What is marketing?
Business is constructed of many different aspects such as finance, human resources, sales, operations, and more. Included in those aspects is marketing. Marketing is one of the fundamental sections in business that is crucial to the success of a business. So what is marketing?
Marketing is commonly defined as “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising” (Oxford Dictionary). Marketing in a business focuses on the person or group of people who are or can potentially engage in business with a company. Another definition of marketing according to the American Marketing Association is “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Essentially, marketing is the aspect of a business that engages with the buyer and promotes sales.
What makes up marketing?
When you look at “marketing” you may envision billboards, TV commercials, or the company logo. However, marketing is more than just what you see; you can think of marketing as an umbrella that encompasses multiple facets including:
Advertising
Public Relations
Market Research
Market Strategy
Branding
Each of these facets have their own individual responsibilities or realm under marketing. Sometimes, these facets overlap, but oftentimes, you can find departments or specific job positions for each facet in almost any established company.
What are some basic pieces of knowledge needed for marketing?
When you are entering the marketing world for the first time, there are basic pieces of knowledge necessary to understand any aspect of marketing. Here are three fundamental basics about marketing that anyone interested in marketing, or even business in general, should understand.
1. The Marketing Funnel
The marketing funnel is a diagram that depicts the process of how a buyer moves through that marketing aspect of a business to sales. The size of the chunk in the funnel depicts the typical number of buyers involved in that stage of the funnel. The first stage is awareness. This is where the buyer gains initial awareness of the product or service at hand. For example, this could be when you see an advertisement for Spotify Premium on a billboard. The second stage is interest. This is the stage where buyers seek out more information about the product or service. Following the previous example, this could be you visiting the webpage that explains the benefits of Spotify Premium or discussing with friends who have the service. The third stage is decision. This is the stage where the buyer has collected all the information they need and have come to a consensus about how they want to proceed with the product or service. For example, this could be coming to a decision that you want Spotify Premium after reading the webpage and speaking to your friends. Lastly, the final stage is action, which is where the buyer follows the necessary procedures to lock in the purchase. For the Spotify example, this is when you punch in your information to pay and acquire the Premium service.
It’s important to understand the marketing funnel because it gives a high-level overview of how marketing fits into the entire business. In addition, in each stage, specific marketing tactics are used to spark or retain interest of the potential buyer.
2. The 4 P’s of Marketing
The 4 P’s of marketing also give you a high-level overview of the marketing in a business. Often referred to as the Marketing Mix, the 4 P’s integrate with one another to significantly influence the marketing strategy of a company or business. The first P is Product which is the good or service offered by the company. The marketing tools involved in constructing the product is variety, quality, design, features, brand name, packaging, services. The second P stands for Price, which is the amount of money paid by the buyer to purchase the product. Tools involved in this aspect of the marketing mix are list price, discount, allowance, payment period, credit terms. The third P stands for Placement, but can also be known as distribution. Placement means activities that make the product available to consumers. Tools involved in this P include channels, coverage, assortments, locations, inventory, transportation, logistics. Lastly, Promotion is the last P. Promotion is activities that communicate the product’s features & benefits & persuade customers to purchase the product. We typically see advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations used in this area.
3. SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis is essential when approaching marketing in addition to creating a business model. It gives a high-level overview of the market that a company’s product is dealing with, and demonstrates the key points to promoting success for the product and the company.
The S stands for “strengths” which are the inherent qualities of the product or business that would make the company successful. The W stands for “weaknesses,” which are the inherent qualities of the product or business that would hinder the company’s success. The O stands for “opportunities,” which means the openings or chances for the product to fit into the market successfully. Lastly, the T stands for “threats” which are possible reasons in the market for why the product or service would be unsuccessful.
Marketing is an essential aspect to any business or company that is crucial to economic success. It is one of the largest aspects of business that is continuing to grow everyday with the development of marketing firms and in-housing marketing teams. If you are interested in marketing as a career focus, there is a huge world to break into, and we hope this article gives you an overview of this business field!