Where do Businesses in Nepal Fail in Marketing?

2023-04-24 3616

Some market observers have found that “People who are entrepreneurs have 4 times greater probability of being a millionaire whereas People who are employees have 4 times lesser chance”. Many youths even realize the same when they work for some companies for 2-3 years and gain reasonable work experience and hence, start their own businesses. Starting our own business is a great idea but 90% of startups fail because entrepreneurs don’t have enough Marketing Ideas or can’t hire marketing experts due to limited capital.

Although the Nepalese private sector is dominated by BFSI and the growing Hydropower industry, many small entrepreneurial ventures are gearing up to meet the current market requirements and fulfilling the gap of technological development. It is a matter of pride that despite many hurdles, our entrepreneurial ventures like Foodmario, TeachforNepal have received international recognition. But there are many ventures that once emerged in the market but couldn’t make a great impact. Bhetincha.com, Sarathi.com, etc., were a few among them. There are numerous innovative and concept-oriented Marketing Companies in Nepal that most people don’t even know that they ever existed.

So, where does marketing fail?

1. Lack of Systematic Approach

Most of the businesses in Nepal start with learning from others, few driven by true innovation and only a few by recognizing the market demand. Even at all these points, our projections and evaluations are based on personal views, past experiences, and largely on assumptions. Research activities are least prioritized. Businesses fail to have a proper understanding of audiences and shoot messages to everyone with the view that hopefully, someone will be interested.

This only increases our cost and yields less return. In terms of online marketing, it decreases the click-through rate (reach is more but interests are less) and hence the relevancy of the whole campaign.

This clearly signifies the need to understand the target audience and move forward with set goals and objectives which is measurable. It has been observed that most young entrepreneurs keep switching between strategies to find out what works for them. It may work out sometimes but hurts the brand most of the time. Devising a systematic approach can only lead to success.

It has been rightly saying, “Those who fail to plan actually plan to fail” so the marketing practices must be systematic and proactive. Never get enticed by the last-hour call for tradeshows or promotions. It only creates a waste of resources.

2. Failing to Understand Customer Needs

Customers are the king in any business. But many businesses still focus on showcasing what they have achieved or what they are good at rather than showing people how their product or services can fulfill the customers' requirements or that gap.

It is an awesome idea to come up with a new product or service idea but it shouldn’t be way ahead of time that customers cannot relate their uses. Like introducing exclusive online retailing for “ABC electronics in Nepal”. It might decrease the cost of the product by eliminating the middlemen but the marketer should also realize that many parts of Nepal have customers who are not tech-savvy and not reliant on online markets. So marketing companies in Nepal should also focus on understanding the preference of their targeted audience in order to achieve better marketing results.

Marketing practices should closely observe how customers react to a particular product or service and what is their feedback or suggestion regarding that. Customers are smart and they buy only those products that they can relate themselves to.

3. Copying Competitors Strategy

Nepal’s market is highly dominated by International Products. People often learn from how their products or services are performing and copy them. Many marketers even copy their marketing strategies and advertising style. It’s high time to understand that unique strategies always get applause and connects customers well.

Nepalese brands should focus on creating products or services that are actually a requirement in Nepal and market them with strategies that show how they have been made to fulfill local demand.

Businesses should avoid copying competitors' products rather they should lunch their own trademark-registered products. you can know everything about trademark registration by going on this site.

Not following the competitor's strategy shouldn’t be mistaken for totally ignoring the competitor's move. They are an integral part of the market and cannot be ignored. Competitors can be a source of hidden information useful for an innovative strategy.

The strategies devised should establish credibility and trust, entice people with offers or schemes and tell them how to react to the offers with a sense of urgency.

4. Lack of Abundant Visibility

Many innovative businesses in Nepal are just serving a small section of people or influencing the lives of small chunks of people. Why is that? They lack proper marketing and visibility practices.

Businesses shouldn’t ignore the fact that 90% of people undertake an online search before engaging with any business. And 95% of those searches are on smartphones.

Many businesses ignore the power of social media and internet space and remain satisfied with the mere establishment of accounts on Facebook, Google My Business, etc. Aren’t the competitors doing the same?

If the strategies are the same, these search engines are just going to auction and provide limited reach.

Hence, it’s a necessity to establish a strategized presence and submission across all major directories to be found and get a higher ranking. It will also contribute towards increasing the credibility of the brand and higher SEO ranking.

Businesses should focus more on increasing ratings and reviews across different sites. Crappy reviews will not make greater differences. So, businesses should focus on creating more relevant and trusting reviews. It is found that Google and other search providers have started to rank the results based on reviews. It even affects the paid promotions.

Businesses should take marketing roles in developing their businesses with high priority and try to devise strategies that actually connect them to potential customers. If they lack proper exposure to the marketing variables, they should seek advice from professional agencies to give their innovation the right amount of exposure which would yield financial success at large. Don’t let innovative or life-changing ideas die in the cradle.

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