Vital Marketing Concepts

Every business must have marketing. Marketing can increase the price of an item, but it is an inevitability that consumers/producers rely on it. This is due to many reasons, including competitive market structures (e.g., monopolistic competition and oligopoly), economic communication technology, information revolution, and MNCs. Marketing is the management effort that moves goods/services from the producer to the consumer. “Effective Marketing” is the ability to market the exemplary product/service in the right way, at the correct time, at the right price, and at a profit. According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is “the activity, set, and process of creating, communicating and delivering products and services that are valuable for clients, customers, partners, and the society as a whole.” Encyclopedia Britannica says that marketing is “the sum of all activities involved in directing goods and services from producers towards consumers.” Kotler says that marketing can be boiled down to “meeting your needs profitably.”
Marketing is essential for increasing sales and creating a sustainable market for a product or service. The customer is satisfied with the product or service. Entrepreneurs make a profit and build a reputation. A well-designed marketing strategy results in a reputable business, a profitable sale, and a satisfied customer. Marketing is centered on the study of demand behavior. Marketing has two parents: psychology and economics. While economic considerations influence demand behavior, they are pull or visible elements. However, psychological leanings can be push/invisible and are behind all demand behavior. Marketing efforts focus on the psychological satisfaction of customers and offer multiple economic incentives to customers. A marketing strategy that is effective addresses both the psychological needs of buyers and sellers as well as their financial rules. Marketing can be done for seven main reasons:

To spread the word about new products/services or product awareness
To create awareness about a business or new business
Motivate/persuade someone to buy or create demand
To build a loyal customer base or to create a stable customer account
To attain Sustainable Competitive Advantage
To gain reputation or goodwill
To build Brand Equity

Marketing vs. Selling:

The above-mentioned concept of effective Marketing covers all aspects of a business transaction between buyer and seller. However, there are two distinct aspects to effective marketing: selling and marketing. Perceived from a marketing perspective, sellers and marketers are two separate groups. They have different views about customers. Harvard’s Theodore Levitt made a clear distinction between marketing and selling concepts. “Selling is preoccupied with the needs of the seller; marketing focuses on what the buyer needs. Selling is concerned with the seller’s desire to make money; marketing is about satisfying the customer’s needs through the product and all the other things involved in creating, delivering, and consuming it. For better results, it is crucial to align marketing and selling strategically. According to Marketo and App Data Room, sales and marketing alignment can improve the closing of deals by 67%, reduce friction by 108% and generate 209% more marketing value.

Marketing vs. branding:

Branding refers to the process whereby a marketer/brand manager reduces a company’s reputation to one word, phrase, or design. According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is “a name, term or sign, symbol or design that is used to identify the products or services of one seller, group or sellers, and to distinguish them from their competitors.” Marketing is known for its well-known rule: “Sell what people want.” The same goes for branding. “Brand the attributes people love.” A well-established brand builds consumer trust and emotional attachments. This creates a relationship between consumers, products, and businesses that leads to valuable benefits for producers such as premium pricing and low promotional costs, loyal customers, and a growing market share. A branding campaign increases Brand Equity for sellers. Brand Equity refers to the brand’s strength based on the name recognition and goodwill it has built over time. This results in higher sales volume and higher profit margins than other brands in the market. Internal branding is a crucial strategic aspect of Brand Equity creation. Internal branding is a set of activities and processes that are managed to inform, inspire and motivate employees. In a branding effort, a marketer or an entrepreneur adopts four perspectives for an effective branding – Consumer Perspective (to ascertain desirability of product/service by multiple consumers), Company Perspective (to improve, technically and aesthetically, presentation and delivery process of product/service), Competitive Perspective (to understand and exploit differentiability/parity content of products/services with respect to competitors), and Brand Perspective (to work on the creation of possible brand equity). It is important to note that branding creates a perception of the product/business, while marketing motivates or persuades people to buy. Marketing is what you do to influence consumers’ decisions. Branding is about who you are. In marketing, branding or brand management is the communication function that analyzes and plans how the brand is placed in the market. It also targets the target audience and maintains a desired reputation for the brand.

Marketing vs. advertising:

Marketing involves multiple business activities to achieve ‘Profitable Sales.’ These include market research, pricing and distribution of products/services, branding, selling, and public relations. Marketing is not just advertising. Advertising is the communication of a business or entrepreneur to potential customers about their products and services. Advertising can be defined as “any form of communication through the paid media.” Print media, electronic media, and social media are the most popular advertising mediums. Marketing is the strategy or way to convince potential buyers you have the exemplary product/service. Advertising is the conversion of a marketing strategy into specific communication mediums. Advertising tells potential customers about the availability and existence of the exemplary product/service. Cluttering is the most significant problem in modern advertising. Advertising clutter refers to excessive amounts of advertising messages that consumers are exposed to daily. Marketers have to be able to manage the chaos. It is essential to address the clutter and find the right place and time to reach your target customers.

Marketing vs. Networking:

Networking is a method of human interaction that allows people to share information and create new opportunities. Effective marketing is closely linked to business networking. Entrepreneurs can create business networking by establishing socio-economic relationships. A business circle is formed by networking efforts. This is important because a business circle is just one sub-circle within a more extensive socio-economic process that includes an entrepreneur. Without proper interaction between all economic agents/stakeholders, a business can’t survive or thrive. It is essential to have executives in large socio-economic circles and other associations for effective business networking. Effective marketing is dependent on business networking.

Simply put, effective marketing is a combination of branding, marketing, and advertising. Networking identifies potential customers’ areas, branding shapes/reforms perceptions/emotions, advertising informs customers about product/service via multiple media, marketing motivates customers to buy, and finally, selling is the good part.