Product

Trying to guess at your marketing strategy and effectiveness is a guaranteed way to fail. People and market dynamics are just too complicated. Everything you do in your business will be a test. When you try something that produces good results, you’ll keep it. When you do something that doesn’t produce, you need to stop doing it. Sounds simple, but a surprising number of businesses keep repeating a marketing strategy because it's easier, or they don’t have another, or they’ve convinced themselves it’s a good approach with willful disinformation.

You’ve done your market research. You’ve learned about the history and life-cycle of products like yours and the trends and key drivers that determine where your products or services “fit in the industry” Now it’s time to distill your research findings into a concentrated effort to generate a product that reflects your business goals and objectives while providing solutions (price, packaging, convenience) for the customer.

I never met anyone who got into farming because they enjoyed trying to predict consumer buying preferences or because they got great personal satisfaction from tracking the grain futures market. Most business entrepreneurs aren’t thrilled about spending time researching their competitors’ advantages. Farmers want to farm. Entrepreneurs want to develop businesses around new products or services. Neither prefers to spend a substantial portion of their time or financial resources developing their marketing program, much less implementing it themselves. Not that they’re not capable of doing so - they often don’t find the work enjoyable and they’re just not sure how to go about it. Yet, until a farm or enterprise makes its first profitable sale, it’s a business in name only.

What is a market or a market share? Simply stated, a market is a group of people who are willing and able to become and to remain your customers. Identifying your customer base is one of the first elements of the marketing process. Figuring out which people have the strongest likelihood of becoming and remaining your customer by identifying common characteristics within the group will help you better define your product. It will also make a difference on how and what you use to reach that market.

The process of identifying your potential customer Decision Marketing Units (DMUs), determining your market segments, and then developing a targeted strategy is called market research. This research involves gathering additional information about customers, competition, and overall market potential.

Other Resources is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide information on other resources that will help your product to become ready for retail.

Getting Things Right is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide information on supply, storage, purchasing, establishing prices, ordering and delivery schedules, invoicing and payment terms, and product promotions.

Know Your Product and Brand is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide information about packaging, USDA/FDA label and nutritional label requirements, and Allergen notification requirements.

Sales and Marketing Tools is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section will provide resources on marketing channels and tools to sell your retail products.

Product Development and Production is part of the Maryland Retail Products Producer Program. This section provides information on product development and production practices.