Introduction:
Marketing refers to an act or activities aimed at selling a product or a service. Marketing is a wider term which includes all business promotion activities. The different sub-divisions of marketing include advertising, cross-selling, distribution, and delivery of goods or services to consumers or businesses under B2C or B2B models.
Understanding Marketing:
The purpose of marketing is to reach the desired consumer, geographical area, and so on. The primary modes of marketing are business promotion and advertising.
Business promotion activities consist of introductory offers such as low priced products/services or flat discounts. An established company can also provide free samples of its new product with an existing product, for example, offering a sample of conditioner with an established shampoo.
Business promotion activities are aimed at gaining market share or becoming a one-stop-shop for all products. For example, a one-stop-shop for hair care products will include shampoo, conditioner, hair oil, hair colour, hair serum, after shower gel, and so on.
Advertising includes print media, online media, TV, and public hoardings, demonstrating the benefits of the product on a regular basis. Both business promotion and advertising seek to reach out to their target consumers.
The company may rope in a celebrity, have a slogan/logo, and so on. The broad marketing activity involves a price strategy for a product for the desired place of consumption and a promotion strategy.
Marketing also involves retaining and giving benefits to existing customers. For example, a company may give a yearly discount coupon to loyal customers to bring them back each year and retain them. E-mails and messages are also a part of marketing collaterals to remind the customer of your products, new offers, and so on.
Conclusion:
‘Marketing’ is an essential component of all business decisions. A company making a product or providing a service should have a marketing plan in hand at the business planning stage.
Marketing ensures reaching the audience and ultimately building goodwill for the company. A plan for marketing a product or service should be designed based on the type of target audience.
