Marketing is the art of persuading customers to buy your products or services. It can include promoting at city council meetings, writing copy for your website, taking a selfie for your social media profile, and even talking someone out of a speeding ticket. This field is more than advertising and email pitches, though, and most of it has nothing to do with money. It involves persuading people to buy what you’re selling, and building brand loyalty.
Marketers are continually striving to satisfy customer needs and wants, and that means integrating these into their strategy. This process has changed over time, and it’s important that marketing evolve to meet these changes. It’s important to recognize that customers have varying tastes and behaviors and that changing those preferences can be beneficial for a company’s business. This approach may seem counterintuitive at first, but it has led to a much more successful marketing strategy in recent years.
The early days of marketing were characterized by recessions and a severe lack of consumer dollars. Companies, however, tended to be more “selling” oriented than “marketing” and instead focused on advertising and selling. This was a dangerous combination, as consumers were hesitant to spend money, and the competition was fierce for available dollars. With limited resources, companies were forced to create new methods of marketing and make the most of them. But even in the recession and post-war world, marketers continued to innovate and refine their strategies until they had the perfect formula.
Today, marketing involves combining innovative vision with a deep understanding of consumer needs. Think of the McDonald’s breakfast chicken sandwich campaign. The new sandwich is offered for $1.99 on certain dates, and the company launches a TV campaign to promote it. They also sell the sandwich in stores. Another example of a marketing strategy is a toothpaste campaign by Procter & Gamble. These companies send samples to dentists for evaluation. The toothpaste is then sold through Walmart stores. These companies also create consumer panels to sample toothpaste and collect their feedback.
Product pricing is a crucial element of marketing. The goal of pricing is to maximize the number of potential buyers who can afford it. While competitors’ prices are generally higher than your own, they aren’t necessarily the same. Marketing professionals look for the price range of the ideal customer to create the most successful strategy. If you price your product too high, you risk losing a loyal customer, and if you price it too low, you risk losing more money than you make.
Besides the price, a good marketing strategy focuses on customer experience. This involves elevating customer satisfaction while removing the difficulties customers may face. A marketing strategy also incorporates the Four Ps of Marketing, or product, price, place, and promotion. The four Ps of marketing have been around for a long time. However, the industry has changed significantly since then and today they encompass people, process, and physical evidence. Essentially, the four Ps of marketing are what make or break a business.