Christianbook. com is the online sales distributor of Christian Book Distributors. This is a company that originated several years prior to the implementation of the Internet. The company was started by two brothers who were 19 and 14 years of age. They started this company from their parents home in Lynn, Massachusetts. After the two brothers graduated, they were able to relocate the business from their home to its first facility in Peabody, Massachusetts.
The Christian Book Distributors is the largest known Christian catalog company in the world, to market their services, they distribute over 65 mailings of various catalogs to millions of customers each year. Their customers have unlimited access to the premier selection of Christian products available which includes thousands of books, Bibles, DVDs, CDs, gifts, toys, games, and more. Christian Book Distributors is the largest catalog/Internet company serving the Christian marketplace, often referred to as the source for Christian material.
The company is constantly looking for ways to improve its offerings in order to exceed its competitors by giving their customers the best experience possible. As the company continue to grow and provide their customers with more products, the consumers have the option to shop from the large selection of catalogs by phone, mail, or Internet, or even by utilizing the company’s widespread website. This makes it easier to locate the material that they are looking for faster and also compare the competitor’s prices. Market Analysis SWOT
Strengths: The customer’s are very supportive of the ability to make purchases online or locally. The unique selling points are being able to properly advertise the product to make it known and more visible. Weaknesses: A problem is that Barnes and Noble is the market leader and currently have very competitive prices. Currently, there is not enough brand recognition or promotional strengths for Christian Book Distributors. Another weakness can be that the group of people that the material is intended to reach are unemployed which can possibly affect the sales.
Opportunities: Our target market is the older teens; however we must also consider those pre-teens who maybe aren’t as technology advanced. We will offer a product that is easy to use and that they can start enjoying right away instead of being turned off by the use of advanced materials that they can not take advantage of. Threats: The teen and adolescent market share is relatively huge. The younger generations do not read as much as the older generations. We have to show how selling to parents and educators who teach this group is more beneficial to teens and adolescents.
The threat of new technology that can prevent book sales is always to be taken into consideration. Another threat is that consumers can access almost all reading material online without purchasing which can cause a decrease in sales. Segmentation and Targeting Christian Book Distributors is targeting male and female students aged primarily aged 11-19. These students are in the market for competitively priced textbooks, and other educational materials. Positioning The positioning statement is vital in the marketing technique.
This is the aspect of the marketing plan that actually identifies the targeted population the company aims to reach and sets themselves apart from their competitors. Currently, Christian Book Distributors is well known as the Christian Bookstore that provides new or used books both in hardcopy and online. The Christian Book Distributors motto would be: Your Religion, Your Books, Your Salvation. Product/Service Christian Book Distributors will continue to provide to all Christian material to students both in physical form as well as through online platforms.
This edition of the Teen and Adolescent Bible will be written for youth and teens the ages of 11 and 19. There will be a question and answer section, areas that discuss controversial issues, Bible trivia and more. This version of the Bible is a combination devotional/Bible. There are all the books of the bible, but they are supplemented by devotions that help teens answer hundreds of questions ranging from having a boring childhood to learning how to deal with peer pressure.
Each devotion has teens performing research by thinking through hypothetical situations, taking a practical action, and going to a passage in the Bible that outlines the answer. Customer Profile Christian Book Distributors have been traditionally marketed to the consumers who are more focused on religion such as churches, bible study groups and mentoring groups. We will have to reach out to all groups regardless of their religious beliefs or preferences in order to gain their interest. Marketing Channels What audience is the Christian Book Distributors trying to attract?
Should Christian Book Distributors focus on physical books or eBooks or both? Should Christian Book Distributors concentrate in a retail outlets or online delivery services? Communicating Strategy Plans Specific Objective The Marketing Objective in selling this new product is to be able to successfully fulfill the and purpose to reach the youth at the teen and adolescent ages so that they will be able to develop and improve on how they communicate with their peers and other Christian believers. In addition, make a profitable return in assets for the company. Marketing Strategy
One of the main issues that Christian Book Distributors is faced with is knowing who would actually invest in the material. It is vital for the company to take the time to determine where it may be best to sell the product and how many people would be willing to take the risk of purchasing. Media Plan: Social Media advertisement campaigns will be organized for the Teen and Adolescence Bible and new website via Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. These campaign advertisements will use sponsored stories to increase awareness to the Teen and Adolescence Bible and the new website.
We will target users with a family and religious or teaching background. Budget Christian Book Distributors will not change the price of their books because they currently offer the most competitive prices for new, used and online material. Christian Book Distributors will be updating their website to be more accessible and easy to use, offering service to anyone within the country through online purchases and delivery. To market these new services, Christian Book Distributors will operate a campaign on various social media forums. Budget and Evaluation
We will measure our sample marketing plan’s success based on sales records and awareness. As we market our product the aim is to ultimately increase sales. After reviewing the sales records we will be able to determine whether our marketing plan is working if sales increase within six months after implementing it. After the initial six months, if we do not detect an increase in revenue we will reevaluate our marketing strategy to determine whether the brand awareness is increasing enough with our current marketing efforts to determine if we should continue to pursue this strategy.
By improving the consumers purchasing attitudes and intentions and in return increase sales, this strategy will be proven to be effective. An increase in brand awareness must translate in proportion to sales increases to be successful. If after six months there is no increase in sales our this means that the sample marketing plan is not effective and we would need to reevaluate our efforts.
