Internal-External Analysis in Marketing
Internal-External Analysis in Marketing
Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.
– Henry Hartman
Successful internet marketing requires an internal and external analysis. Tools such as a SWOT analysis will determine the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, and threats that different organizations face. Strengths and weaknesses focus on the internal aspects of an organization, while opportunities and threats are external factors. Conducting a simple SWOT analysis will provide information that can guide the marketing campaign and increase its effectiveness.
Warm-up Exercise
Complete this worksheet before the lesson begins. Make note of what you hope to learn or goals you want to address after the lesson.
Have you ever created a marketing campaign? Did you use the Internet?
What techniques or strategies did you use/would you use?
What do you consider signs of a successful marketing campaign?
What do you hope to learn from this course?
Any other thoughts:
Strength
Core competencies and competitive advantages are the strengths of a company. To put it simply, strengths are what the company does well. Strengths are internal to the organization, and they should be approached from the customers’ point of view for marketing purposes. Market research is useful for finding strengths and other parts of a SWOT analysis. For example, low price points, excellent customer service, or quality merchandise are examples of different strengths that draw in customers. It is important to identify and build upon strengths so that you may use them effectively in your internet marketing campaigns.
Weaknesses
Every organization has internal weaknesses. A weakness is what the organization does poorly. From a marketing perspective, anything that does not meet customers’ needs is a weakness. For example, high price points and poor customer service are weaknesses that need to be addressed. Fortunately, it is possible to convert weaknesses into strengths.
Reducing price points will create a competitive advantage that becomes a selling point and strengthens the company’s image. Similarly, improving customer service ratings will draw customers. When weaknesses are transformed into strengths, they must be marketed to the customer base.
Opportunities
Opportunities and threats are outside influences such as fashion trends, market changes, or technological advances. Finding new opportunities requires analyzing the future of the market. Opportunities, however, are favorable for a company if the organization is prepared and takes advantage of them. For example, implementing new technology that makes purchasing easier for customers is an opportunity. Once the opportunity is established, it equals a strength that needs to be addressed in an internet marketing campaign.
Threats
Outside factors are not always beneficial for a company. Threats occur when changes in the market and environment have the ability to hinder the organization. New technology, better merchandise, or improved services from a competitor are threats to the organization. Fortunately, it is possible to transform threats into opportunities by making changes within the organization. For example, focus on developing new merchandise that is more competitive and better meets the needs of customers. These new opportunities can be used to draw more customers and improve the effectiveness of the internet marketing campaign.
Practical Application
The CEO of My Brand was constantly getting complaints about poor customer service, but people always complimented the quality of the clothing. He monitored sales, and the customer service did not cause sales to slip, so he did nothing about the complaints. After a few years, a competitor opened nearby. The store advertised “excellent service and merchandise.” After three months, sales slipped 20%. The CEO of my brand decided to implement an employee-training program to improve the quality of customer service.
