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FIVE-YEAR MARKETING PLAN DocStoc.com Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary DocStoc is the premier online community to find and share professional documents. DocStoc provides the platform for users and businesses to upload and share their documents with all the world, and serves as a vast repository of documents in variety of categories including legal, business, financial, technology, educational, and creative. All documents on docStoc can be easily searched, previewed and downloaded for free. DocStoc also provides technology through various APIs and Widgets to help facilitate the sharing and promotion of documents across the web. The site has popularized the use of embedding documents throughout the blogosphere and mainstream media.1 2. Company Description DocStoc, Inc was founded by Jason Nazar and Alon Shwartz. The company was selected in September of 2007 to debut its product at the prestigious TechCrunch40 Conference. The product was subsequently launched to the public in November 2007. DocStoc is a venture backed company and received funding from the co-founders/investors in MySpace, LowerMyBills, Mp3.com, PriceGrabber and Baidu. Their legal counsel is DLA Piper. The company is located in Beverly Hills, CA.1 In August 2008 DocStoc launched its private document monitoring and reporting, which tracks and monitors the usage of all documents uploaded to the site. 3. Strategic Focus and Plan This section covers three aspects of corporate strategy that influence the marketing plan: (1) the mission, (2) goals, and (3) core competence/sustainable competitive advantage of DocStoc. MISSION The mission and vision of DocStoc.com is to provide a secure and user-friendly document repository that can be searched, previewed and downloaded by anyone.
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GOALS For the next five years, DocStoc.com seeks to achieve the following goals: Nonfinancial goals 1. To improve the company image as being the easiest way to privately or publicly store documents. 2. To increase the amount of visits to the site by 10 percent each year. 3. To add new features to the site each quarter. 4. To become the top professional document storage site in the market. Financial Goals 1. To continue to create an ROI of at least 12 percent each year. 2. To have public stock available by 2010. 3. To increase investor contributions each year. CORE COMPETENCY AND SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE In terms of core competency, DocStoc wants to attain a unique ability to (1) provide a userfriendly way to store and share documents online and offline that will appeal to professionals around the world, (2) to have these products be available to anyone who is interested in the content of the documents on the website and (3) offer users the choice of how to have their documents stored, publicly or privately. To turn these core competencies into a sustainable competitive advantage, DocStoc will continue to work with users to build a website that satisfies the needs of our customers. 4. Situation Analysis SWOT ANALYSIS Internal Factors Management
Strengths Experienced Executive employees Consistent increase in amount of users High-quality features
Weaknesses Small staff can be restricting advancement Product awareness in emerging countries Competitors advancement Not enough resources with small amount of employees
Marketing Offerings Personnel
Intelligent employees
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External Factors Strengths Technological Up to date with highquality servers, providing quick & easy use Consumer Professional market also works as an online community Distinct in its ideal user for professional document storage
Weaknesses Competitors gaining users with almost identical products Limitations to users, must increase brand value Must work to gain user interest outside of the professional world
Competitive
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Online document storage is still a fairly new approach for individuals. Users continue to want the option of having their work displayed in a searchable place. The Document storage market is mainly funded by outside investors. Profits are created based on number of users as well as advertising made available through the site. There is potential for huge returns on investment with the increasing want to make information available to the public. COMPETITORS IN THE MARKET One of the largest competitors is Google, which is another provider of online/offline document storage with its branch named “GoogleDocs". COMPANY ANALYSIS Currently DocStoc is competing with mainly GoogleDocs for the professional segment of the online document storage market. It is essentially working to be the “YouTube” of online community storage. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS Customer Characteristics. Demographically, DocStoc is geared towards those in the professional arena who are interested in providing their personal work for others who are interested in learning. While most of the market is interested in keeping their documents public, many also use the product to keep their work privately stored on an always-available online server. 5. Product-Market Focus This section describes the five-year marketing and features objectives for DocStoc.com, as well as the target markets, point of difference, and positioning of its features. MARKETING AND PRODUCT OBJECTIVES DocStoc‘s marketing goal is to build on its brand value, while continuing to build on its customer base.
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Current Markets. Current markets will be developed by expanding the types of features available to users for storing their documents. New Markets. By the end of the fifth year, the features available will not be limited to document storage, but also include written and video blogging features.
TARGET MARKETS The primary target market for DocStoc is adult professionals varying from ages 25-50. These individuals are typically more experienced in their fields of interest and are creating credible documents that can be used for furthering the advancement of their respective industries/businesses. POINTS OF DIFFERENCE The “points of difference” are the characteristics that make DocStoc.com unique in comparison to its competitors. There are currently two areas in which they excel: Ease of Use. Individuals can continuously update their documents by simply saving it to their computers. Once they log onto DocStoc they are able to upload the documents with one click. Blogging Features. Individuals can comment on documents that are listed as public, which can ultimately lead to advancements in ideas that are commented on by others who are interested in the information. POSITIONING DocStoc is known for its user-friendly ability to upload documents to the website. As a credible source for information, it wants to obtain positioning with consumers that will make the brand a top location to find professional work online. 6. Marketing Program PRODUCT STRATEGY To create a digital product that is considered a safe and easy way for everyone to store their work, essentially eliminating the “portable flash drive” approach to storing information. PRICE STRATEGY To continue to provide an open source option for storing public and private information. PROMOTION STRATEGY Continue to be a part of the annual TechCrunch convention, being considered one of the top companies in which to entrust your information with. Letting other technology based companies be aware of DocStoc capabilities, and having them increase awareness of the website. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY Providing an online and offline version of the product for those who are interested.
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7. Financial Data and Projections PAST SALES REVENUES DocStoc has been able to provide a steady increase of site usage, and thus revenue, for its investors. Thanks to the support of its investors, a consistent return has been made each year for the past two years DocStoc has been running. FIVE-YEAR PROJECTIONS Five-year financial projections for DocStoc.com are at a suggested 8 percent growth each year over the next five years. The projections reflect the continuing growth experienced since the company went public in November 2007. Increasing investors, as well as users will help the company reach those projected growth numbers. 8. Implementation Plan Introducing DocStoc.com worldwide, to an even larger market, will require the implementation of many more languages that will inevitably be used by worldwide professionals, as well as a language translator that will aid in making individuals aware cultural differences that are present in different professional environments worldwide. 9. Evaluation and Control Monthly website hits documentation is currently in place, providing the company with information on how many people are using, sharing, downloading, blogging, etc. on their website. Numbers will be evaluated each month and DocStoc will respond to changes in usage accordingly. The main goal will be to monitor the quality of their service and adapt to the needs of their users as necessary. 10. Appendices
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http://www.docstoc.com/about/