Small businesses have been brought to their knees financially by the pandemic and so it feels counter-intuitive to spend precious resources on marketing. However, it has also been proven to help you recover faster. Here are the basics you might want to think about to get customers back.
According to Dictionary.com, marketing is the ‘business of promoting and selling products and services.’ However, in reality, marketing can be difficult to define – even for those who work in the industry. Marketing overlaps with both sales and advertising and is utilised at all stages of the business process, including product development, creating sales pitches, and retail distribution. The reason that the marketing department is so strongly connected to all of these different elements of a business is that marketers have the strongest sense of who the customer is and what it is that they want.
The marketing department must understand how, when and where the consumer wants to communicate with the business. Therefore, it often conducts research and analysis on the consumer by sending out surveys, conducting focus groups, and studying online shopping habits.
Marketing professionals such as Ajab Samrai – who worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and O&M Group Japan – understand the important role of marketing within any business, as it is the marketing department that is responsible for catching the attention – and purchasing power – of the consumer.
In 2020, marketing is generally accepted as an essential and powerful tool which can generate leads and result in higher sales. The messaging that is created by the marketing department is designed to be educational, with the end result of persuading a potential consumer to become a paying customer.
There are many different types of marketing available in the modern marketplace and marketers should choose the platform and message that is most suited to their target audience. A successful marketing campaign should be entirely designed around the target market. Therefore, the campaign should take place wherever the customer spends most of their time.
Of the many different forms of marketing, some of the most popular include internet marketing, search engine optimisation, blog marketing, social media marketing, print marketing, search engine marketing, and video marketing.
One of the most useful and enduring marketing theories comes from the 1960s. Created by E. Jerome McCarthy, the ‘4 Ps of Marketing’ are used around the world. The ‘4 Ps’ stand for ‘Product, Price, Place and Promotion’ and explain how the marketing department should interact with each stage of a business.
An effective marketing department should have an impact and influence at every stage of a business, as it is sure to increase both its efficiency and success.