ENTREPRENEUR MARKETING STRATEGIES AND CUSTOMERS PATRONAGE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES(SMEs)
- INTRODUCTION
Strategy is the way, method, technique or plan which an individual or organization intends to exploit in achieving success in the marketplace or the society. Gleuck (1984) as cited in Achumba (2000:2) defines strategy as a unified, comprehensive and integrated plan relating the strategic advantage of the firm to the challenges of the environment. He added that organizations that desire not only to survive but also to improve their marketing effectiveness and efficiency must learn how to create and improve sound marketing strategy.
Marketing strategy has become an important tool globally for any organization to remain in competitive market environment and wax stronger. Marketing strategy is a vital prerequisite of Industry’s ability to strengthen its market share and minimize the impact of the competition (Adewale, Adesola, andOyewale, 2013). Owomoyela, Oyeniyi, and Ola, (2013) also see marketing strategy as way of providing quality product that satisfies customer needs, offering affordable price and engaging in wider distribution and back it up with effective promotion strategy. (Adewaleet al, 2013). Marketing strategy draws its strength from the overall corporate strategy. It may be defined as those marketing programmed and tactics designed to achieve the objectives of an organization. A marketing strategy outlines the strategic direction and tactical plans that marketing teams must implement to support the company’s overall objectives (Ebitu, 2015: 278). Marketing strategy articulates the best uses of an enterprise resources and tactics to achieve its marketing objectives. It states which opportunities are to be pursued by an organization, indicates the specific markets towards which activities are to be targeted, and identifies the types of competitive advantage that are to be developed and exploited (Weitz&Weasley, 1988 in Dibb, Simkin, Pride &Ferrel, 2006: 37)
1.1 PURPOSE
SMEs in Rivers State find themselves in a competitive environment both locally and globally, hence effective marketing strategies are required to improve the enterprise performances of the SMEs. The purpose of this study examines three marketing strategies (product quality, marketing communication and relationship marketing) and their impact on performance of SMEs in Rivers State.