A SWOT analysis is basically a handy tool for any marketing manager. The abbreviation stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats - four essential pieces of information that can be used to highlight the critical points needed when addressing marketing needs about your product or service.
A SWOT analysis is a smart way to show companies and marketing managers how they can best use their resources and capability in business. A SWOT analysis allows the company to decide what strategies provide them with the most growth opportunities, where their strengths are matched by market opportunity, and how they should ensure that any weaknesses will not be an issue when pursuing valuable markets or avoiding threatening competitors.
Once critical issues of strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat have been recognized and listed, they are compared with the marketing objectives of the company to determine the best course of action for the company. The SWOT analysis can also be used with other audit tests to help a business draw a complete picture as it determines where its resources should go.
A company's strengths are the things that make it a top contender in its field. These may include brand names, reputation, exclusive access to materials, and highly trained staff. Factors like specialist knowledge or location can also be considered strong points of any business when doing a SWOT analysis. It is important not just to consider what makes your company tremendous but all aspects which add value.
A company's weaknesses are a part of their business that could be better. As an example, the production may not have any patent protection and is in a location with little foot traffic, which means it can't make money from its product being seen by customers on display. The quality might also need improvement if people don't want to buy anything before they try it out for themselves because there aren't many other options available at this time.
Opportunities to consider in a SWOT analysis are more than just new technology or opening up of new markets. It would help you if you thought about unmet needs and gaps in the market filled with something else (or nothing at all).
Threats can come from ongoing changes in the market, a competitor introducing a new product, or changing technology that renders our product obsolete. These are all things to be aware of when analyzing threats and SWOT factors as well. It's important to compare against other competitors, so you know where your strengths lie!
