Marketing and Marketing Concepts Defined
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A glance at the business community shows that marketing is defined in many different ways. Some definitions focus on marketing as the process involved in satisfying the needs of a particular market, while others define marketing in terms of its most visible functional areas, such as advertising, communication tools and product development. Marketing consists of the strategies and tactics used to identify, create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer.
Strategies are best explained as the direction the marketing effort will take over a certain period of time, while tactics are the steps or decisions made in order to follow the strategies established. For instance, if a strategy is to enter a new market, the tactics may be to develop a system within the marketing plan to carry the out the strategy.
Marketing Success
The most important marketing role involves the research needed to gain knowledge of customers, competitors, and markets. This information will be used in every aspect of your marketing efforts. When you know what your customer's expectations are you can be creative in building new marketing methods to get your name and product in front of them.
Your company's marketing success is evaluated not only in terms of the monthly sales figures but also by how long you can retain each customer. It is very costly to get new customers, but great customer relations are all that is required to keep them. When a customer feels that they are a business partner and that they are receiving value for their investment then they will be long-term customers.
Value
Value refers to the perception of benefits received for the money spent. When a purchase is made of the same product, the value perceived usually differs from two different buyers' points of view. This is also true when you look at the perceived value of the customer to the company. Some may measure value in terms of how much profit they are making from that customer, and another company may view value as the amount of marketing effort, resources invested and the rate of return. For a successful marketing effort to take place, both the customer and the marketer must feel they are receiving something worthwhile in return for the efforts. Without a strong perception of value it is unlikely that a strong relationship can be built. With this understanding, a marketing campaign can be designed to explain the value your customer receives with your product or service.
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