Title: Course Glossary
Course: SLF 130 Marketing Practices for the Small Business > Section: SLF 130 Marketing Practices for the Small Business

Course Glossary

Terms

Term | Definitions | Glossary
advertising | impersonal paid promotion that clearly identifies the sponsoring business. Advertising includes television messages, newspaper ads, radio ads, or magazine ads. | Unit 3 Glossary
benefit | the desired end result of the use of the product or service. | Unit 1 Glossary
brand | any name, term, design, style, words, symbols or any other feature that distinguishes the products and services of one seller from another. A brand is initially created and developed by a business ... | Unit 5 Glossary
business plan | is a living document that generally projects plans for a business for 3 to 5 years into the future.  A business plan format may include different sections, but the inclusion of an Executive Sum ... | Unit 7 Glossary
competitive advantage | what one business entity has over its rival entities within its competitive industry; it sets them apart in the customer's eyes. | Unit 2 Glossary
consumer market research | research activities designed to understand the consumer’s attitudes, needs, motivations and behaviors. By conducting consumer research, a small business can avoid costly mistakes by offering the ... | Unit 6 Glossary
cost leadership strategy | a business can produce products and services at the lowest cost in the industry to serve mass audiences. | Unit 2 Glossary
customer-orientation strategy | a business has a focus on making customers happy through outstanding customer service. | Unit 2 Glossary
differentiation strategy | a business can provide products that are different or offer more/different features than competitors. | Unit 2 Glossary
environmental scanning | activities that gather information about events and trends that occur outside the organization and influence the organization's decision making. | Unit 4 Glossary
feature | tangible or defined characteristic of a product. | Unit 1 Glossary
focus group | a group of consumers gathered together for the purpose of asking them questions about products, and why they buy them and how they use them. A focus group for a small business might have 5 to 8 pa ... | Unit 6 Glossary
innovation strategy | a business can provide new and different products/services via added features, and new methods of production. | Unit 2 Glossary
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) | an approach to creating a unified and seamless brand experience for consumers across media channels; social media is a part of successful IMC. | Unit 3 Glossary
marketing concept | the idea that marketing should cater to the customer needs and wants as opposed to what the company wants. | Unit 1 Glossary
niche marketing strategy | a business (often a small one) can provide unique products, services, and customer service to a small group. | Unit 2 Glossary
operational effectiveness strategy | a business can perform internal business and/or manufacturing activities better than competitors (usually very large firms). | Unit 2 Glossary
personal selling | the one-on-one exchange of information between a marketer and customer; this can be accomplished through social media communication. | Unit 3 Glossary
product | anything, either tangible or intangible (such as a service) that provides value to a customer. | Unit 2 Glossary
product mix | the assortment of different products offered by a business; 4 Ps of marketing are product, place, promotion, and price. | Unit 2 Glossary
promotion | encompasses all of the ways that marketers inform their customers and potential customers about their products. The three basic objectives of promotion are to 1) present information to consumers a ... | Unit 2 Glossary
psychographics | the division of the market into target market groups according to consumers' lifestyle, personality, values, social clans, or other psychological variables. | Unit 6 Glossary
public relations | all the efforts a business undertakes to develop a favorable impression in the public’s eye. | Unit 3 Glossary
relationship marketing | a form of marketing that focuses on building ongoing relationships with customers with the intent of repeat business. | Unit 1 Glossary
sales promotion | includes a wide array of activities. Price reductions are only one type of sales promotion. Other methods include loyalty club memberships, special events for members, contests, give-aways with th ... | Unit 3 Glossary
SCORE | a counseling group which is part of the SBA. It is made up of experienced volunteers who mentor aspiring business owners. | Unit 5 Glossary
Small Business Administration (SBA) | a government entity dedicated to assisting small businesses succeed. The SBA website is informative and helpful. | Unit 5 Glossary
social media | the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. | Unit 2 Glossary
strategy | a purposeful and intentional plan to offer value to their customers; the strategy chosen must be well. | Unit 2 Glossary
SWOT analysis | examines the strengths and weaknesses of a company (the internal environment) as well as the opportunities and threats within the wide marketplace outside of the company (the external environment) ... | Unit 4 Glossary
target market | a group of consumers whose needs are met by the product or service and can and will purchase the product or service. | Unit 6 Glossary
value proposition | the offering of value to the customer. | Unit 1 Glossary
viral marketing | is like a virus – IT SPREADS! It includes all the YouTube videos, references, blogs, tweets, and email forwards that inform viewers about a product or service. | Unit 3 Glossary