MARKETING 101

Here are some BASIC and FUNDAMENTAL Concepts of Marketing.

Definitions of Marketing-

The super basic definition- Managing profitable customer relations.

“Broadly defined, marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging value with others.”

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”

What is a Market?

The set of actual and potential buyers of a product.
These people share a need or want that can be satisfied through exchange relationships.

2 of the most important questions to ask before you can create your marketing strategy:

What is our target market? (What specific customers will we serve?)

What is our value proposition? (How can we serve these customers best?)

A company’s value proposition is the set of benefits or values it promises to deliver to customers to satisfy their needs.

This is also referred to as a USP- unique selling proposition. This forms the core of your marketing message. Sometimes you can encapsulate your usp into your businesses tagline. This should also be what is conveyed by the headline you use on your web site or in any ad campaigns.

5 Steps of the Marketing Process

1.) Understand the marketplace and customer needs and wants
2.) Design a  customer driven marketing strategy with the goal of getting, keeping, and growing target customers
3.) Construct a marketing program (4 P’s) that actually delivers superior value
4.) Build profitable customer relationships and customer delight
5.) Reap the rewards of these strong relationships by capturing value from customers

* Notice that the first 4 steps are all about value for the customer.
* The 4 P’s are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion

The Marketing Process

Situation Analysis
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Marketing Strategy
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Marketing Mix Decisions
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Implementation & Control

I will write future posts going into more detail about many of the above elements.
This is just an overview.

– Credit for many of these general concepts goes to the book
MARKETING- An Introduction By Armstrong & Kotler

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For a Great Free Online Course on the Fundamentals of Marketing– Go to:
http://www.smallbizu.org/m101/