Industrial Marketing Management

Strategic Industrial Marketing

Marketing is carefully meshed with production, finance, research and development (R&D), purchasing,  and other functions of the business so as to make the maximum contribution to  company objectives. The marketing activities of industrial products are an  integral part of the company’s total operating system. Therefore, it is useful to  identify the major types of plans by which operations of an enterprise are  directed. These may be designated as strategic, operational, logistical, and  organizational.

A plan is a goal-directed system of action. A strategic plan is one which  describes the allocation of a firm’s resources which the management believes  will achieve the corporate mission with the greatest efficiency over the long run.  … Read the rest

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Industrial Marketing Communication

The industrial products are technical in nature that have very few buyers  compared to the consumer products. This makes the industrial marketers to  change their promotional strategy for industrial goods and services. The  promotional mix used by the industrial marketer consists of advertising, sales  promotion, publicity, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing.  These tools help them to build awareness, develop company image, inform  about the product features thus assisting the company sales force and other  intermediaries to increase their sales. Of all the promotional mix, personal  selling is the most important because industrial products are technical in nature  and they involve lot of direct interactions by the company people with the  industrial customers.… Read the rest

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Role of Advertising in Industrial Marketing

Advertising is the most preferred promotional tool in the consumer market  rather than in the industrial market. It is preferred less by the industrial  marketers compared to personal selling as they get to meet the customers  personally and understand their needs better in personal selling. But still  advertising is used to a good extent by the industrial marketers to assist their  sales force and intermediaries to generate more leads. Advertising plays an  important role in industrial marketing strategy by supporting and supplementing  personal selling efforts. The advertising budget for industrial goods is far less  compared to that of consumer goods. But, to have an increased efficiency and  effectiveness of the overall marketing strategy, industrial marketer should have  an integrated and well planned advertisement strategy that blends properly with  personal selling efforts.… Read the rest

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Industrial Buying Behavior Models

The buying decisions of industrial buyers are influenced by many factors. Usually, these are influenced by organisational factors or task-oriented  objectives viz. best product quality, or dependable delivery, or lowest price and  personal factors or non-task objectives viz. like promotion, increments, job  security, personal treatment, or  favor.   When the suppliers proposals are  substantially similar, organizational buyers can satisfy organisational objectives  with any supplier, and therefore personal factors become more important. When  suppliers offers differ significantly, industrial buyers pay more attention to  organisational factors in order to satisfy the organisational objectives. There are  two models available to provide a comprehensive and integrated picture of the  major factors that combine to explain organisational buying  behavior.… Read the rest

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Decision Making Units (DMUs) in Industrial Marketing

It is essential to understand the roles of buying-center members or Decision Making Units (DMUs) before identifying the individuals and groups involved in  the buying-decision process. It is helpful to the industrial marketers to develop  an effective promotion strategy. The roles of buying center members are as  follows:

  1. Initiators:  The initiators might be any individuals in the buying firm. Often, the users of a  product/service play the role of the initiators.
  2. Buyers:  The major roles of buyers are obtaining quotations (or offers) from suppliers,  supplier evaluation and selection, negotiation, processing purchase orders, speed  up deliveries, and implementing purchasing policies of the organization.  
… Read the rest
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Buying Situations in the Industrial Marketing

There are three common types of buying situations in industrial market, which are  discussed as  follows:

1. New Purchase

The industrial buyers buy the item for the first time in this situation. The need  for a new purchase may be due to internal or external factors. For example,  when a firm decides to diversify into new purchase situations the buyers have  limited knowledge and lack of previous experience. Therefore, they have to  obtain a variety of information about the product, the suppliers, the prices and so  on. The risks are more, decisions may take longer time, and more people are  involved in decision making in the new purchase decisions.… Read the rest

Abey Francis