If you are in business or have been thinking of starting a business, you have probably heard the word "marketing" thrown around and immediately thought of advertising. However, there is a lot more to it than that. Marketing is any activity that a business engages in that is geared towards building value for the customer and creating profits for the business. In other words, it is the way that a business gets the word out about a product or service and shows its potential customers what makes their business better than competitors'.
Marketing is important because even if your product is the best among its competitors, people will not buy it unless they know about it. This means that you have to develop an effective strategy to reach the customers you are targeting. A good marketing strategy will involve a basic mix of four different variables, also known as the "4 Ps":
Product is what you have to offer the customer. Whether it is a physical product, or a service, your product has to stand out as unique among its competitors in some way. Once your business has successfully marketed a product, customers will associate it with your company which will help to create your company's brand.
While it is important to remain competitive and not overprice your items, creating value in the minds of the customer will help the customer to understand that your product is worth what you are charging for it. Your price needs to be set so that it takes your competitor's prices into account and turns a profit for you.
Much of marketing involves placing your products where customers want them, when they want them and delivering them the way that they want them. For example, there are many chocolate bars out there as well as many places to buy them, but one of the most popular places to buy a chocolate bar is by the cash register. Their location encourages "impulse buying" (that is, an unintentional purchase on the part of the consumer because of where the product is placed) because by the time a customer gets to the register he or she wants a snack. They want the snack to be in a package that is easy to grab, easy to open and with little fuss. So, regardless of taste or price, candy bars at the register sell faster than those on the store aisles.
This is where advertising comes into play. Because most advertising methods cost the company money, it is important to consider how much business any given method of advertising will bring to your business. There are other ways to promote a business, including sales promotions that offer incentives to buy your product. You can also use direct marketing by way of catalogs, mail and cold calling potential customers. No matter how you decide to do it, promoting your product is going to be essential to its success on the market.