Marketing 101 - The Essentials
of Marketing
By Ammon
Johns
...
In articles and forums around
the web, there is an obvious,
common misconception of exactly
what 'Marketing' actually is.
Often people use the word marketing
as though it were just another
word for advertising. Some
seem to think that Marketing
is just another word for Promotion.
Neither is true. Marketing
is a far broader topic that
holds promotion as a sub-function
of marketing, and advertising
as a sub-function of promotion.
Whatever your current understanding
of marketing, from none to
major, this essential primer
should provide some interesting
reading and should ensure that
you have a good grasp of what
marketing is, and how to use
marketing to massively improve
your business.
So What Is Marketing?
In the broadest sense, marketing
incorporates everything about
understanding markets (both
yours and the ones you have
not yet made yours), bringing
your product/service to a market,
and even developing new markets.
To get to the real essence
of marketing, as I've mentioned
once or twice before, marketing
is about producing what you
can sell, rather than just
selling what you can produce.
Marketing is basically the
strategic part of business.
Marketing incorporates or
impacts heavily upon all of
the following activities:
Business Development
Product Development
Market Development
Market Research
Competitor Analysis
Pricing Strategy
Public Relations
Customer Service
Promotions
Brand Development
Company/Corporate Identity
So, now that you see how big
and broad marketing truly is,
I've probably just scared the
heck out of you. Well, sip
that drink and we'll start
on how to get a handle on it.
Start at the beginning
The foundation of all good
marketing is to know your market.
That means your customers.
The well marketed business
is completely customer focused.
They identify what the customer
wants or needs, and then supply
it at a price the customer
is prepared to pay.
The customer is always right.
That is the classic saying
which has fallen from favour
in recent years. However it
is true. The customer is always
right, provided that they are
the right customer.
Henry Ford supplied his model
T Ford in any colour that customers
wanted - providing it was black.
That was important. By having
just one colour, the single
production line worked, and
so the cost of the final car
was a fraction of what other
cars cost. He was selling cheap
cars, not colourful cars. The
right customer was the one
who wanted a cheap car, and
was prepared to accept the
fact that it would be black.
They could always pay for their
own respray.
Placing the customer foremost
does not always mean having
excellent customer service.
It means knowing what the customer's
priorities are, and making
them your own. With that said,
providing value, the values
that the customer values most,
is where the whole secret lies.
To paraphrase Henry Ford: "Whoever
focuses on how much they can
give for a dollar, rather than
how little, is bound to succeed".
Part two: knowing
your customers...
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