One of the most critical tools, if not the most important tool of a business is marketing.
Why people buy, act the way they do, and how we influence and persuade human behavior. Whether you have a business or not, marketing happens all the time. For instance, anytime you try to convince a friend to see a movie, go to a particular restaurant, or basically, try to convince them to do anything, marketing is happening.
Marketing is also important to understand because you are constantly being marketed to by everyone, from everywhere; from someone trying to convince you to buy a gala in traffic, to the insurance person trying to get you to buy insurance, to the banker trying to get you to open an account with his bank. All of this requires and uses marketing.
We need to make a distinction between marketing and advertising. Marketing is not advertising, however, advertising is marketing. Marketing is a business function that is made up of a bunch of other parts, one of which is advertising. Other branches include public relations, market research, social media, etc.
What is marketing?
Marketing is simply the communication of value to your customers.
One of the first things we learn in marketing is the 4 P’s of marketing.
– Product
– Price
– Place
– Promotion.
Product is the details around whatever product or service is being sold.
The price is straightforward.
Place is where the product is being sold
Promotions, how you plan to sell your product. What are you planning to do to get the word out about the product or service?
Case in point, I work for a bank. Banks need deposits to come in, in order to be able to give out loans. This is how banks make money. To get these deposits, banks make use of marketers, both physical, and through social media, advertisement, and many other forms to convince customers that they are the best bank, with the best services and products.
Other companies employ marketing strategies. An airline for instance gives out flying points, uses television advertisements, inflight comfort to retain existing customers, aesthetics, and many more.
From advertising that makes people laugh, to luxurious packaging that makes customers feel special just for having purchased it, these are all marketing.
Marketing is about connecting with people, and understanding their pains, problems, and frustrations. Make them feel understood so that you can position your business as the solution to their problems. Essentially, just make them feel better.
A well-grounded businessman/woman will tell you that it is usually not the finest product that wins, it’s the product or service with the best marketing. This is the way of business, which is why having effective marketing is so critical.
Bad marketing also exists, sadly. Like spam in our junk mail, fake countdowns on websites to try to get you to commit, or going out-of-business sales that never end.
The question now is this: what type of marketing are you going to employ?
#MEMBA11
Reference: https://www.ryanmarketingsolutions.ie/what-is-marketing-how-does-it-work
