What are some uncontrollable variables in marketing?
April 19th, 2009
I am doing a marketing project in marketing. I need to know what some uncontrollable variables would be. I am marketing a fashion show that is raising money for patients who cant afford medical attention. My group is in charge of marketing the "Healing Consciousness Foundation" to sponsors so that we can get sponsorships for the fashion show. Please explain to me some uncontrollable variables that may exist.

One of the biggest marketing challenges is that the marketing process itself is a one-to-many approach attempting to maximize messaging and resources to reach a target prospect. But everyone is different, with varied expectations and willingness. Whatever is going on in their day is beyond your control.
The key to measuring success may be to establish realistic goals for yourself. How many sponsors are you hoping to sign up? Or what dollar amount of donations are you hoping to reach? One way to determine this is figuring out how much it will cost to reach x-number of donors who donate x-number of dollars. You will also want to track: when did you call/contact them, what was the response rate, what type of responses you got.
This gives you intelligence into your campaign. It doesn't help control the uncontrollable, but it does give you a sense of how you're doing. And in your following campaigns and efforts, this data will ultimately help you fine tune everything from timing your campaign, messaging, to what approach you use to reach your audience.
One other uncontrollable in marketing is the unknown nature of a "cold call." In your case, it would be someone who doesn't know you, your organization, or your cause. Especially in the nonprofit world, the same people tend to get hit up all the time, they might have donor-fatigue. There's no way to tell how responsive they will be so all you can hope for is that they're polite about it.
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The marketplace itself is something that can't be predicted. It's based on a demographic that's flexible and mercurial; that of human nature. How will they react to stimulii such as your message, promotion, cost, offering, and their perception of the project?
At any given time you may encounter receptive or unreceptive responses determined by communication between your media and the customer. That's why advertising is considered an art and a science.
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competition from other fund raisers
current economic state
weather/temperature
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PESTEL
political environemt, Econimic env, Social env, Technology, Ethics and legal envirment are macro factors which are uncontrallable to marketers
in adddition Competition, Custmer behaviour, Industry rivalry, Suppliers and subs titutes are the micro facotrs that marketers can't control.
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