Marketing is more than just gathering information. Marketing is an act that entails creative research, development, analysis and sometimes bitter tasting testing about how best to align the concept of a new product or service with its intended target audience. Marketing is more than reaching out to the market. It is also about knowing your audience and being able to speak to them in their language.
The Goal Of Marketing
Modern marketing concepts such as internet marketing, search engine optimization, mobile marketing and television advertising are merely part of the larger marketing effort. All marketing efforts are intended to increase brand awareness, increase sales, reduce costs and create a positive image. Although all marketing is done to reach out to and attract customers, some marketing efforts are done with a view to attracting potential customers. Marketing can help define the brand, more so than the product. For example, if you use TikTok for marketing, you are trying to get TikTok followers to recognize your brand even if they aren’t buying a specific product.
Researching Your Target Market
Marketing research assists in defining marketing objectives and assisting in determining the marketing strategy and the methods to achieve these objectives. Marketing research is part of the basic homework that all advertisers must do before launching a new product. Marketing research involves gathering information from consumers, including surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Surveys allow marketers to gain understanding about customer’s needs and preferences; focus groups let marketers speak directly to individuals to gather information relevant to target markets; and interviews allow marketers to get a more accurate insight into the real nature of consumer attitudes.
The Traditional Marketing Mix
The marketing mix consists of seven Ps and a marketing plan to achieve it. The seven Ps are “positioning”, “promotion”, “marketing”, “advertising”, “creative marketing strategies” and “using technology”. The positioning, promotion and advertising aspects of any marketing plan can be broken down further for easier identification and implementation. In a nutshell, positioning describes where you want your product to be and marketing describes how you intend to get people to see it. The promotion aspect involves getting the word out about your product.
After understanding the positioning, promotion and advertising aspects of your marketing mix, the next step is marketing strategy which refers to how you intend to sell or market your product. This marketing mix has four elements and these elements include the direct marketing techniques, the wider range of distribution channels, and the measurement of results. Direct marketing is where you will advertise your product directly to customers at events like trade shows, conferences and exhibitions.
Distribution Channels
The broader range of distribution channels includes print, electronic media and marketing via the Internet. The measurement of results is measuring how effective your marketing has been in attracting new customers and also analyzing the return of the marketing efforts. The third phase of marketing involves the creative marketing strategies. This marketing involves coming up with innovative ideas for promoting your product so that you can get noticed.
The fourth phase of the marketing mix focuses on the measurement of results. It is important to measure your results so you can develop plans for improving your strategies. It is advisable to keep a track of your social media influence, the results of your other advertising campaigns and how well you are getting the results you expect from the various marketing mix tools that you are using. The seven Ps of marketing also have something to do with the implementation of your marketing mix.
Example
For instance, if you are using newspaper or television advertising, then you are using the 7 Ps of marketing which is getting your product noticed in the first place. Another example is email marketing. Email marketing is where you will use personalized emails to promote your products. A major part of online advertising is search engine optimization or SEO. This is where you concentrate on certain keywords and phrases that will make sure that when people search for products or services similar to yours, your site will come up in their searches. Finally, another important aspect of online marketing is traffic which means increasing the number of visitors to your website.
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