Marketing Basics

Marketing Definition

• Marketing is a process companies use to attract customers and guide them to make purchases
• Marketing includes building customer relationships and establishing brand recognition
• Marketing is designed to attract customers and influence purchases
• Effective marketing aims to understand the customer and make the product sell itself
• Key elements include grabbing attention, connecting with customers, anticipating needs, and leaving a lasting impression

Marketing Team Roles and Responsibilities

• A marketing team manages various tasks and responsibilities to build customer relationships and create brand recognition

Distinguishing Marketing from Selling

• Selling involves customer purchasing a product or service
• Marketing focuses on attracting the customer, aiming for a lasting impression and increased brand recognition

Purpose of Marketing

• To understand the customer and align products/services with their needs, which leads to effective sales

Marketing's Contribution

• Marketing provides knowledge about a company, product, service, or brand
• It differentiates a company from competitors and makes sales more desirable to consumers

How Marketing Builds a Brand

• Marketing builds brand recognition and makes a brand memorable, increasing the likelihood of a purchase

Focus of Marketing

• Marketing involves developing customer relationships, building brand recognition, and understanding consumer needs to sell products

Market Definition

• Markets are where buyers and sellers with shared interests conduct business

Market Essence

• Markets require potential customers with interest and resources to make purchases
• Identifying potential buyers is a process of defining a target market.

Potential Customer Definition

• Potential customers are individuals or organizations with interest in a product/service and the ability to pay and are part of the company's target market.

Target Market

• Identifying common traits, shared values, interests, purchasing habits in a target market helps marketers tailor strategies

Common Traits of Potential Customers

• Interest and income are necessary for potential customers in addition to common traits

Market Research

• Comprehensive market research is crucial for identifying potential customers, understanding their needs, buying habits, and ability to afford the product

Target Market Understanding

• Identifying potential customers require understanding the specific group most likely to purchase the product

Direct Sources of Information

• Surveys and focus groups are direct sources of information on potential customers and provide firsthand information about preferences and behaviors

Differentiating Marketing from Selling

• Selling occurs when a customer buys a product or service
• Marketing involves attracting customer attention, which may lead to a sale
• The goal of marketing is to leave an impression and increase brand recognition and provide customers with your products

Importance of Branding

• Branding creates a unique and recognizable image for the company, making products/services more desirable

Personal Connection through Branding

• Effective branding allows for deeper connection and influences buying decisions by telling a company story

Distinguishing from Competitors

• Branding distinguishes products/services and provides a competitive edge

Consistency in Branding

• Branding in marketing ensures consistency across all customer contact points

Customer Loyalty through Branding

• Strong branding inspires loyalty, leading to repeat sales and word-of-mouth advertising

Anticipating Market Trends

• Branding can anticipate market trends with research and adapt accordingly

Understanding Customer Needs

• To understand customer needs it involves identifying your customer to tailor your strategy

Customer Wants

• Customer Wants are important to understand and can be aspirational and driven by trends

Customer Needs

• Customer Needs are different from their wants; they solve problems or satisfy basic requirements

Addressing Benefits

• Address what benefits the customers most and align your product or service with this benefit

Purchase Motivation

• Understanding the factors that motivate a customer to make a purchase such as price, quality, or convenience is important

Market Research Importance

• Crucial for collecting data about your customer base using surveys or focus groups

Data Analysis

• Analysis to gain consumer behavior, trends, and preferences to tailor marketing strategies is important

Strategy Refinement

• Use insights gained from data analysis to refine your marketing strategy and better address customer needs

Defining Your Product or Service

• Define product/service and what it offers to the public
• Outline specific characteristics, pros, cons, and how it benefits consumers
• Determine customer willingness to have your product or service

Tips for Defining Your Product or Service

• Know all aspects of the product or service
• What does it offer the consumer?
• Determine who your target audience would be

Clearly Define

• Define clearly, understand what it offers to the public, outline characteristics and features

What Does it offer

• Determine how it can benefit the consumer, establish its value, identify likely target audience

Marketing Types

• Marketers exposed to marketing strategies like television ads, newspaper flyers, websites, and coupons

Understanding Marketing Strategies

• Understand Direct, Active, Incoming, and Outgoing Marketing such as understanding the methods for your product

Direct Marketing

• A strategy that businesses use to advertise directly to the customer
• Approach focues on customer wants and needs

Active Marketing

• Focuses on customer needs
• Approach aims to build relationships

Incoming Marketing

• Provides customers with information while waiting for return responses

Outgoing Marketing

• Involves presenting a product or service, whether the customer is actively looking for it or not

Direct Marketing Strategy

• Allows businesses to advertise directly to clients, and focues on the customer and needs
• This stratgey is seen in ads for children's toys or coffee ads and call to actions such as visiting a website

Examples of Direct Marketing

• Phone calls, billboards, interactive web sites, and catalog distribution

Active Marketing

• Focuses on individual consumers, relationships, and uses online platforms

Examples of Active Marketing

• Cold Calls, Online Forums, in person networking, and responding on blogs posts

Incoming Marketing

• Designed to draw in by providing valuable information and creating opportunies to inquire more
• It's a useful approach for large audiences, but doesn't always form personal connections

Examples of Incoming Marketing

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO), company websites, Blogs, and Social Media

Outgoing Marketing

• A traditional form of marketing which essentially aims to introduce a product or service to customers, regardless of whether they are actively looking for it
• Examples includes TV commercial, Radio Ads, Web Banner Ads

Examples of Outgoing Marketing

• TV Commercials, Magainze Ads, Telephone Marketing, and Internet Ads and Web pages such that they reach a diverse range of customers

Other Marketing Types

• Living in a fast-paced society requires marketing tactics that adapt
• Effective advertising extends beyond just disseminating information

Guerilla Marketing

• A specific marketing style that employs unconventional techniques such as flash mobs or billboard graffiti to create an unexpected and unique visual perspective.

Examples of Guerilla Marketing

• Bold stunts, Prizes, interative Advertisements, and Mosaics

B2B Marketing

• Marketinng with between businesses such as manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers
• It often exceeds marketing to regular consumers & involves less conventional methods

Social Meetings in B2B

• Social meetings offer an informal space of businesses to engage
• Promotional Sales secure partnerships for B2B marketing

B2C Marketing

• A strategy that directs individuals and prospects. Includes methods such as Store Vouchers or Sale discounts
• Directs appeal to customers in the moment and includes building royalty programs, time limit or promotional marketing

Methods that B2C Includes

• Tactics include Coupons, Advertising, and Social Media Management

Promotional Marketing

• Strategy relates to B2c marketing, designed to persuade customers to make spontaneous purchase
• It's important to vary the timing of promotions so customer dont strategically wait for them to buy

Examples of Promotional Marketing

• Sweepstakes Entries, Cash Back Incentives, and Raffle Tickets

Additional Examples of Promotional Marketing

• Offering Free Gifts, Promotions via Deals or Discounts, Product Giveaways that enhances customer value and promotes brand awareness

4 P's of Marketing

• "Marketing Mix" elements known as product, price, place, and promotion are used to attract and satisfy customers, influence purchase decisions

Product

• A 'Product' is known as the company selling to its customer base i.e an object, service, or program
• These products typically progress through basic life cycle

Life Cycle

• The basic life cycle stages of a product are introduction, growth, maturity, and decline

Keys To Relevance

• Maintaining relevance of products may included monitoring market position or customer feedback

Price

• This is affected in consumer purchases, it should be affordable to customers
• This is used in cost-based pricing and set to generate a profit

What Impacts a Products Price

• The impact can heavily influence consumer purchasing behavior

Promotion

• Essential component of the marketing mix

Advertising

• Involves broad dissemination of product messgaes to potential customers in mass markets

Selling

• Focusing on tailored communication. One on one interactions i.e smaller groups or potential customers

The Place aspect of marketing

• This plays a significant role where the customer purchases and then receives product
• Some businesses may not requiere a structure or facility but instead a storage and that may affect pricing

Increase Value

• To increase value link company strengths with value for consumers
• Then provide confident and extraordinary for consumers

Communications

• While factual accuracy and detailed information are important in communication, a sense of fun that can draw in customers
• A entertaining experience helps reduce the "salesy" nature to invoke a higher likelihood

Audience Communication

• Dont strictly relay figures, but combine with entertainment can hook a audience, balance with fun with effective hook
• The beauty is that customers forget what you are initially seling them that leads to further advertisement

Communication Media

• Choose the correct media to reach target audience, this helps the customers the ability to receive the advertising,

Importance of Communication

• A customer-centric approacht requiere that all communications consider the customer's perspective
• This can come from feedback, advertising, or overall reflection for consumer