In today's highly competitive environment, one of the most important working tools is marketing. It has a direct impact on the customer's decision to buy a particular product. What is marketing? What are its main tasks? What marketing research can be used in business? So many questions, but so few clear answers. So let's get started.
Marketing concept
Marketing is traditionally understood as a system of market research aimed at studying the needs of customers and how to meet them using different tools.
The term "marketing" appeared only in the last century, along with the development of entrepreneurship and increased competition. Then business owners had to introduce new features in order not to lose customers. The word "marketing" itself comes from the English market and means the market and actions on it. By actions we mean the study of customers, including their segmentation,determining the target audience, their needs, creating a product, promoting it, etc. In general, marketing is traditionally understood as actions aimed at the market and at the buyer. All this requires, on the one hand, great knowledge, and on the other hand, some manage to intuitively implement marketing in their firms. But still, before implementing such an extensive tool, you need to at least study it a little.
The first thing to remember in understanding marketing is not advertising. And not even sales. Marketing is understood as a system that requires extensive knowledge related to the market, product, and promotion. Beneath the tip of the iceberg is the gigantic effort of marketers to understand the needs of the customer. Whatever product is promoted, it will not work if people do not need it. When inventing a new product, you can not imitate existing ones. The largest companies: Amazon, Microsoft, Apple - created their own. Now there are many firms trying to replicate their success. But they are the best in their niches, and in the near future no one will surpass them.
So, marketing is understood as market research, product development, pricing, communication with customers, delivery.
Need for marketing
Need is the lack of something: food, clothing, entertainment, recreation, sports, travel, development, etc.
Needs
A need differs from a need in that it depends on a person's preferences. For example, the need for sugar, mango, sausage, potatoes. Depends on the culture of the particular region.
The need for marketing is understood as a test fororigin and culture of the client, and even has a connection with stereotypes: in the USA - the need for french fries and hamburgers, in France - snails and wine, in Germany - in beer and sausage.
If the needs of the manufacturer have no influence, then the needs - how much more! This is where advertising comes to the rescue, causing an “appetite” to buy this product.
Request
Demand is a need and an opportunity to buy. Depends on the income level of the client. The student will not afford to buy an expensive watch. But a successful entrepreneur can. This is the request.
Product
All these definitions lead us to the last thing - the product. In marketing, a product is understood as a response to a customer's request. People buy those goods that have the most advantageous set of properties and will most satisfy their needs. Marketers need to determine what kind of product they need to create so that it fully meets the needs of customers.
People want the "perfect product": price, quality, features.
Of course, you can sink into ancient times and go to self-sufficiency: completely extract everything yourself. But who needs it in the 21st century? In order for both buyers and producers to exchange goods and money, there is a market.
Market
The market is understood as a platform for exchange, where each party benefits. Well, here the active work of marketers is already beginning.
What are the goals of marketing
For the buyer is to find the right product that matchesexpectations, at an affordable price and with the best features.
For a manufacturer, it means meeting the needs of the target audience.
This should benefit both parties.
Market Marketing
Accordingly, the marketing market is understood as a set of buyers, manufacturers and government representatives who protect the interests of customers and explore the market for this.
The marketing market can be divided among these parties:
- Seller's market - where buyers are more interested in the product. For example, monopolies.
- Buyer's market - here sellers are looking for customers for themselves. A more familiar format for us.
What questions should a marketer ask themselves before starting product development
- What is the market missing now?
- What sells well?
- Can this be sold outside of the local market?
- Do people need it?
- If so, how? Client portrait - target audience.
- What needs will this product soothe?
- What technology is needed to develop a product?
- What will be the approximate cost and final price?
- How to reduce the cost without losing quality?
- How many resources (both human and financial) are needed to implement the first batch of the product?
- Better than the competition?
- What can be implemented to stand out from the competition?
- How to promote a product on social media?
- Sales forecast for several years ahead.
- Methods of advertisingproduct.
If the answers to questions about the need in the market and whether the product will sell well are positive for you, you can proceed with product development. The main thing is to know how to stand out from the competition.
Research
Marketing research - what does this concept refer to?
When launching a product, there is a lot of testing and research to be done. Most often they can be carried out by answering various questions on certain topics. Such research is carried out both at the launch of the product and after.
- Market. Characteristics of the industry, client profile (age, gender, where he works, approximate income, marital status, geographical parameter), competitors (especially pay attention to their participation in the market, and also test how quickly and efficiently they work), politics and others factors affecting the market.
- Sales. In which regions will the product sell best? How fast will the sale take place? Inventory and distribution plans. Inventory is necessary to calculate the volume of goods and to remove possible accounting inaccuracies. Inventory planning will help to regularly find errors and correct them without harm to the company.
Product distribution planning in marketing refers to the logistics of goods from the place of production to the place of sale. That is, all the movement of goods, with the help of which firms this will be implemented. Merchandise planning starts from receiptorder and right up to the receipt of the goods by the customer. Merchandising includes warehousing and maintaining inventory. Inventories must be monitored especially carefully, because it often happens that a customer orders something, and after accepting the order, company employees find that the goods are not in stock. And then you need to either negotiate with the client, or, if possible, look for it from competitors so as not to lose the loy alty of the customer.
In general, the delivery of goods must also be carefully planned, controlled and not delayed with dispatch. Especially when it comes to large volumes.
Product innovation. How can your product compete with others? What new things will you be able to offer the market after some time?
The following tests are carried out some time after the launch of the product.
- Advertising. Here you need to answer the question, which of the promotion methods turned out to be the most effective? You need to calculate which source of advertising and at what price attracted the most customers. Also how much did each client cost. To calculate this, you need to divide the cost of advertising on this resource by the number of customers who came from this resource. To find out what the client learned about you here, you can use different methods. The Internet is the easiest way to do this, but if the ad is on TV or non-media, then short customer surveys can be used.
- Analysis of startup costs and first profit. How much profit do you make per unit? Correction of the initial sales plan after the launch of the product. Have all expectations been fulfilled in terms of volumesales after the first month after launch? After a few months after the launch, you can do a trend analysis.
- Motivation of employees. What methods of motivation most influence the work of subordinates? Talk to employees, ask what they would like. And for motivational programs, too, allocate a place in the budget.
You can and should implement your own market research, depending on the type of your business. An example would be an Italian restaurant researching customers' favorite dishes. You can ask visitors what they like and what they think needs to be changed.
Innovation
In the 21st century, innovative marketing is especially developing. All this is due to growing competition and the desire of firms to bring something new to the market. In innovative marketing, marketing is strategic and tactical.
Strategic marketing is traditionally understood as an analysis of the market and the capabilities of the enterprise. Its purpose is to improve the operation of the enterprise and bring additional profit. Marketers distinguish between two types of strategic marketing: regular and sanitation. Regular is the constant maintenance of the competitiveness of the company, and remedial is the same regular, but it is implemented through the reorganization of funds. It differs from the regular one in that in the regular one, funds are constantly allocated for marketing, and in the case of rehabilitation - as needed.
Tactical innovativemarketing is understood as preparing the market for the launch of a new product or large volumes of an existing one. New products play an important role in the competitiveness of the company. For its implementation, it is necessary to conduct various studies and tests. This is the study of product innovation, market segments, market probing, advertising, sales organization, stocking and the search for a permanent clientele. Tactical marketing is directly related to the innovation market, where everyone who wants to buy and sell innovative products gathers. Be aware of the risk of social rejection of the new product.
Innovation research is a complete analysis of similar products in the market, analysis of the demand for products of this type, and even forecasting future sales.
Research of market segments - identification of customer groups, customer portrait, how much money the target audience is willing to pay for the product.
Probing the market is testing a product before launching it. For example, tastings, fairs and more.
Advertising is the presentation of the merits of the product, promotional methods that have the greatest impact on buyers.
Sales organization. The product can be sold to both consumers and resellers (wholesale) or intermediaries (brokers, agents), franchise. It depends on how much the product is in demand in the market. If the demand for a product is huge, it is better to wholesale to large sellers.
Tactical innovation marketing is understood as all the work and tests to promote a new product.
How marketing affects the lives of customers
The most important thing is the opportunity forbuyers find a good product effortlessly. This can be done on online platforms, advertising banners, ads, etc. Now marketing has filled the whole space, creating huge competition. Advertising, which is one of the main marketing tools, appears everywhere. This is especially noticeable on social networks.
Conclusion
Well, marketing is traditionally understood by consumers as advertising, but marketing is actually a complex process. Marketers work both to invent a product and to finally close a deal with a client. In the modern world, without marketing knowledge, it is impossible to build a successful and profitable company. But learning it all on your own from scratch will take a lot of time, because marketing is traditionally understood as a whole system of business knowledge, and it may be better to hire a specialist to implement it. When hiring a marketer, do not forget to check his competence: ask about his cases, consult with friends who also hired this type of specialists.
If you are afraid to delegate work with the market, then start studying marketing in more detail right now. It will be an exciting and educational adventure, and will also open the way for beginners to the world of their own business.
