the level of competition in the company. There are more players in the field; hence the company has to devise ways to ensure that it is able to get the same number of clients as it was before. One of the aspects of marketing which the company has not exploited is the Internet marketing. This report will develop an Internet marketing strategy using the SOSTAC model. 

Analysis

The following section will provide an analysis of A&M Company with respect to the SOSTAC model. It will come up with a suitable Internet marketing strategy for the company.  The SOSTAC model is a valuable marketing tool which gives an organization an opportunity to analyze its current situation, specify where it wants to be in a specified period of time, identify strategies to achieve its objectives, identify specific tactics to put into use, specify actions to undertake and lastly provide a control mechanism for managing its practices with a respect to the identified plan (Smith, Lerry & Pulford, 1999).

Situation

This section analyses the current condition of A&M Building and Construction Company. In order to do this, a SWOT analysis is a very important tool that enables the analyses of the current situation of organizations. It reveals the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the organization under analysis (Wang, 2010).

Strengths of A&M Building & Construction Company

The company has component manpower; hence it is able to execute its activities in the most professional manners. Eng. Khalif identified the need of having a competent workforce, since he acknowledges the importance of skills and knowhow in the field. Ideally, the state of the workforce in an organization determines the ability of the organization to execute various tasks with the desired professionalism. For this reason, A&M Construction Company has always sought to have the best professionals in its employee base.

The company has a good image in the market, having done several magnificent building and constructions. This is as a result of the company’s vast experience in the field. This gives it an added advantage over its competitors.

The company produces quality works due to its rich workforce and good management strategies. One of the values of the organization is quality. For this reason, it has always provided clients with a value for their money. The organization incorporates the clients in the life time of a project, hence always works in line with the desires of the client.

Weaknesses

The company has a poor marketing strategy that results in its inability to attract more clients. This is partly one of the reasons as to why the turnover of the company is falling. The company is overdependent on Eng. Khalif and his reputation.

Opportunities

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is developing very fast. Thus, there is an increase in building and construction activities which provides a market opportunity for the country.

The Middle East and Gulf region is also experiencing a substantial rate of growth. Hence, the number of constructions and buildings is also rising. The company may look at the opportunity of operating in the region with more aggression.

Threats

The major company’s threat is competition.

Objectives

• A&M Building and Construction Company wants to increase its turnover by 50 % in the 5years from the current 36 million US Dollars in 2011 to 54 million Us dollars by 2016. 

• The company would like to diversify its prospects into the mortgage and real estate business.

• The company wants to venture into the Gulf and Middle East region.

• The company wants to embrace information technology in its operations.

• The company would like to improve its corporate responsibility practices as an act of giving back to the society.

Strategies

Segmentation

It is proposed that the company identifies several market segments on which it is to offer its services. The major market segmentation will be the division of the markets of operation according to the country of operation. Starting in Saudi Arabia, the company will then strategically venture into the countries in the Middle East and Gulf regions.

Targeting

The company should target various markets in its region of operation. In line with the market targets, the company should establish various products aimed at the target markets. The following are some of the target markets which the company should aim at.

The government issues contracts for major constructions, e.g. roads and rail systems. At this time when the economy is developing, the government is investing heavily in infrastructure; hence the company should target this market.

The rise in the need for good housing, which is a major problem associate with the urban migration, stands out as a good opportunity for the company to invest in mortgage and real estate, so that the public housing is developed.

More and more organizations are making moves towards constructing towers and post modern offices. There are also many real estate companies which have come up with the outsource construction services to construction companies. This is a rich market which the company should target.

As pointed out earlier, A &M Building and Construction Company also supplies construction materials. The current increase in building and construction activities provides a good market which the company should target.

Tactics

The company aims at adopting Internet marketing in its marketing operations. The company should make use of the following communication tools.

Company’s website

The company should seek the services of a good IT firm to design a good website. The website should comprise of the following aspects:

Search Engine to enable the users of the website to locate the things which they are looking for in the company.

Well arranged useful links are to connect to various locations, for instance real estate. This gives the website users ease in accessing various products which the company offers.

User accounts for clients who would like to seek the services of the company, the user accounts will provide a good forum from which they can be given personalized services.

Chat engine enables the clients to have a one on one online communication with the company’s representatives.  This enables the users to seek advice on contentious issues.

The website should display a lot of images on previous projects which the company has undertaken, hence giving their prospective customers a chance to visualize the company’s abilities.

Social media

The company should also embrace the use of social media. This gives the company a chance to interact with the society and the market on which it operates. It is recommended that the company should open accounts and pages with the following social media.

• Facebook
• Twitter

It is important to note that online marketing requires the organization to be able to attract the Internet traffic. Therefore, A&M Building & Construction Company should update the website and social media regularly with catchy material so as to engage the audience accordingly (Petreson, Balasubramanian, Bronnenberg, 2003). The marketing message which the company should include in its online marketing strategies should be in line with the target markets, hence being able to attract more clients.

Budget

 Actions

 Control

The efficiency of the online marketing strategies will be measured on the basis of the feedback sections of the website. This feedback information from the users of the website will be used to analyze the reception of the company in the market.

The number of people following and engaging the company in the social media will be used to analyze the number of people which the company has been able to reach out to. The number of user accounts which are open on the company’s website will be used to gauge the number of people who are using the online option to get to the company.

Others include the trackers of the traffic in the company’s website.

Recommendations and Conclusion

It is recommended that A& M Building and Construction Company should increase its online marketing activities. This is due to the large number or people which the company can be able to reach out over the Internet. It is recommended that the company should source for the services of a good website designer to design a good website for the company. In addition to this, the company should employ 5 marketing professionals who will research on the market and make appropriate marketing materials to use in the online marketing mediums. The 2 IT professionals should manage the company’s online activities. In conclusion, the online marketing strategy, outlined in this report, takes account of all aspects of SOSTAC. It is expected that the adoption of this online marketing strategy by A&M Building and Construction Company will reverse the reduction in profits trend which the company has faced lately.