A business may produce top-notch quality products and simply put them up for sale. However, if there’s no marketing, there’s no way your potential consumers will know about your product or even service. Simply marketing your products without having any direction also won’t help your sales. It’s important to have the right marketing strategy and to remember that it varies from business to business. For instance, if you were to advertise your products or services using Twitch live streams, firstly you would need to expand your audience. For this, you would need to know how to get followers on Twitch.
On the other hand, a retailer may distribute brochures or leverage word-of-mouth by giving the best services to their current customers. Therefore, marketing methods differ on the basis of the nature of a business and distribution channels.
However, if you want to boost your sales and expand your reach, this article will help you learn in detail what marketing is and how it is used. Read below!
What Is Marketing?
Marketing is a kind of persuasive communication that helps in converting your products or services into profitable sales. It, basically, facilitates brands in securing sales in the market.
Marketing is not only geared towards “advertising” your products or services. Instead, it includes all the steps that you take, from generating ideas for launching your potential products in the market to providing after-sales services.
Therefore, it is better to say that marketing is crucial for all the stages of a product lifecycle.
How Does Marketing Work?
Businesses go through several stages of marketing before the product or service is finally ready to sell in the market.
Coming up with an idea. It’s ideal for the marketing and production team to work together in order to generate ideas for products or services. This phase also includes deciding on the product features, packaging, and different variations available for it.
Researching the market. Before successfully launching the product in the market, it’s essential to research the market. It could include customer surveys and questionnaires or other methods like delivering free samples to the targeted audience for their preferences. Competitor research is also done in this phase to assess threats and opportunities.
Advertising. After the final product or service is approved by surveys, the product or service is released into the market. For brand awareness, different advertisement methods like organizing events, social media, and public relations are used. When creating a marketing strategy, it’s also essential to set benchmarks against which performance will be measured.
Selling. In this phase of marketing, the distribution channels are decided, such as whether you want to sell online or through a retailer. Depending on the channels, the company may target international or national customers.
The Four P’s of Marketing
Another marketing model is also used for an effective marketing plan. It can be extended to 7 P’s; however, the most basic ones consist of 4 P’s (product, price, promotion, and place).
Product. A company focuses on the actual goods or services (like consultation or subscription) being sold in the market. This way, it considers the different lines of a product, such as different flavors of ice cream, whether it will be packaged in wraps or boxes, and is there going to be an after-sales service, including return policies and warranties.
Price. In addition to the actual cost incurred on a product (material costs, labor costs, and other expenses), a company takes into account its profit margin. It is usually finalized after researching the market and considering the prices set by competitors. It can also include discounts and payment methods like credit- or cash-based payments.
Promotion. In order to successfully launch a product in the market, promotion methods are taken into account, such as events, campaigns, PR, online, or in-stores. It also includes the copy you will be using to lure the targeted customers into purchasing that product or service.
Place. If you’re not selling your product in the right place, how do you expect to make a large number of sales? For instance, an ice cream manufacturer will sell most ice-creams in Florida as compared to Minnesota. It could include offline and online channels as well.
What Are the Different Types of Marketing?
Some marketing types may work best for one business, and some may not align with the brand. Therefore, it’s your responsibility to research the market online. We’ve mentioned the most common types of marketing below.
Email Marketing – It allows your customers (or potential customers) to sign up with your newsletter, so they can stay up-to-date with your offers and new launches.
Social Media Marketing – It’s the most popular marketing type in today’s modern world, as 67% of the entire world’s population uses social media platforms. You can create your page and give your brand exposure while building loyal customer relationships.
Online Video Marketing – Consumers prefer watching a video of a product before investing in it to get a better understanding. YouTube is the ideal platform for this purpose.
Search Engine Optimization – Creating your website in such a way that brings quality traffic to your site, and this could even include writing optimized blogs on your site for increased conversions.
Influencer Marketing – Influencers already have a loyal following who they trust for recommendations on products and services. This is one of the best ways to increase brand awareness to a new, broad audience.
