Marketing is the process of teaching consumers why they should choose your product or service over your competitors. If you are not doing this, you are not doing marketing, unfortunately. So the equation is that simple! The important thing is to find the right marketing message to educate and influence your consumers by finding the right marketing method.
Companies make the mistake of thinking that marketing is just “one thing”. In short, marketing is everything the consumer experiences, from what they see when they visit you, and from the advertisements they hear to the customer service they receive, to the follow-up service you provide to them afterwards.
Getting customers to choose you on an ongoing basis, not just once, is marketing. Marketing is often confused with advertising and sales, but it is important to know the main distinguishing criteria.
Defining Marketing
Marketing can be defined by Product, Price, Promotion, and Distribution elements.
Product: A company has to complete many procedures to determine whether its product is salable. The first step to be taken for this is ideation, that is, understanding and concretizing the product. Next, marketing departments survey new product concepts to determine their level of interest among potential buyers and focus groups. If the interest in the product is high, it can be sold for testing purposes. If the sales are also successful, a more comprehensive dimension is passed. Before bringing products to market, companies need to decide what styles, sizes, flavors and fragrances they need to sell, down to the packaging designs they will use. The contribution of consumers in these decisions is undeniable.
Price: Price is also tested through focus groups and surveys. Companies must know the best price at which to sell their products to achieve maximum returns. Another way to set prices is to price comparable to competitors in the market. Of course, in order for a company to do this, it must be able to both cover the expenses and still be able to make a profit. If the company is launching a brand new product that has never been produced before, the customer must determine how much money he or she is willing to spend on that product.
Promotion: Brochures, advertisements and information that come to mind when it comes to promotion are the ways companies use to promote their products. Promotions often have two purposes: generating leads for sales reps and initiating actual purchases.
Distribution: How and where products are sold. Consumer companies, for example, sell to wholesalers who sell to retailers.
In industrial marketing, the purchasing process takes time and there are many decision makers involved in the process. Some companies sell locally, while others sell nationwide or even worldwide. All distribution decisions are also part of the overall marketing process.
Purpose of Marketing
Business consultant Evan Carmichael summarizes the goals of marketing as follows:
- Attracting the attention of the target market.
- Facilitate the potential buyer’s purchase decision.
- To provide the client with a specific, low-risk, and easy-to-decision option.
With these purposes in mind, coupons, sales, and even how to display merchandise or products are all part of the marketing process. Since marketing is the cornerstone of every business, the overall goal is to sell more products or services.
Should I Need to Learn Marketing?
If you are a small business owner, and can’t afford to hire marketing experts, then learning marketing is a good choice to go with.
Below is a list of some resources to learn marketing:
- Udemy
- Digital Marketing Institute
- Digital Marketing Training & Mentoring
- BrainStation
- Virtual College
- Udacity
Here are the five reasons why you need to learn marketing:
- You’ll Learn to Listen
- You’ll Make Better Decisions
- You’ll Gain Tact
- You’ll Get Scrappy
- You’ll Become More Aware