Every role in our present business world requires us to know and apply at least some elements of marketing in it. It is no longer about using marketing and sales interchangeably as terms, but setting a clear context about what marketing actually entails. There are many marketing courses in India that help one to know more about marketing management, its concepts as well as its applications. Marketing analytics programs work amazingly to enhance your marketing analytics skill. This knowledge is of great value in any organization or role that you work in.
What is meant by marketing management?
Management Expert Philip Kotler describes marketing as “Marketing Management is the analysis, planning, implementation & control of programmes aimed to bring about the desired exchanges with target audiences for the purpose of personal & mutual gain”.
Also Read: How to Develop a Successful Marketing Strategy?
Why is marketing management so important?
Marketing Management is so important for any business because with the help of it businesses can understand the exact need of their customers. Improving the product and/or service to satisfy customer needs. Expand the technique to reach potential customers.
What are the 5 marketing concepts?
- Societal Marketing Concept
- Marketing Concept
- Selling Concept
- Production Concept
- Product Concept
Let us take a quick look at the main elements of marketing management:
What are the 7 principles of marketing?
Product or Service
This is about the features, strengths and core value that the products or services provided by the organization has and is perceived to have. Marketing ensures that they are shared with the target customers in the best way possible.
Price
The price point at which a product is sold is a marketing discussion, because not only does it need to capture the cost incurred, but it has to reflect the positioning of the brand itself.
Place
The place or channels through which a product is sold is critical. One has to ensure that it is distributed via places that are accessible to potential buyers.
Promotion
The persona of the brand is defined by the promotion. It is targeted towards boosting brand recognition and sales. Advertising, sales promotion and public relations are part of this element.
People
This covers all people who are associated with the organization in some form or role, that is, the Board or management, employees, customers, vendors and so on. They define the culture and business goals, and whether the organization will grow to the next level or not.
Process
The actual systems and operational processes of the organization are core to the way the final product goes out into the hands of the consumer. Great processes will ensure that costs are minimized. Keeping operational excellence in mind and designing the processes is important. That will also result in profit maximization.
Also Read: Learn to derive insights with this Marketing Analytics course from IIM Lucknow
Physical Evidence
The physical presence or evidence has a huge role to play particularly in the service industries. It helps the customer connect at a different level with the brand and also reflects how the organization and its products are perceived.
These are the core elements that together form marketing management. They are equally important from an organizational perspective and there are long term implications of each of these. Organizations need to work on their marketing mix and strategy with these in mind.
Every business, big or small, has the goals related to its sales at the top of its list of priorities. It finds and looks for ways as well as strategies, to increase its revenue stream. While marketing and sales have always been connected or believed to be linked, it is important to be aware of what kind of marketing strategies will actually make the sales increase. If you undergo a strategic management course it will share these insights.
Let us get an understanding of what kind of marketing strategies actually work on that front.
Consumer segmentation
One of the biggest strategies in marketing involves segmenting consumers into categories and then aligning efforts as well as investments based on those. The target set of consumers are the ones who are most likely to buy the product or service. So defining the categories and using specific marketing techniques to those categories, will help increase sales. For example, if the categories are defined by demographics, the younger consumers will prefer to read about the product or service through digital platforms, whereas the older ones through a television advertisement.
SWOT analysis
A well-defined SWOT ( Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of your consumer segment or even your marketing initiative will result in increased sales. This will help you be more aware of what kind of elements to use more, and how to address the threats. You need to be able to apply SWOT to your competitor’s marketing approach too since that is also part of how you define and apply your own strategy.
Customer Relationship Management
Your repeat customers are the ones who will drive and stabilize your sales. Those who order regularly or come back to you for the product/service are the ones who raise the revenues. So customer relationship management, for those who are existing clients, is very important. As a marketing strategy, your approach should always cover this segment in a comprehensive manner. They should receive the first set of communication with any new launches or offers. There should be a special privilege associated with being a loyal customer, so market those privileges to them.
Public Relations
While PR is different from marketing, it has to be used in conjunction with marketing for overall impact. So use PR to raise awareness about your brand and how its values, as well as benefits, are aligned to the consumer. Marketing content should be designed to cover all platforms such as newspapers, radio stations, websites and blogs.
These are a few simple but impactful ways to link marketing strategies to overall sales. Well-linked marketing and sales approaches work extremely well.
More Information:
Types of Digital Marketing Channels and Their Uses
What are the Three Basic Types of Business Strategies?
Short Term Online Course in Marketing Analytics from XLRI
Improve your Marketing Decision making with Marketing Analytics
Top 8 Marketing Strategies you can Learn from Digital Marketing Courses
