Working in the Marketing department of a business organization is both challenging and fun. Marketing is a complex process being different in different types of business organizations operating in different markets.
A widely used and accepted definition provided by The Chartered Institute of Marketing from the UK defines Marketing as ‘The management process involved in identifying, anticipating and satisfying consumer requirements profitably’. This definition is commonly used, in addition to other definitions of marketing, as it covers the complexity of various roles of marketing.
What does Marketing department do?
In general, the Marketing department of a business organization has four generic objectives which are directly linked with the 4Ps of the Marketing Mix. They include:
- PRODUCT:Â Make sure that the right goods and services are supplied to customers to fulfill their changing needs and wants.
- PRICE:Â Make sure that the products have the correct prices. So, that customers can afford to buy the products and are willing to do so.
- PROMOTION:Â Make sure that the customers are informed about the products, persuaded to buy them from the firm instead of buying from competitors and reminded to return to buy again in the future.
- PLACE:Â Make sure that the products are distributed conveniently so the customers can buy them in the right place at the right time.
What is required from the Marketing department?
Marketing Managers always need to be fully aware of features of those markets where the business currently operates or plans to expand in the future, Specifically, the market location, market size, market share, market growth, main competitors, etc.
As the management process, Marketing requires employees to take responsibility for decision-making. The major Marketing decisions are related to making and selling products to final customers.
PRODUCT:
The Marketing department’s job starts with doing market research in order to identify the needs and wants of customers, and then conducting data analysis alongside with presentation of results. In addition, anticipating and predicting what customers might want in the future is done through sales forecasting and trend analysis. Every Marketing department must constantly try to deliver products that customers need and want to purchase.
The more Marketing knowledge the firm has, the more it can enhance customer awareness. Both new product development and improvement of current products remain at the forefront of any Marketing department activities at any firm anywhere in the world. In addition, the business should focus on creating new markets to stimulate future demand, hence growth in sales.
PRICE:
As running a business is mainly about earning money, the Marketing department must set the prices in a way that the firm fully covers its costs and earns decent profits. Customers constantly compare price versus quality trying to get themselves the best deal possible.
Majority of the customers is assessing value for money paying attention to availability and quality of the products sold on the market as essential factors for their purchasing decisions. Satisfied customers will most likely become loyal customers of the firm for many years to come.
PROMOTION:
The Marketing department must communicate with customers about the products. Customers must be told what products the company sells and what benefits those products bring into the customers’ lives. Without appropriate promotion, people will not know what the business does and why they should buy its products.
Therefore, the Marketing Manager must always pay attention to having all the customers informed about the goods and services offered by the business, persuaded to buy them instead of buying from other companies and reminded that the products still exist.
PLACE / DISTRIBUTION:
Nowadays, Marketing connects people through technology and technology has made distributing products to customers easier. The Marketing department must allocate resources towards building suitable distribution networks to deliver products to its customers at the right time.
The business must make it convenient for all people to access its products. All the places where products are available for purchase should have the right quantities of products not to leave any demand unfulfilled. Getting products to customers’ hands should be organized in the most cost-effective way.
ADDITIONAL MARKETING-RELATED TASKS:
In addition to the core tasks related to the 4Ps of the Marketing Mix, the Marketing department should also be involved in several related management functions including branding, packaging, customer service, building and maintaining customer relationships, after-sale services, etc.
To sum up, working in the Marketing department offers the employees many exciting career prospects including jobs related to market research, sales, customer-relationship management, advertising, branding, Public Relations (PR), product research and development, etc. In the Marketing department, the opportunities for meaningful and creative works are unlimited.
