Conduct a market analysis of the Canadian Solar, Inc.’s customers in the United States. Outline how the team would conduct this analysis, while considering both current and potential customers.

Step 6: Research and Analyze the Company’s US Market

Now that you have completed the environmental scan, your team needs to conduct a market analysis of the company’s customers in the United States. Outline how the team would conduct this analysis, while considering both current and potential customers. Your analysis should address how you would determine answers to the following questions:

What needs are being met by the products or services that they purchase? What are the benefits to the customers? Make sure that you differentiate between features and benefits; go beyond manifest motives and consider latent motives.
Who is involved in the purchase process? Who are influencers? Who are buyers? Who are users?
How do customers pay? Describe payment plans, financing, banking arrangements, etc.
Where are the products or services sold and delivered, and what are the distribution channels?
How often are the different types of the products or services purchased? Is there seasonality to sales?
Is there any market regulation? Is there self-regulation? Do any federal or state regulations affect the company’s US operations?
What is the size of the market (in dollars and units)? What is the growth rate of that market?

Deliverable: By the end of Week 9 present your results to the CEO in a market analysis report of five pages, excluding cover page, executive summary, the reference list, and appendices. Any tables, graphs, and figures should be included as appendices. Your report should have one-inch margins and be double spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. The report should be organized using headings and subheadings to improve its readability.

Support your work with scholarly sources and reliable nonscholarly sources such as Reuters, Bloomberg, Yahoo! Finance, Barrons.com, Morningstar.com, Money, Forbes, Fortune, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and Harvard Business Review, as well as the UMUC Library databases such as Hoover’s and ABI/INFORM. All sources need to be cited using APA formatting, both within the text and in the reference list.

By the end of Week 9, submit your market analysis report to your Study group. Then proceed to the next step, where you will decide on marketing objectives for your client.

Step 7: Develop Marketing Objectives

The next component of the marketing plan your team needs to tackle is the strategic analysis report.

As a marketing team, you need to decide on the marketing objectives for your target market before you develop your company’s marketing strategy. Marketing objectives translate the company’s mission and business into long- and short-term goals. Marketing objectives are usually quantitative and include sales (both in units or dollars), market share, and profitability. They may also include qualitative factors such as quality, customer satisfaction, and social responsibility (Kerin & Hartley, 2017). Knowing exactly where you want to go is essential in deciding how to get there. The objectives have to be measurable, specific, and have a set time limit.

Marketing objectives should be challenging but achievable. They are mainly quantitative (with some qualitative ones), and they should be precise and focused.

Using figures from your own market research, please include your projected annual…

1. growth percentage

2. market share percentage

3. sales (in both units and dollars)

4. average unit price

5. profitability percentage

6. customer satisfaction

7. CSR outcomes

8. employee satisfaction rate

Be sure to include a time frame. Also, presenting the figures in a table in the end would look professional.

Deliverable: By the end of Week 9 prepare a one-page document outlining your marketing objectives. This will ultimately form part of your strategic analysis report. Submit your document to your team’s study group.

You will continue your work on a strategic analysis report in the next step, where you will begin to examine your market and determine how the company can meet the marketing objectives you identified.