Marketing objectives are the specific marketing goals of a business organization. The marketing objectives of for-profit organizations are primarily sales and profit related.
Examples of marketing objectives for for-profit businesses
Let’s take a look at the most common examples of marketing objectives for profit-seeking business organizations. These are long-term goals of the business organization:
GROWTH
- Increase sales revenue. The business will aim to achieve higher sales. This can be measure in terms of sales volume and sales value. The marketing department may consider launching new products to current and new markets or selling existing products to current customers or in overseas markets. In order to boost sales, the firm should increase the number of new customers attracted to the firm’s products or persuade existing customers to buy more products. The firm can increase the average number of products bought per customer visit. Also, improving and developing new channels is crucial for growing sales revenue. The total number of new retailers signed up to sell the products should be increased.
👉 For example, ‘To increase sales of electric cars in Canada by 100,000 in the first half of 2023.’
- Increase market share. The firm aims to expand the market and as a result increase its share of the market to gain market leadership in the future. The specific percentage will determine the proportion of each market segment that the company hopes to capture. The higher the share of the market one firm has, the more competitive it is than its rivals. Market penetration is one of the strategies to increase sales revenue without launching new products.
👉 For example, ‘To grow the small-electric-car market share in the US by 2023 from the current 3% to 10%.’
MARKET DOMINANCE
- Achieve market leadership. A key marketing objective here is to become the market leader, the largest single player in the market. The business strives for having the greatest market share in the industry or sector. With market leadership, the firm enjoys the benefits of having the largest market share among all companies. As the market leader, the business can determine the pace and direction of the market acting as the benchmark which other businesses view their products.
👉 For example, ’To capture majority of the market share of the Chinese market for healthy snacks and drinks by 2024.’
- Achieve high market standing. Market standing refers to the firm’s overall presence in the marketplace in terms of corporate image and business reputation. To achieve high market standing, the firm should sell what is considered to be the best product in the market. By being the best in its industry, the firm will be able to build its reputation in this way – pushing for quality and being known for offering high-quality goods and services. This can be achieved through using effective marketing strategies.
👉 For example, ‘To be the first choice to go to when it comes to golfing equipment.’
- Continuity. Firms that aim to continue their business indefinitely are often being protected by good patents on their products and through other legal means on their ideas such as copyrights, trademarks, etc.
👉 For example, ‘To maintain the annual sales volume of carbonated soft drinks in the world at the same level in the next two decades.’
BRANDING
- Improve brand recognition. The ability of customers and potential customers to recognize a brand and compare it to other brands.
👉 For example, ‘To increase the percentage of customers who can distinguish our spicy chicken hamburger from the hamburgers offered by competitors from 20% to 50% in the next two years.’
- Improve brand awareness. The knowledge of the name of a company and the products that the company sells. Improved product awareness is usually the result of heavy promotion of products and brands by the business.
👉 For example, ‘To increase the percentage of customers who are aware that our restaurant offers spicy chicken hamburgers from 40% to 60% in the next two years.’
- Improve brand perception. The belief or opinion about the brand that is held by many people based on how the see the company and its products. The company wants existing and potential customers to have a positive opinion and judgement about the business.
👉 For example, ‘To increase the percentage of positive opinions about our spicy chicken hamburgers from 60% to 90% in the next two years.’
- Improve brand loyalty. The habit of always buying a product with the same name which is made by the same company. The higher the customer satisfaction, the higher the brand loyalty. The firm can measure brand loyalty by checking the percentage of customers who are returning customers or frequency that loyal customers do shopping. Customer loyalty is usually a result of customer satisfaction. And customers are satisfied when they are happy with the price paid, product quality, and the level of after-sale services.
👉 For example, ‘To increase the number of loyal customers of our spicy chicken hamburgers from 50 to 150 per day in the next two years.’
- Improve brand development. This is about developing very specific brand identity. The use of marketing to build and convey a certain corporate image such as emphasizing the ethical nature of the business or a degree of environmental responsibility.
👉 For example, ‘To have the word ‘the most delicious’ describing the taste of our spicy chicken hamburgers mentioned the most frequently across all promotional activities next year.’
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
- Increase profitability. Being able to gain maximum advantages of economies of scale, so operating at the least cost point. It is now widely accepted that, in some markets, a certain critical mass is needed in order to be competitive.
👉 For example, ‘To increase the Net Profit Margin (NPM) of SUV cars in Japan from 3% to 7% by the end of 2025.’
- Achieve differentiation. It is the process of being different or producing and selling products different from other firms. Providing features of products that competitor products do not possess.
👉 For example, ‘To offer one new flavor of ice-cream every quarter in the next five years. The flavor cannot be available in ice-cream shops operated by major competitors.’
- Improve product positioning. The business attempts to improve its corporate image and perception hold by customers. For example, to be viewed as a business selling high quality products for high price. business will focus on a particular section of the market (specific market segment) and note its characteristics.
👉 For example, ‘To make the car a top choice for ‘safety’ features among the young customers between 18-30 years-old in France.’
- Increase innovation. To introduce new products and processes to the range. Developing new goods and services can give the firm a strong competitive advantage over its rivals. Those businesses that aim for innovation as a marketing objective need to have excellent market information to provide a basis for future marketing actions and control of markets. Innovation allows the firm to be proactive to gain ‘first mover advantage’ by being the first in the market to sell a good or service that customers want.
👉 For example, ‘To launch at least five new or improved products every year in the next five years in the European market.’
In conclusions, marketing objectives must be based on an analysis of the marketing audit that has taken place. Only after identifying marketing objectives, the business can start developing marketing strategies – various ways to achieve these marketing objectives.
