Marketing Concepts, Plans, and Strategies for Businesses
Marketing Concepts and Functions
Marketing comprises two key components:
- It represents a mental attitude towards a company’s challenges, a method of understanding trade terms, with the customer at its core.
- It encompasses a collection of techniques and methods for market research and influencing consumer behavior.
The customer is the essential element in the exchange relationship. The core idea of marketing is that the customer is central to the company. Customers perceive the company as a unified entity, and a mistake in one department can impact the overall company image.
Marketing is a responsible process aimed at identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs profitably for the company.
The functions of marketing include sales, distribution, communication, defining the product or service, and pricing, in addition to market research.
Basic Tools of Marketing
- Product: Requires developing a policy for products and services that meet customer needs.
- Price: Involves setting pricing strategies and making decisions on discounts and payment terms.
- Communication: Entails creating a communication policy and selecting appropriate media channels.
- Distribution: Determining how the product or service will reach the customer.
Types of Marketing
- Industrial Marketing: Employed by companies that produce or distribute goods. Its most significant feature is that it deals with tangible assets that can be transferred and stored.
- Services Marketing: Requires a unique marketing strategy tailored to the specific characteristics of each service. Production and sales are intertwined, occurring simultaneously without the possibility of storage.
- Social Marketing: The scope of marketing extends beyond businesses; organizations like political parties also use marketing to influence people.
The Marketing Plan
A marketing plan outlines the sequential, coordinated actions necessary to achieve specific objectives.
Business Planning or Strategic Planning
This type of planning encompasses the entire company, defining its objectives and desired direction. All staff should understand how their activities contribute to these long-term goals.
- Production Planning
- Financial Planning
- Personnel Planning
- Business Planning
Tools Underpinning the Marketing Plan
- Product: A tool the company uses to communicate.
- Price
- Communication
- Distribution
Stages of a Marketing Plan
To formulate a marketing plan, a company must address these questions:
- Where is the company currently? (Analyze the situation)
- Where does it want to go? (Set objectives)
- How will it get there? (Specify strategies and actions)
Phases of the Marketing Plan
1. Situation Analysis: This involves examining both the external and internal environments.
2. Diagnosis of the Situation: This task identifies the company’s primary strengths and weaknesses. A commonly used tool for this analysis in marketing plans is the SWOT framework.
SWOT Analysis
- Weaknesses: Internal disadvantages that hinder the achievement of stated objectives.
- Threats: External environmental factors (beyond the company’s control) that negatively impact performance.
- Strengths: Internal advantages that facilitate the fulfillment of objectives.
- Opportunities: External environmental factors that positively contribute to the company’s goals.