WEB DEVELOPMENT NC III

Basic Competency
UoC9. FACILITATE ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS FOR MICRO-SMALL-MEDIUM
ENTERPRISES (MSMEs)
LO2. Establish and Maintain Client-Base/ Market

Information Sheet 9.2-1: Public relations concepts

Concept of Public Relations

Public relations has assumed a bigger role in the current era of business and non-
business operations and is considered as an important part of the promotion mix.
A firm or a business is very much dependent on the public for its success. Therefore,
the purpose of public relations is to establish and maintain a healthy relationship
between the firm and the public.

What is Public Relations?

Public Relations is defined as the set of various activities that are conducted by the
business or the firm to maintain mutual understanding between the public and the
firm. It also includes the various activities that help promote and protect the image of
the company and its products and services in the eyes of the public.

Functions of Public Relations

Public Relations performs the following functions:
1. Press Relations: Public relations work towards projecting a positive image of
the company or business to the public and press.
2. Product publicity: By creating events for publicity of the products or services
the public relations team generates attention for the product or the service.
3. Effective Communication: Public relations help create and promote the way of
working of the organization. This is facilitated by the internal and external
communication
4. Developing Content: One of the primary functions of public relations is to
develop content for the business in the form of newsletters, blogs and speeches.
5. Counseling: The public relations function is to advise the management on
public issues, protect the company image during bad times, and improve the
position of the company in good times.

Objectives of Public Relations

The following are the objectives of public relations
1. It works towards promoting smooth functioning of the business and
achievement of the objectives of the organization.
2. It helps in building a corporate image and creating a favorable impression and
credibility of the products and services offered by the company or business in
the eyes of the public.
3. It helps generate buzz regarding the launch of new products and maintains that
interest and curiosity among the public till the product is launched.
 4. It acts towards promoting the products and services, similar to the lines of
advertising and thus helps business in selling of its products and services.
5. It helps in decreasing promotional costs as most of the promotional activities
are conducted through the media channels.
6. It helps the public in overcoming misconceptions and prejudices related to the
product or service.

Source:
https://byjus.com/commerce/concept-of-public-relations/

Information Sheet 9.2-2: Basic product promotion strategies

Product promotion is important because it is an essential part of a brand’s marketing

strategy. It can increase brand awareness to potential consumers in the marketplace—
as well as deepen customer relationships by rewarding customers via referrals, loyalty
programs, or special deals—which can potentially increase sales.

How to promote products

To efficiently promote your brand’s products, it’s important to build a product
marketing strategy for potential buyers and keep the following elements and the four
P’s of the marketing mix in mind.

1. Know your audience

Before you think of how to promote a product, conduct some
research to determine who is your core audience in the overall
marketplace. Who are you trying to reach with this promotion,
and how can this product benefit them? Also keep in mind
whether you’ll be remarketing to reengage shoppers who have
already bought from your brand, or even a previous version of
this product, perhaps via email marketing if they’re already
subscribed to a newsletter. Or maybe you’re looking to reach
new consumers or potential customers. It can help to tailor
the strategy to appeal to these groups and assist in customer
retention.

2. Determine your marketing strategy

As you’re about to promote a product, make sure that there is a
sound go-to-market plan that encompasses what will happen in
the editorial, mobile, content, social media, etc., strategy. A
proper marketing strategy should drive the steps from ideation to
launch after establishing the business goals, creating a clear
message and positioning about the product about how it could improve a customer’s
life for the right price in the right place, and forming a strong call to action. This is
also a good time to reassess brand identity and see if there are specific ways to build
your brand in addition to the product itself.

3. Measure your results

It’s important to analyze the outcome of any promotion
strategy afterward, so there should be a postmortem to
build upon its success and improve future metrics and key
performance indicators (KPIs). This could include any
improvements in metrics, such as objectives and key
results (OKRs) or return on ad spend (ROAS), as well as
monitoring how effective brand collaborations or a new
social media campaign had been and whether your brand
would want to employ similar tactics in the long term. Any
changes to website traffic to blog posts, open rate of email marketing, social media
engagement, and sales should be closely monitored.

4 effective ways to promote products

1. Create content to promote the product

Before launching or relaunching a product, you could help create buzz by preparing a
press release from your brand, a Q&A with the founder via blog posts, or social media.
The right digital advertising strategy can give you flexibility to reach audiences on
multiple channels, especially with video ads that demonstrate what your product can
do for shoppers who want to see it in action before committing to buying.

2. Create brand collaborations

Collaborating with the right spokesperson in your market with a thoughtful promotion
strategy can be an effective way to reach a specific audience, increase brand
awareness, or earn credibility through someone that they already trust. After
researching who could be a potential representative for the brand, be prepared with
product samples that they could demonstrate on their channels. A seasoned content
creator on a video app, for instance, could assist with effective video
marketing techniques.

3. Host events
Kicking off a product launch through experiential marketing could be an exciting way
to connect with consumers through either virtual events or in-person pop-ups. Events,
which should feature on-brand messaging, should be memorable for attendees—
whether by inviting influencers or industry leaders for Q&A panels, promoting
hashtags, showing off fun packaging, offering free samples or discounts, or
showcasing behind-the-scenes content or demonstrations for the sales promotion of a
new product.

4. Offer a discount
For new product launches or to find new-to-brand customers, promoting a coupon,
joint offer, or free shipping to buyers can be an effective way to find customers who
may be interested but aren’t ready to pay full price. Setting a window to make the
promotional period a limited-time offer could also add a sense of urgency to try out the
product, especially if the calendar aligns to opportunities with holiday marketing for
ideal sales promotion.

Source:
https://advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/product-promotion

Information Sheet 9.2-3: Basic market and feasibility studies

Market feasibility studies are documents that help businesses assess their likelihood
of success. These studies include an analysis of the industry, competitors, and more.

How to Write a Market Feasibility Study

Market feasibility studies should include a description of the industry, current market
analysis, competition, anticipated future market potential, potential sources of
revenue, and sales projections.

 Industry Description
Give a brief description (one or two paragraphs) of the industry your business is
in. Determining your industry is essential for receiving government
contracts, attracting investors, and for receiving grants if you form a nonprofit.

 Current Market Analysis

This section of a market feasibility study describes the current market for your
product or service. If you are offering something so unique that there are few
market statistics, you can either use related industry information or conduct
your own independent study. Several ways to conduct your research for new
ideas include polling internet forums, sending out questionnaires addressed to
targeted consumer groups or the general population, and even customer
surveys.

Any solid evidence you have that there is a demand (or market) for your product
or services will help you sell your idea. It is particularly important if you are
marketing something unique or within a small, specialized market.

 Competition
If you are planning only to serve a local market, start by identifying every
competitor within a 50-mile radius. List each competitor by location and
distance from you, as well as their distances from each other. You should
closely examine all competing businesses that are within 15 miles of your
 location. Consider their locations, business hours, and how long they have been
in business. These things can help you determine how hard it will be to
establish a similar business in the same geographic area.

You should also make a note of any similar businesses in your area that have
recently gone out of business. There may be a reason such as poor location,
high taxes, operating restrictions, or not enough demand for the product or
service in that area to sustain a business. Researching local competitor
information can tell you two things: what works now and what has not worked
for other businesses.

 Anticipated Future Market Potential

This section should include a narrative description, as well as attached
spreadsheets, graphs, or tables showing trends, statistics, or projections. There
are no surefire ways to tell if an industry will have measurable growth in the
future, but you can make logical and reasonable predictions based on trends,
past growth, and the current markets.

It is critical in this section that your projections are fact-based as much as

possible. Every business takes risks; the key is to minimize those risks by
carefully studying already successful companies. Rather than targeting the
entire industry, try to isolate similar businesses and study what they are doing,
how they are doing it, and their financial track record.

 Potential Sources of Revenue

You can obtain a lot of information by visiting company websites and looking
over product lines. Look for discontinued products or services and high-priced
items. Somewhere in between these two things are probably the most stable
long-term items. Discontinued means consumers no longer demand the
product, while high-priced items may indicate a fad.

 Sales Projections
Sales projections can be a challenge for any new business owner because there
is little or no track record to support how fast you will grow or what products or
services will sell best. Sales projections should factor in how much time and
money will be invested in the business and the markets you will be targeting.

Source:
https://www.thebalancemoney.com/how-to-write-a-market-feasibility-study-in-4-
easy-lessons-3515137
 Information Sheet 9.2-4: Basic business ethics

Business ethics ensure that a certain basic level of trust exists between consumers
and various forms of market participants with businesses. These kinds of practices
ensure the public receives fair treatment.

Principles of Business Ethics

There are generally 12 business ethics principles:

 Leadership: The conscious effort to adopt, integrate, and emulate the other 11
principles to guide decisions and behavior in all aspects of professional and
personal life.
 Accountability: Holding yourself and others responsible for their actions.
Commitment to following ethical practices and ensuring others follow ethics
guidelines.
 Integrity: Incorporates other principles—honesty, trustworthiness, and
reliability. Someone with integrity consistently does the right thing and strives
to hold themselves to a higher standard.
 Respect for others: To foster ethical behavior and environments in the
workplace, respecting others is a critical component. Everyone deserves dignity,
privacy, equality, opportunity, compassion, and empathy.
 Honesty: Truth in all matters is key to fostering an ethical climate. Partial
truths, omissions, and under or overstating don't help a business improve its
performance. Bad news should be communicated and received in the same
manner as good news so that solutions can be developed.
 Respect for laws: Ethical leadership should include enforcing all local, state,
and federal laws. If there is a legal grey area, leaders should err on the side of
legality rather than exploiting a gap.
 Responsibility: Promote ownership within an organization, allow employees to
be responsible for their work, and be accountable for yours.
 Transparency: Stakeholders are people with an interest in a business, such as
shareholders, employees, the community a firm operates in, and the family
members of the employees. Without divulging trade secrets, companies should
ensure information about their financials, price changes, hiring and firing
practices, wages and salaries, and promotions are available to those interested
in the business's success.
 Compassion: Employees, the community surrounding a business, business
partners, and customers should all be treated with concern for their well-being.
 Fairness: Everyone should have the same opportunities and be treated the
same. If a practice or behavior would make you feel uncomfortable or place
personal or corporate benefit in front of equality, common courtesy, and
respect, it is likely not fair.
 Loyalty: Leadership should demonstrate commitment to their employees and
the company. Inspiring loyalty in employees and management ensures that they
are committed to best practices.
  Environmental concern: In a world where resources are limited, ecosystems
have been damaged by past practices, and the climate is changing, it is of
utmost importance to be aware of and concerned about the environmental
impacts a business has. All employees should be encouraged to discover and
report solutions for practices that can add to damages already done.

Why Is Business Ethics Important?

When all employees make ethical decisions, the company establishes a reputation for
ethical behavior. Its reputation grows, and it begins to experience the benefits a moral
establishment reaps, such as:
 Brand recognition and growth
 Increased ability to negotiate
 Increased trust in products and services
 Customer retention and growth
 Attracting talent
 Attracting investors

Source:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business-ethics.asp

SELF-CHECK 9.2-1

Functions of Public Relations

1. By creating events for publicity of the products or services the public relations
team generates attention for the product or the service.
a. Press relations
b. Product publicity
c. Effective communication
d. Developing content
e. Counseling

2. One of the primary functions of public relations is to _________ for the business
in the form of newsletters, blogs and speeches.
a. Press relations
b. Product publicity
c. Effective communication
d. Developing content
e. Counseling
3. Public relations work towards projecting a positive image of the company or
business to the public and press.
a. Press relations
b. Product publicity
c. Effective communication
d. Developing content
e. Counseling

4. The public relations function is to advise the management on public issues,

protect the company image during bad times, and improve the position of the
company in good times.
a. Press relations
b. Product publicity
c. Effective communication
d. Developing content
e. Counseling

5. Public relations help create and promote the way of working of the organization.
This is facilitated by the internal and external communication
a. Press relations
b. Product publicity
c. Effective communication
d. Developing content
e. Counseling