Marketing connects the business with its customers. Marketing as the process also aligns a business to its operating environment and all business stakeholders.
Marketing is an essential function for every business organization. Both for-profit commercial organizations, for-profit social organizations and non-profit organizations use principles and practices of Marketing.
Because Marketing is such a strategic business function – interconnected with other business functions including Finance, Human Resource (HR) and Production – it must always be given a great importance. It often leads to new strategic business objectives of the whole business that impact on production methods, influence human resource planning and change the financial situation of the whole firm.
As business activity becomes more and more international as a result of globalization, international marketing has grown in its significance in the past couple of years. These days, marketing strategies equally influence consumers both in the home country as well as in foreign markets.
1. What Is Marketing?
The definition of marketing is introduced here. Every single marketing definition always places the customer in the center of all business operations.
The main purpose of Marketing is to find out what current and potential customers need and want. It is done through effective Market Research. Then, the business gets people to buy the products to satisfy their needs and wants through creating an appropriate Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Business organizations and their managers need to develop marketing knowledge and application to business situations in order to make correct marketing decisions for solving marketing problems.
Marketing Managers need to be aware of features of those markets where the business operates or plans to expand: market location, market size, market share, market growth, main competitors, etc.
2. Marketing Planning
Planning all marketing activities starts with explaining the role of marketing in a business and setting up appropriate marketing objectives.
The techniques of market segmentation and the distinctions between three targeting strategies: niche marketing, mass marketing and differentiated marketing are to be considered in the early stage of marketing planning.
The significance of approaches to marketing including market orientation, product orientation, asset-led orientation and social marketing should also be analyzed and decided.
Additionally, effective Marketing requires consideration of product quality, branding and customer loyalty. It also uncovers the wants that customers may not even be aware of themselves yet.
3. Market Research
The methods and importance of Market Research are covered in this section. Specifically, different techniques of conducting primary market research and identifying most appropriate sources for conducting secondary market research.
Several sampling methods are also covered here.
4. Sales Forecasting
There are obviously clear benefits and limitations of sales forecasting for the company. Preparing sales forecasts (including seasonal variations, cyclical variations and random variations) as well as determining sales trends using moving averages belong to important tasks of the marketing department.
5. Marketing Mix – Product
Product belongs to one of the 4Ps of the Marketing Mix which has the central role of Marketing Planning. It mainly refers to the production of goods and provision of services; recognizing that products have a combination of tangible and intangible features. This section includes Unique Selling Point (USP) and product differentiation. Also, Product Life Cycle, extension strategies and how different stages of product life influence marketing activities. And finally, analyzing Product Portfolio.
6. Research and Development (R&D)
The whole process of product creation and product development is described in this part – budgeting, prototyping, test marketing, market launch, etc.
7. Marketing Mix – Price
Price belongs to one of the four Ps of the Marketing Mix which has the central role of Marketing Planning. Different types of pricing strategies are described, analyzed and evaluated. Determining price Elasticity of Demand will be helpful for setting the appropriate price.
8. Marketing Mix – Promotion
Promotion belongs to one of the four Ps of the Marketing Mix which has the central role of Marketing Planning. Two major types of promotion including Above-the-Line Promotion and Below-the-Line Promotion, along with their methods, are introduced. Also, Promotional Mix is important too. Many people make this mistake saying that marketing is the same as advertising. It is not – marketing and advertising are two completely different things.
9. Marketing Mix – Place
Place, or distribution, belongs to one of the four Ps of the Marketing Mix which has the central role of Marketing Planning. The importance of choosing the appropriate channel of distribution to deliver products from the business to the customers is included in this section.
10. E-Commerce
As the modern distribution channel, E-Commerce has its own unique features. Marketing Managers must be aware of differences between various types of E-Commerce, different E-Commerce platforms and the effects of technology changes on the Marketing Mix.
11. Marketing of Services
For Marketing of Services, the model of 4Ps of the Marketing Mix is expanded into the 7Ps of the Marketing Mix adding: people, processes and physical evidence.
12. International Marketing
Marketing Managers should use marketing concepts to research, develop, implement and evaluate marketing strategies for constantly changing market situations to maintain business competitiveness on the market.
