Marketing Plan: MetroNet

Strategic Marketing Management

MKT 338 – 003
Mark Gibson

Created by Olivia Bennett, Jim Dunbar, Rylee DuVall, Quinn Mullally, Kerry Obis
Thursday, December 10, 2020
Executive Summary
Our goal was to successfully create a marketing plan for MetroNet that focuses on
increasing sales in targeted college campus markets. We surveyed potential customers and
found a lack of brand awareness among their target market. After analyzing the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of MetroNet, we created a marketing plan that focuses
on improving the current weaknesses, and targeting potential opportunities.
Marketing goals include partnering with student realty companies, increasing brand
awareness, and reducing the time it takes for installation to be set up. All of these goals will help
to achieve our objective which is increasing year over year sales by 20%. Our target markets
are student realty companies and college students. These markets are the best way to increase
our brand awareness and bring in more consumers. It will help establish our presence at
universities.
The product strategies we are recommending are to reduce installation times and make
self installation an option for students in all markets. Our research has shown that nearly 90% of
consumers find same or next day installation important.
The current pricing strategy is competitive and fair however we are recommending
aggressive pricing negotiations and contract buyout options for prospective realty partners.
The sales strategy should implement a personal sales approach that builds relationships
with prospects overtime while gathering information about them to make an offer in the future. In
addition student ambassadors should be employed to reach students on campus more
effectively.
The promotional strategies we use are SEO tactics, social media platforms, brand
ambassadors, and university events to best promote our brand. By combining these promotional
tools, we can best target our markets and meet our main marketing objective.
In order to measure if your marketing efforts are working or not you need measurements
and evaluations of your success and failures. Surveys to customers, comparing past/present
customer databases, and viewing Metronet’s social media following will help you get a read on if
the marketing efforts are working or not.
Mission/Vision/Value Proposition
Mission- At MetroNet, we are committed to bringing state-of-the-art telecommunication
services to the communities we serve by delivering services comparable or superior to those
offered in large metropolitan areas. This commitment not only means better internet, television
and telephone options for our customers today but also the capacity to continually provide
additional products and services in the future as new uses for 100% fiber are developed.
Vision- MetroNet strives to be the number one internet service provider in applicable
regions through the volume of homes serviced and quality of service provided via their fiber
optic service lines.
Value Proposition- Don’t worry about staying connected, MetroNet has you covered
with the fastest and most reliable network.
Forget about loading buffering and crashing, MetroNet’s Fiber Optic Network is a service
you can count on. Fast internet is a necessity for everyone no matter if you are working in
school, playing video games, or connecting with loved ones. Why wait? MetroNet is here today.
● Consistent and reliable internet at a time when you need it most
● Fast internet should be for everyone that’s why MetroNet makes it affordable
● Symmetrical upload and download speeds makes sure your internet works as promised
For anyone who wants to connect with the world, MetroNet is the internet, TV, and phone
provider with the highest and most reliable connection speed at a low cost because of its direct
fiber connection and consistency.

Situation Analysis/Analysis of the customer environment/external environment

A huge impact of MetroNet’s situational environment right now is the COVID-19
pandemic increasing demand for high speed at-home internet across the country. In a world
where reliable internet is already important to a consumer, it is even more of a priority now. This
increase of potential customers offers opportunities for MetroNet.
In order to validate some of our assumptions about MetroNet’s consumers, we collected
data from a survey that reached over 200 potential MetroNet customers. One problem we
discovered from our data is a lack of brand awareness about who MetroNet is, and what they
offer.
● Majority of students are not aware of MetroNet
○ Only 20.8% of 212 survey respondents reported that they have heard of
MetroNet
○ Their competitors had much higher recognition rates - (Comcast 96.7%, AT&T
97.6%, Xfinity 97.2%)
● 74.5% of respondents have not heard of fiber optic internet

● Over 50% of survey respondents reported that their internet service provider company is
selected by the realty company they rent through

SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)

Strengths
Almost all of MetroNet’s strengths revolve around the fiber optics product itself.
● Award winning speed that delivers to speed as promised, not “up to” speeds
● Cutting edge technology through the reliable 100% fiber optic network providing internet
straight to homes
● Symmetrical upload and download speeds
● Signal strength
● No data caps or long term contracts
● Local customer service representatives
● Few fiber optic competitors

Weaknesses
● Overall lack of brand awareness
● Long wait time for installation of products
● Not available nationwide
● Inability to relocate product once installed
 ● Small amount of packages (250mb, 500mb, 1 gb) compared to Xfinity who offers larger
packages
● Weak social media presence

Opportunities
● Penetrating the student market in target campuses
● Gaining new contracts with student reality companies
● Expanding the reach of the fiber network on college campuses, local businesses, and
private homes
● Educating potential customers about the benefits of Fiber Internet

Threats
● Getting students to switch from their usual provider
● Students normally choose the cheapest internet and don't focus on value
● Realty companies sign with internet providers to provide internet to all their properties
● Competitors offer lower prices
● People don’t understand the meaning of fiber

The performance of a SWOT analysis on MetroNet led us to base our marketing plan around a
focus of improving their weaknesses while taking advantage of opportunities. We formulated a
plan to help increase brand awareness of MetroNet and improve sales on college campuses by
seeking more partnerships with student realty companies.

x–Competitive advantages
● Product leadership is how MetroNet differentiates itself for competitive advantage
against their competitors because they provide high quality services through a network
not typically available in some communities.

–Strategic focus- clear go-to-market approach

● Developing key account relationships with the top student rental companies in the target
market areas.
These select realtors and their locations are:

● Purdue University Lafayette Indiana- Cochran Builders and Apartments, Morris Rentals,
Faith West Student Housing
● Illinois State University Normal Il- Young America Realty, The Flats at ISU, The Edge on
Hovey
● Northern Illinois University Dekalb Il- Hunter Star Properties, Dwell Dekalb, Pittsley
Realty
● Michigan State University Lansing Mi- DNT Management Company, Community
Resource Management Company, Hagan Realty
● Eastern Michigan University Ypsilanti, MI- Beal Properties, Three Oaks Properties,
Barnes and Barnes apt Rentals
● University of Kentucky Lexington Ky- Bluegrass Rental Properties, Kampus Properties,
Wayne Michael Properties
● Eastern Kentucky University Richmond Ky- Signature Rentals LLC, Ramsey Rentals,
Ramsey Properties
● Rochester Community and Technical College Rochester Mn- Cornerstone Management
Services, Bear Creek Development Center; note community colleges have majority
commuter based students reducing the need for off campus housing.
● Florida State University Tallahassee Fl- Leparulo Properties and Investments LLC,
Stadium Property Rentals, Student Housing Solutions LLC
● Florida A&M University- Off Campus Housing, Lauer Real Estate Group
● Fayetteville State University- Townsend Real Estate, Turner Realty Company LLC,
Peery’s Property Management; Note due to the small size of the college and town there
is no large company that rents to students specifically
● Iowa State University Ames IA- First Property Management of Ames, Professional
Property Management, Campustown

Marketing Goals and Objectives

–Marketing goals
● Our main goal is to increase partnerships with student realty companies. Most college
students do not choose their internet providers, they are given to them by the realty that
they are signed with. Being able to sign contracts with popular realties will increase the
amount of students that have MetroNet on selected college campuses. This will lead to
our second goal which is to increase brand awareness in the targeted areas. Having
MetroNet well-known by students will help to increase their number of customers. We
can do this by educating students about the useful benefits of MetroNet and their Fiber
Optic Networks.
 Lastly, we want to reduce installation time. How fast the internet can be obtained may be
the deal breaker for students, so it is important to have more options for same day
installation. This can be achieved by increasing the amount of self installation kits
available.
–Marketing objectives
● The objective we are focusing on most is increasing year over year sales by 20%. This
will be done by partnering with realities, increasing brand awareness, reducing
installation time, and completing promotional activities. We can measure this by
comparing the sales of previous years with future sales. We can also create a second
survey in the future with the same questions to measure how the answers have
changed.

Marketing Strategy
–Primary (and secondary) target market
● For our primary target market, we wanted to focus on student realty companies. By
partnering with realty companies, we can gain product recognition faster than we would if
we just focused on students. This is an opportunity to have our product in every
apartment complex at the university.
● Our secondary target market is college students, specifically, freshman, sophomores,
and juniors who plan on living off-campus. We chose them because a lot of times people
buy their own internet outside of their realty companies’ and we want to get ahead of our
competitors. By targeting both realty companies and college students, we can increase
our brand awareness and plan on double the sales.
–Overall branding strategy
● Increase overall brand awareness about the advantages of fiber internet and the high
speed internet services MetroNet provides. We want consumers to associate the
 MetroNet brand with fast reliable internet speeds and in touch and understanding
employees.
–Product strategy
● Continue to install additional fiberlines to make MetroNet accessible to all consumers in
the area. Continually update services to ensure the best customer experience possible.
● Decrease installation time to same or next day service
● Make self install for students available in all markets

The problem with MetroNet’s product strategy is not the actual product but is instead making
sure this service is accessible to all customers as quickly as possible.
Since MetroNet is relatively new to many markets new infrastructure must continue to be
implemented throughout these regions by installing as many new lines as necessary to make
sure all prospective customers have the ability to access services.
No customer should ever be turned away and it is up to MetroNet to make sure this does not
happen.
The other more significant problem with MetroNet’s service is the time it takes between the
service order and actually receiving service. Currently it can take up to 10 days for service to be
installed after ordering it which is something many college students cannot or will not wait for
especially as COVID has forced a large amount of schooling to go online. In fact according to
our survey that asked “How important is same or next day internet installation to you?” 57.8% of
respondents stated that same or next day installation was very important to them with another
31.3% stating that it was somewhat important. Only around 11% of respondents were neutral or
found speedy installation to be unimportant.

To get to the point of standard same or next day installation several different strategies could be
implemented such as making self installation available in all markets at least for students. To do
so the focus should be on implementing the necessary infrastructure for self installment on
college homes around campus, front loading the majority of the work for future customers. This
could also be done in rentals that do not include internet services and potential exclusive
marketing agreements could help make landlords recommend MetroNet to renters due to the
small amount of time required to begin services.
Another strategy that could be implemented when same day installation is not an option is to
change service procedures or increase employee numbers during peak times of the year. This
means streamlining operations to be as efficient as possible and could involve creating a new
system of task delegations to ensure as many homes as possible can start their connection
each day. This is an operations problem that should be studied and continually improved on
year after year to maximize efficiency. The longer installation takes, the more customers are lost
to competitors who can have them up and running within hours.

–Pricing strategy
● Emphasize student discounts in advertisements around campus
● Emphasize the contract buy out option for customers who switch

Currently there are no issues with MetroNet’s existing pricing strategy for individual customers
as their prices are competitive compared to other internet service providers. In the individual
pricing category what needs to be done is to put a greater promotional emphasis on student
discounts and the existing contract buyout option.
Students and their parents, who pay for their internet over 50% of the time according to our
survey, are all interested in saving money while paying for a high quality product or service like
MetroNet. This is because most college students do not have a lot of money and their parents
usually do not want to pay more than necessary considering they will not regularly use the
service. So by putting a greater emphasis on these points more students and their parents will
be interested in checking MetroNet out.
In fact after interviewing a current MetroNet customer at Iowa State University they claimed that
the main reason they decided to choose MetroNet was because of the student discount they
offer in combination with their reliable high speed internet.
Additionally the contract buyout option is also a great strategy for getting customers to switch.
Many people are unsatisfied with their internet service provider but are aware of the hefy early
termination fees many companies employ. Subsequently these people become discouraged to
even look for a new provider because they are unaware that a small number of companies like
MetroNet are willing to buy them out of it.
These pricing strategies are currently a great strength for MetroNet that is hampered by a lack
of brand awareness. Through a stronger promotional presence these strengths can become
effective and work as a great selling point for students and regular customers who want better
quality internet without costing them an arm and a leg.
With rental companies the individual contract buyout option is still relevant since most
companies are already in a contract, but it should be multiplied on a greater scale based on the
number of new units that will be serviced. This buyout option should be looked at as an
investment that will yield profits overtime with the decision to buy it out determined based on the
number of years left on the existing contract and the amount of time it will take to profit off of it.
These market shares should become solidified and stronger overtime whereas individual
students will end services once they finish school forcing MetroNet to continually find new
student customers.

–Place/Sales strategy
● Generate an active list of prospective realty companies and employ a personal sales
approach for community development managers.
● Hire student brand ambassadors to get students to sign up for services on campus
leading up to peak times around move in.

The place/sales strategy contains two key elements geared towards increasing individual
customer purchases and lists of prospective companies to partner with. The emphasis here is
more so on generating partnership prospects rather than individual customers.
We came to this conclusion based on our research which indicated that roughly half of all
students living off campus do not choose their internet provider. This means that half of the
students living off campus will not care about any promotions or sales pitches from MetroNet
due to this fact.
While having student ambassadors on campus leading up to peak times is important since they
are approachable and more readily accessible they will only be able to reach half of the pool of
potential customers which they will have to convince to buy on an individual basis. By
comparison realty companies are far fewer in number and have the decision making power over
hundreds of students at a time. Even with the extra preparation time to create a presentation
and the time it takes to follow up partnering with a realty company can yield significantly larger
gains in a more efficient way than going after customers one by one.
The problem with student realty companies is that while they ultimately offer a much higher
payout it is difficult to generate a list of prospective partners and then convince them to switch
due to exclusive marketing agreements. This is why a personal sales approach is so important
to winning over new partners. Each new prospect should be treated like a key account with a
continuous dialogue and follow ups even if they will not commit to a partnership immediately.
One of MetroNet’s biggest weaknesses is a lack of brand awareness, a problem we hope we
can help to fix, however this weakness can be strongly supplemented through one of MetroNets
biggest strengths which is their local customer support. By using this strength to MetroNet’s
advantage prospective companies will become more familiar and comfortable with
representatives who are the same local people every time. This shows that an employee is
invested and can relate to the lives of prospective managers. Over time this will build trust with
local companies who know representatives personally and can rely on them to hear their
problems clearly and dedicate themselves to finding a solution.
To get to this level of rapport Community Development Managers must build relationships over
time as it is more than likely that a company will not switch on the first sales call. Despite this the
first sales call is still immensely important as it leaves a first impression that can shape all future
business dealings. In this first sales call it is important to not be too pushy on making a sale and
should instead be largely informative while also taking in information about the prospect. A
starting template to do this could go as follows:
Begin by exchanging your names and positions followed by in depth small talk. It is important to
go in depth with this to begin to build a relationship with the prospect. Learn some of their likes
and dislikes that you can show you remember and are interested in at the next meeting.
After concluding small talk give a brief overview of MetroNet as a company and what you will be
discussing. During this time give an elevator pitch on MetroNet emphasizing strengths like fast
and reliable service and local customer support and that this meeting is an informative
consultation and that they will not be pressured to make a purchase decision.

Then probe them with questions about their business to learn their problems and obtain relevant
data. These questions could include:
How many properties/units do you currently own and what is the average number of
units you have occupied year over year?
How satisfied are you with your current internet performance and what do you wish
would improve?
What is your current internet speed?
Are you a part of an exclusive marketing agreement? Probe additionally to get as much
relevant information about this agreement as possible.
How much do you currently pay for internet services?
How often do tenants file complaints about their internet service?
What steps do you take to solve these problems and who is involved?
How long does it take for problems to be resolved?
How much contact do you have with your current internet service provider?
It is important to record as much of this information as possible especially information related to
the number of properties owned and units occupied, how much they pay for their current
services, when their exclusive marketing agreement ends, how much it would cost to buy them
out of it, and any problems they have or things they are unsatisfied with. This information can be
used to generate an enticing offer that helps solve their problems at a fair and negotiable price.
In addition by knowing the average number of yearly occupied units MetroNet can calculate the
cost of buying out a potential company’s contract. Since MetroNet already buys individual
customers out of their existing contracts with a value up to $150 you can multiply this by the
number of occupied units that will be switched over to determine a fair contract buy out. It is
worth playing with these numbers to create a range relative to how long it would take to start
generating revenues from the partnership to determine how long MetroNet can sustain itself in
the meantime.
Securing these contracts should be seen as an investment and not an immediate way to begin
generating revenues. With personal sales and support ideally a strong relationship will ensue
that will cement the contract into the future and safeguard revenues as they come in.
The same strategy can be implemented with rental companies that do not provide internet to
their tenants with less intensity. Since these companies do not have actual decision making
power it is not as necessary to work with them directly however an exclusive marketing
agreement with them could yield potential profits if they strongly recommend MetroNet services.
–Integrated marketing communication (promotion) strategy
● Promotion strategies that we decided to use are SEO tactics and increasing our social
media presence on campuses. By improving the quality and quantity of our website
traffic, we can boost our awareness and most students will view our products first.

Increasing our social media presence is a great promotional strategy for college
students. Our generation is constantly on their phone and we would be losing a huge
market if we didn’t take this opportunity. We can use online and social media advertising
to promote our products and emphasize our student discounts. An easier way to use
social media would be to have student brand ambassadors at each university. They can
use their own platforms to target their friends and increase brand awareness.
–Tactical marketing activities
● For our tactical marketing activities, we can increase our presence at universities by
marketing at college events. Handing out free t-shirts at sporting events will get any fans
attention and we can use our student ambassadors for help. Making our company
known to students is our top priority.

Evaluation and Control

● In order to measure success Metronet needs to think of ways to see if their marketing is
working or not. Analyzing Metronet’s new customer signings can give leads for additional
new customers. Making sure to pay attention to when new customers signs can be
beneficial to the expansion of Metronet. Using surveys can show the customers
awareness of Metronet and if the marketing worked. Surveys asking the customers
knowledge about Metronet makes it clear if their brand is getting in front of the public.
Metronet’s customer database is a clear sign if the company is performing better or
worse. You can evaluate the customer database and measure if it increased or
decreased. This gives simple information on if the company is actually expanding or not.
Measurement
–Implementation schedule and timeline

Month March April May

Activites 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Product Activities

Begin installments of X
fiber lines in
unserviced locations
and new partners
sites

Begin development/ X X X X X X X X X X X X
implementation to
allow customers in all
markets to do self
installations

Pricing Activities

Evaluate the viability X X X X X X X X

of the contract
buyout option for
prospective partners

Begin strategizing X X
pricing promotions

Decide on pricing X X X X X X X X X X
promotions

Figure out Student X X X X

Discounts for
upcoming year

Distribution
Activities

Bundles X X X X X X X X X X X X

Decrease Installation X X X X X X X X
Time
Promotional
Activities

SEO X X X X X X

Increase Social X X X X X X X X X X X X
Media

Free T-Shirts X X X

Online X X X X X X X X X X X X
Advertisements

Brand Ambassadors` X X X` X X X X X X X X X