July 5, 2021
The size of the eCommerce market continues to grow worldwide as the spread of the Internet increases and reaches more and more people worldwide. The size of the global e-commerce market reached $ 4.28 trillion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $ 6.39 trillion in each coming year by 2024. Of that enormous amount, reached in 2020, the largest share of the footwear and apparel market accounted for 24.7% and is expected to maintain its leading position for years to come. Given these numbers, there’s no question that you want your share of this ever-growing market. To be successful, you need to stand out from your competition and stand out from the crowd in order to attract your target audience.
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Since the barriers to getting into the dropshipping ecommerce business are relatively low, new businesses are popping up every day making the market highly competitive. When you run a dropshipping business, your supplier is the one who takes care of your inventory and the entire fulfillment process. So all you need to focus on is running your online store, promoting your brand and store, and providing great customer service. In this article, we’re going to dig deep into the marketing aspect by explaining the 5 Cs of marketing and how they can be of use to you in creating a marketing strategy.
Definition of the 5 Cs of marketing
First of all, you need to understand what the 5 Cs of marketing stand for and the definition of this situation analysis model. These 5 Cs of Marketing represent the most important areas of marketing and will help you make a more informed decision about your marketing strategy. The 5 Cs stand for the following aspects of your company, your company, your customers, your employees, your competitors and your climate. Analyzing these factors will help you evaluate what is working well and in which areas you need improvement so that your company can do better in the market.
Why are the 5 Cs of marketing important to you?
Performing the 5C analysis is popular for its simplicity and effectiveness, which makes it an excellent choice for small and medium-sized businesses of all industries. It will help you understand the internal and external factors in the market so you can predict trends in this ever-changing environment and design your marketing plan accordingly. For this reason, we recommend that you do a 5C analysis at least once a year to keep up and understand the key factors that are affecting your business.
What are the 5 Cs of marketing and how do you rate them?
Now that you have familiarized yourself with the concept of the 5 C model, let’s look at each aspect individually and how you can analyze it.
Companies
Under “Company” you need to analyze various characteristics of your company, such as: B. Your goal and objectives, culture, product line, competitive advantage, brand and market reputation. The goal is to understand if you are at a point where you can best meet the needs and wants of your target market. Analyzing yourself can be tricky at times because you can be biased as your business is like your own baby that you created and cared for. But it is very important to be honest and open with yourself in order to get the desired result from this analysis. The best way to do this is to find the answers to the following questions, and then see if you wish you had answered any of them differently. If so, write it down yourself as these can serve as a basis for future improvements.
- List your main product categories and product lines that comprise your company.
- Are your products different from those of your competitors and in what way?
- What is your company’s unique selling point or competitive advantage?
- Is your brand or your shop memorable and what makes it different?
- Are you doing something better or worse than your competitors and what is it?
- How do your customers see your company and what is your general reputation like?
- What are your short and long term goals with your company?
Customers
It is very important to identify your target niche and understand it as best you can in order to be able to meet its needs. In order to be successful in your niche, it is important to understand what motivates your customers to buy and make the purchase decision. When choosing your niche, you need to evaluate factors such as market size and growth, potential segments within the niche, and buying frequency. Understanding these can help you determine not only the ideal line of products your business should run, but also how you can potentially reach your customers through marketing. These will give you an idea of what tonality, channels, and messages to use when marketing. And also what your targeted niche likes and dislikes in a product or service that you offer. If you ask yourself the following questions, they will help you with that.
- What is your ideal buyer persona who is after your products?
- Who is your target audience and who is currently buying your products?
- Which products are the high and low performers and why do you think they are?
- How do your customers behave on your website and what’s behind your bounce rate?
- What channels can you use to drive customers to your store and convert visits into sales?
- What is the average shopping cart size and how often do your customers return to your store?
- What is the most common positive and negative feedback your customers leave you?
- How can your customers find out about your products and compare them with those of your competitors?
Employee
Employees are the people and business units that help you run your business and achieve your business goals. When you run a dropshipping business, your most important and important people are the suppliers you work with. So if you are dropshipping luxury shoes and clothing, Brands Gateway, as your dropshipping supplier, will be one of your key contributors. In order to monitor the performance of your employees or in case you are looking for a new one, you should ask yourself the following questions first.
- Who supplies the products that your company sells and who is your first point of contact in the company?
- How do your products reach your customers and at what price?
- How are your payments processed and what are your payment options?
- How is your e-commerce shop supported by your employees?
- Does your supplier provide you with product images and descriptions that you can automatically integrate into your online shop?
- Does your supplier help improve your marketing and if so, how does he do it?
Competitors
In order to position your business in the dropshipping market, understanding your competitors is just as important as understanding your customers. You need to know exactly who you are competing with for the disposable income of your target niche. Knowing your exact market position, strengths and weaknesses will give you an advantage as it is difficult to face an unknown opponent. Make sure you analyze all the players in the market regardless of their size. There may be some large, well-established companies, but they aren’t always your biggest threat. Small and medium-sized companies can also mean tough competition as they are more agile in reacting to rapid market changes. Try to answer the following questions about each and every competitor that you need to understand better.
- Who are your established and emerging competitors?
- What are your competitor’s unique selling points and strengths?
- What are their weaknesses that can serve as an opportunity for you?
- How do your competitors win customers?
- What is the marketing strategy of your competitors and on which channels are they present?
- Is there something your competitors do that you can’t?
climate
When looking at your company’s climate, assess the external macroeconomic factors that affect you, such as political, environmental, social and technological issues. The best way to analyze your climate is by doing a PEST analysis and finding the answers to the following questions to understand the factors affecting the market in general.
- Are there any new laws or regulations that could potentially affect your company or business?
- Are there any socio-economic trends influencing your target niche?
- Are there any economic factors that affect the purchasing power of your potential customers?
- Are there any new or emerging technologies that will change the way we market or offer new sales channels?
- Which trends in the market and your customers do you need to keep an eye on?
