In today’s world, we see new and innovative products coming up daily. They have been advertised everywhere: television, radio, websites, social media, and whatnot. These are targeted and meant for us, the end consumers. Business organizations are involved in various activities like procurement, production, logistics, etc., to develop their products. But how do these products reach us physically, or how do customers get to know about the products produced? This is achieved by means of marketing. Corporations have a separate department for marketing research wherein all the activities related to the communication of the company’s products and services are done. And with the advent of technology, it has become very important for every organization to establish this function in their business. This has become essential for every business that wishes to stay on top of the prevailing market competition. Visit https://www.advertisepurple.com/affiliate-marketing-for-small-businesses/.
In this article, we will learn more about what is marketing, offline and online marketing strategies, and how to create a marketing strategy.
What Is Marketing?
Marketing meaning or it refers to all those activities carried on by any business in order to buy and sell various products or services. It acts as a link between the business and its customers. In the olden days, there was no clear difference between advertising and marketing. But now, marketing is much wider than advertising, and advertising is just a part of one of the components of marketing. It is a whole concept of acquiring customers, servicing them, providing them with after-sale services, and retaining them for as long as possible. The 4Ps are something that every business has to focus on.
1. Product: The product is the business’s result to customers. It refers to a bundle of utilities that customers get after consuming. The product does not necessarily have to be a physical good. It can be an idea, a viewpoint, an institution, a culture, or a geographical place. A marketer must completely understand the product, its width, length, and the line he is offering the customers. The product should be such that it provides maximum utilities as compared to its competitors. Branding of the product should be such that the customers find it interesting, and they must be able to distinguish it from others. Labeling should be done to provide all the important and statutory information regarding the product offered. Packaging must be done according to the nature of the product.
2. Price: After the product features and functions have been performed, the next stage is proper and adequate pricing of the product. For this, various things must be kept in mind. First, pricing decisions must be taken after seeking the competitor’s product pricing. It includes the cost of production costs as well as the profit margin set by the business. There are various ways of pricing the products like penetration pricing, cost-based pricing, target return pricing, competition-based pricing, bid pricing, demand-based pricing, perceived value pricing, etc. For setting an appropriate price, objectives must be set, and demand must be determined. After this, the cost is determined, and competitor pricing should also be considered. Then, the proper pricing method is selected to fix the final price of the goods or services.
3. Promotion: Promotion is the essence of traditional marketing. Here, it is tried to communicate the product and its features to potential customers. There are various modes of promoting a product in the market. The first and major mode is advertising. Advertising is a paid form of communication wherein an identified sponsor communicates information about the product in a non-personal manner. Products can be advertised through print media, broadcast media, the internet, mobile phones, posters, etc. Another way is through personal selling, where customers are approached individually by the salesmen. Thus, a salesman must understand customers’ needs, have complete knowledge of the customers, and have convincing power. Then, there is sales promotion, which acts as a link between advertising and personal selling. In this, discount coupons, gifts, free samples, etc., can be given to the customers to increase sales in the present and future.
4. Place: The last P represents a place, i.e., physical distribution. This is concerned with the movement of goods from producer to consumer. There can be different levels of distributing channels. In a direct channel, the manufacturer offers products to the final customers without any middlemen. In one-level channels, wholesalers are there in between. In two-level channels, wholesalers, as well as retailers, are also there. Finally, agents play an important role as intermediaries in three-level channels.
What is Marketing Strategy?
Once you understand what is marketing, the next thing you have to learn is the marketing strategy. A marketing strategy refers to the descriptive preview or blueprint of how a business will achieve its target. It involves various steps. First, a mission for the whole corporation must be made. Then, the business units are formed to implement this mission strategically. Next, various required resources are provided to these business units to carry on the tasks. After this, the units must evaluate and assess growth opportunities. All this forms part of a marketing strategy.
How to Create a Marketing Strategy?
marketing strategy roadmap
1. Identify your goals
To go ahead with the strategy formulation, the business has to set its goals straight. These goals should always align with the business goals in the long run. For example, it has to be decided whether the business wants to increase revenue only, customer value also, or wants to acquire new customers as well. All these goals must be set in a way that can be measured to compare the performance in the future. Goals must follow SMART criteria. Competitors’ moves should always be kept in mind while setting goals for their organization.
2. Know your clients
A business must be very aware of its clients. A business must know the potential customers for its different products. For this purpose, it has to be very focused on market research, where one gets to know the customer’s needs and wants. Knowing this would help the business to keep track of the customers who might be interested in a particular product. It will make it easy for the business to deliver customer satisfaction at its best.
3. Create your message
When clients are well known, which section has to be targeted by the business, it should focus on creating an appropriate message to deliver to the customers. The message has to be precise, clear, understanding, and easy. Complexity would distract potential customers.
4. Budget Planning
This is one of the most important things to run any marketing strategy successfully. The budget must be set for the range of activities the business plans to carry out. Whether the business has a goal of market penetration or market development, diversification of its product range, or development of its product, every aspect of the goal has to be properly studied to estimate the budget for the implementation of the plan. What all costs will be incurred on these activities must be traced. With the help of this proper budget can be prepared.
5. Determine your channel
Channel determination is very important for a successful strategy. A business should consider all channel options available to them and what channels they have to teach according to the customers’ needs. The place of consumption and place of production must be studied thoroughly. This will help to know the benefits of various channels for various customers. The pros and cons of every channel must be considered before finalizing.
6. Measure your success
After successfully implementing the marketing strategy, it is very important to measure the extent of success it achieved. For example, whether it met the set target and goals were completed, or there’s some fault. This would further help the business to improve the mistakes in the next task.
In today’s world, we see new and innovative products coming up daily. They have been advertised everywhere: television, radio, websites, social media, and whatnot. These are targeted and meant for us, the end consumers. Business organizations are involved in various activities like procurement, production, logistics, etc., to develop their products. But how do these products reach us physically, or how do customers get to know about the products produced? This is achieved by means of marketing. Corporations have a separate department for marketing research wherein all the activities related to the communication of the company’s products and services are done. And with the advent of technology, it has become very important for every organization to establish this function in their business. This has become essential for every business that wishes to stay on top of the prevailing market competition.
In this article, we will learn more about what is marketing, offline and online marketing strategies, and how to create a marketing strategy.
What Is Marketing?
Marketing meaning or it refers to all those activities carried on by any business in order to buy and sell various products or services. It acts as a link between the business and its customers. In the olden days, there was no clear difference between advertising and marketing. But now, marketing is much wider than advertising, and advertising is just a part of one of the components of marketing. It is a whole concept of acquiring customers, servicing them, providing them with after-sale services, and retaining them for as long as possible. The 4Ps are something that every business has to focus on.
1. Product: The product is the business’s result to customers. It refers to a bundle of utilities that customers get after consuming. The product does not necessarily have to be a physical good. It can be an idea, a viewpoint, an institution, a culture, or a geographical place. A marketer must completely understand the product, its width, length, and the line he is offering the customers. The product should be such that it provides maximum utilities as compared to its competitors. Branding of the product should be such that the customers find it interesting, and they must be able to distinguish it from others. Labeling should be done to provide all the important and statutory information regarding the product offered. Packaging must be done according to the nature of the product.
2. Price: After the product features and functions have been performed, the next stage is proper and adequate pricing of the product. For this, various things must be kept in mind. First, pricing decisions must be taken after seeking the competitor’s product pricing. It includes the cost of production costs as well as the profit margin set by the business. There are various ways of pricing the products like penetration pricing, cost-based pricing, target return pricing, competition-based pricing, bid pricing, demand-based pricing, perceived value pricing, etc. For setting an appropriate price, objectives must be set, and demand must be determined. After this, the cost is determined, and competitor pricing should also be considered. Then, the proper pricing method is selected to fix the final price of the goods or services.
3. Promotion: Promotion is the essence of traditional marketing. Here, it is tried to communicate the product and its features to potential customers. There are various modes of promoting a product in the market. The first and major mode is advertising. Advertising is a paid form of communication wherein an identified sponsor communicates information about the product in a non-personal manner. Products can be advertised through print media, broadcast media, the internet, mobile phones, posters, etc. Another way is through personal selling, where customers are approached individually by the salesmen. Thus, a salesman must understand customers’ needs, have complete knowledge of the customers, and have convincing power. Then, there is sales promotion, which acts as a link between advertising and personal selling. In this, discount coupons, gifts, free samples, etc., can be given to the customers to increase sales in the present and future.
4. Place: The last P represents a place, i.e., physical distribution. This is concerned with the movement of goods from producer to consumer. There can be different levels of distributing channels. In a direct channel, the manufacturer offers products to the final customers without any middlemen. In one-level channels, wholesalers are there in between. In two-level channels, wholesalers, as well as retailers, are also there. Finally, agents play an important role as intermediaries in three-level channels.
What is Marketing Strategy?
Once you understand what is marketing, the next thing you have to learn is the marketing strategy. A marketing strategy refers to the descriptive preview or blueprint of how a business will achieve its target. It involves various steps. First, a mission for the whole corporation must be made. Then, the business units are formed to implement this mission strategically. Next, various required resources are provided to these business units to carry on the tasks. After this, the units must evaluate and assess growth opportunities. All this forms part of a marketing strategy.
How to Create a Marketing Strategy?
marketing strategy roadmap
1. Identify your goals
To go ahead with the strategy formulation, the business has to set its goals straight. These goals should always align with the business goals in the long run. For example, it has to be decided whether the business wants to increase revenue only, customer value also, or wants to acquire new customers as well. All these goals must be set in a way that can be measured to compare the performance in the future. Goals must follow SMART criteria. Competitors’ moves should always be kept in mind while setting goals for their organization.
2. Know your clients
A business must be very aware of its clients. A business must know the potential customers for its different products. For this purpose, it has to be very focused on market research, where one gets to know the customer’s needs and wants. Knowing this would help the business to keep track of the customers who might be interested in a particular product. It will make it easy for the business to deliver customer satisfaction at its best.
3. Create your message
When clients are well known, which section has to be targeted by the business, it should focus on creating an appropriate message to deliver to the customers. The message has to be precise, clear, understanding, and easy. Complexity would distract potential customers.
4. Budget Planning
This is one of the most important things to run any marketing strategy successfully. The budget must be set for the range of activities the business plans to carry out. Whether the business has a goal of market penetration or market development, diversification of its product range, or development of its product, every aspect of the goal has to be properly studied to estimate the budget for the implementation of the plan. What all costs will be incurred on these activities must be traced. With the help of this proper budget can be prepared.
5. Determine your channel
Channel determination is very important for a successful strategy. A business should consider all channel options available to them and what channels they have to teach according to the customers’ needs. The place of consumption and place of production must be studied thoroughly. This will help to know the benefits of various channels for various customers. The pros and cons of every channel must be considered before finalizing.
6. Measure your success
After successfully implementing the marketing strategy, it is very important to measure the extent of success it achieved. For example, whether it met the set target and goals were completed, or there’s some fault. This would further help the business to improve the mistakes in the next task.