Unbounce Case Essay Example
Unbounce Case Essay Example

Unbounce Case Essay Example

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  • Pages: 11 (2795 words)
  • Published: June 9, 2018
  • Type: Case Study
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The narrow product provided by Unbounded includes landing pages which are manufactured and customized. The core product is the creation of an effective and efficient landing page. Unbounded offers I. T support, marketing feedback and pre made templates which is their augmented product.

Problem Statement By Monday December 12th a new customer segmentation and business model evolution strategy based on a new version of the product must be plopped for Unbounded, by co-founder Oil Gardner. It is crucial for the current target market of small -?medium business and current market strategy of self-serve model to be considered before any decision is made.

Objectives The overall objectives Unbounded has are to; build a leading brand for landing pages, have an exceptional customer service and product that appeals to a broad range of users.

justify">A key objective that Unbounded aims towards is to not be the lowest price option. In addition to the corporate objectives, Gardner has personal objectives that he would like to achieve. His objective includes returning his knowledge towards strengthening customer service in order to come up with the best alternative.

The objectives of both Unbounded and Gardner are an important factor as they contribute to making a final decision on the marketing plan. PASTE As you can see from the PASTE Analysis table (exhibit A), there are many external factors that have an effect on Unbounded.

In terms of political factors, there are two main players. The first is the postal reform.

A bill called the 21st Century Postal Service Act was passed in 2012 that made the United States Postal Service run its' operations more effectively. Without this bill, USPS would

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be losing $30 million a day, and would eventually shut down operations. This bill is fantastic for online marketers because without postal services, all companies that market through post would be forced to start marketing in other ways, such as online advertising.

The second issue is data privacy. A hot topic among the public and government is data privacy. Data privacy would cripple internet search marketers because they would not be able to advertise based on key words searched.

No major laws have been passed regarding data privacy, but companies like Unbounded should always e aware of potential ones. Economically, if there is a recession, small and medium sized companies would be less inclined to continue online marketing and put their money elsewhere.

However, big companies would be more inclined to refrain from backing out of online advertising because they have to money to still be safe while continuing with their current marketing plan. In 201 0, the online advertising market was worth $26 billion, with search advertising accounting for 45%, and display and banner ads accounting for another 26%. Socially, the use of the internet has expanded tremendously ND will continue expanding at an exponential rate.

With more and more places (and cars) offering free wife, people have way more access to the internet.

People of all ages and life stages are using the internet both at home and on personal electronics now. Business people, children, elders, and especially students. Social media has been on a major upward trend, increasing the opportunities for banner and display ads. Technologically, all software and computer companies should be constantly looking for better, faster computers, servers for customers

and the company, new code writing cosmologies and servers that can hold higher capacities at a lower cost. Also, they should be aware of new ways and places to advertise online.

Just like someone got the idea to advertise on search engines, someone will discover another effective tool. Environmentally speaking, a software company does not produce much waste at all because it is an online product. The only thing they need to monitor and control is the disposal of their electronic devices and assets when they need to be replaced. Competitive Analysis The competition for an organization like Unbounded, is very unique because here are only a hand full of companies who provide the same services.

Primarily there are two direct competitors that provide landing page services similar to Unbounded . Hubbubs and Performable offer almost identical services, with pre-set templates for users to pick and easily integrate. Although both these companies offer similar services and are targeting the same consumer dollar, Gardner strongly believes that the market is big enough that these competitors would not pose a threat. Even though the direct competition is using the same model and platform, Gardner is confident that Unbounded page builder is more advanced.

Aside from the direct competition, there are other web development firms that build landing pages, however these companies only focus on landing pages as a business, focusing on turnaround time and price. The current competition that Unbounded is facing is obviously present with Hubbubs and Performable, but it is also apparent that in the current weapon development industry there is plenty of opportunity for each company to excel in their own way.

STOW Analysis

Unbounded consists of many strengths that help with its early success in the landing page market, as shown in the STOW table (exhibit b).

One of the main ones is; the simplicity and efficiency of the landing pages. Other strengths include, the positive cash flow of the company and as well the fast growing rate of the company. In addition to the company's strengths, there also lies weaknesses. One of the major weaknesses for Unbounded is their price rates in comparison to other companies whom offer the same service.

Along with the prices, Unbounded has a limit on unique user visitations to pages which takes away from the experience. Unbounded is a company which has the ability to expand. With expanding, corporations would also be a target that

Unbounded could go after. In accordance to threats, the main thing that could potentially threaten the success for Unbounded is competitors. Companies such as Hubbubs and Performable provide similar services as Unbounded but with lower prices. As well, the companies also use the same layout and design because it is available online through the internet.

If the competitors were able to secure more of a consumer base, Jounce could be in for some serious competition. Segmentation In the Internet service industry there are many types of consumers to consider.

The four main consumers Unbounded is segmenting are; Hometown Hero's, Average Joes, Globetrotters, and Hispanic. In order for Unbounded to consider and develop a new successful market strategy and business model evolution each segment will be analyzed and used to determine the segment that Unbounded should target for their future plans. All segments are analyzed based on specific

criteria as shown in the segmentation chart (exhibit c). Target Market Selection After analyzing all the segments presented in Exhibit c, the consumer that will allow for expansion and growth in the company is Hispanic.

Targeting such a large new segment has its risks, although such a large expansion will only roved the company with extreme potential which is what is needed in order to be successful. Positioning Map Product: Unbounded offers a unique marketing tactic by offering a service to create a landing page for companies on the internet. A landing page is the first page a consumer sees after clicking on an advertisement or a link on a search page.. Unbounded offers several degrees of service including: 1 Prepare landing page templates that allow the companies to customize the page themselves. 2.

Customization and consultation provided by Unbounded employees that design and manufacture the landing page for customers. Price: The prices offered by Unbounded vary depending on their participation in the production of the landing page. The prices are paid monthly. Small businesses pay anywhere from $25 to $50 per month, Small-Medium businesses prices vary exponentially depending on the customization, preparation and involvement Unbounded implements to the product. Large companies are often willing to pay thousands of dollars to create the most efficient and appealing landing pages possible.

With the being said, the price companies pay are proportional to their advertisement budgets (small impasses have a lower budget, whereas large companies spend millions of dollars on marketing annually). Announce prides itself on customer service, and efficient method of production. As a result, it is not known for its inexpensive costs Place: The location

of Unbounded set-vices can be found online at www. Unbound. Com.

The clear and concise website layout makes their product easily accessible and enticing. As for the location of the landing pages they provide depends on the companies desires and needs.

Landing pages can be accesses through advertisements online, either as tabs or manners displayed on websites. Landing pages are also found through search engine results such as Google. Landing page effectiveness is directly correlated to its accessibility - the more readily available a link is, the more likely people are to flow to the site.

Therefore, landing page advertisements on websites that experience high traffic volumes (for example: Backbone, EBay, etc. ) have a higher cost in comparison that have fewer internet hits.

Promotion: Unbounded promotes its services through three primary marketing strategies. The company originally began marketing itself through their blobs, which helped to increase initial awareness. Unbounded also relies on its E- books that act as a sample of what the company has to offer.

Lastly, the company depends on a positive public perception, and in turn they are promoted through word-of-mouth. The strong reputation Unbounded possesses helps to augment company growth. Key Success Factors In order for Unbounded to continue to be successful key success factors must stay in the overall business strategy.

The current key success factors for Unbounded include; higher conversation rates, efficient ready to go templates, reduced time to market and personalization. All types of business are satisfied with an easy and fast service that can be created and changed at any time based on their own personal preference. Therefore this has resulted in the so far successful

business of Unbounded.

Alternatives 1 . Continue targeting the current "long tail" market Of users, but improve and redesign the marketing strategy: Pros: -A lot of potential new users. There current marketing strategy is proven to be effective.

Therefore with minimal change, it can prove to be more efficient. Unbounded is already familiar with the needs and wants of this segment, and understand how to attics them. Cons: - Staying stagnant is often not the best business strategy.

There are many more consumers who are potential users of Unbuckles services, and if the company does not adapt to satisfy the needs and wants of these companies, there is a loss in potential profit. Some companies currently use local marketing agencies to create customized landing pages, so earning their business is difficult since Unbounded is more expensive. . Continue targeting the current "long tail" market of users, with expansion in the South American market. Pros: - Growing their current market will give hem an advantage over the direct competition of Hubbubs and Performable.

The product is easily accessible to South America since it is through the Internet - limited specialization required. The Internet is very popular in South America, with roughly 222 million users. This results in a very large market and a lot of possibility to grow as a company. Cons: -There is a lot of unknowns regarding the market.

For example, the composition of the business industry, potential competitors already settled in the South American landing page services, etc. The economic differentiation will result n the possibility for the prices of Unbounds services to exceed the price range of South American companies. The language

barrier will cause potential issues. South America's major languages are Spanish and Portuguese; therefore services and products must be retooled to increase compatibility.

2. Continue targeting the current "long tail" market of users, and begin targeting more enterprises.

Pros: - Having large companies as clients increases Unbounded prestige and reputation. Enterprises are willing to pay a lot of money for landing page production, since their marketing budgets are such larger than smaller and medium-sized markets.

Cons: - Much more customization to the lading pages is required on behalf of Unbounded. This results in more time spent on fewer tasks. The large companies are expecting a high quality product for a high price. The market niche is relatively small when considering the size of the North American market (1 7,617 out of 5, 100,000 businesses).

This limits potential growth since the number of potential clients is small. Large enterprises are the most sought after by the direct and indirect competition, making it harder to earn the companies business.

Recommendation Alternatives Price Concerns by Consumer Short Run Goals of Unbounded Long term Goals of Unbounded Opportunity for consumer market expansion 1 . Continue targeting the current "long tail" market of users, but improve and redesign the marketing strategy 2. Continue targeting the current "long tail" market of users, with expansion in the South American market 3.

Continue targeting the current "long tail" market of users, and begin targeting more enterprises. The recommendation for Mr..

Gardner should be to continue with the current long tail market of users using a new market strategy, while expanding equines into South America. This will help Unbounded to penetrate a new consumer

segment and a business model evolution strategy. This is the most suitable decision for Unbounded because it offers the most opportunity for growth considering high number of potential clients there are in South America.

However, the South American market is still relatively unknown to the company, the high number of internet users (222,000,000 million users) suggests that there is a market for companies to market their products on line using landing pages. By doing this, it will help broaden the consumer market Unbounded is able to attract. Another key factor that makes this alternative viable is because the product Unbounded offers is so easily accessible worldwide since it can be found online.

This fact allows Unbounded to penetrate the South American market without relocating the company, and without increasing costs - more potential clients for the same price. Action Plan In order for Unbounded to penetrate the South American market, while continuing to maintain their already successful long tail market, Unbounded must come up with a marketing strategy that will attract the new target market of South American companies to use their services. Unbounded will implement a marketing strategy that will be at less value and effective.

In order to receive quick attention from South America new promotions will first be implemented.

The first promotion change will be placing the Unbounded logo on the bottom of the landing pages. Next, in order to lower the cost to attract more business the pre-existing free trial will be extended from 30 days to 3 months. Further promotions will include sending mail via email and physical mail to each company. The new market segment and business strategy will

launch in May 2011, at the beginning of the new fiscal year for he company.

By doing so further research can take place on the South American market to ensure there will be effective results.

The main risk of expanding into South America is the unknown market, to adjust to this, the company will research over the next few months before the launch to ensure that the market it stable and Unbounded is knowledgeable and confident with the expansion. Exhibit A PASTE Analysis: Political Postal Reform Data Privacy Economical If a recession hits, smaller businesses would likely minimize online advertising as much as possible In 2010, online advertising market was worth $26 billion

Search advertising accounting for 45% Display and banner ads accounting for another 26% Social Use of internet increasing at exponential rate people can access internet more and more places All people on internet; work force, students, children, elders Exposure to online ads increasing Technological Must always be aware of faster/better quality computers, servers, code writing technologies and server capacities Be aware of new ways to advertise online Environmental Electronic devices disposal Exhibit B Stow Ana lists Strengths Simple and efficient Growing at a fast rate Positive cash flow Weaknesses

Expensive in comparison to other online alternatives Restrictions on number of visitors per month Only based in North America Not a big market Opportunity Opportunity to expand into another continent Attract big corporations to use the Unbounded services Market is not big enough for everyone, so competitive advantage is key for Unbounded Threats More competition could arise from others across the globe Cheaper prices from competitors could result in loss of existing customer

base Online service lets competitors see your layout, which allows them to copy any improvements or additions made to the Unbounded

Exhibit C Hometown Heroes Average Joey's Globetrotters Hispanic Who? Small businesses (local, start-up, new entrepreneurs) Medium-sized businesses (regional or national) Large businesses (global and international) Businesses located in South America What? Landing pages that are inexpensive and easy to use Landing pages that are professional, easy to use and relatively inexpensive. Ending pages that are customized, powerful, and visually appealing.

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