- Selling: with all that entails such as the dreaded double-glazing or financial salesman.
- Advertising: with all that entails such as the slick young creative and smarmy account person.
Of course marketing also encompasses these functions – though, hopefully not as in the stereotypes that are in so many minds – but marketing is about a great deal more than just selling or advertising.
Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting value in return.
It includes:
- Finding out what groups of potential customers or markets exist
- What groups of customers you prefer to serve – your target markets
- What their needs are, what products or services you might develop to meet their needs
- How customers might prefer to use the products and services
- Who competitors are and what they are doing
- What pricing mechanism and approach you should use
- How each of target markets might choose to access the product, etc.
- How much customers / clients might be willing pay and how.
- How to design and describe the product such that customers/clients will buy from the organization, rather than from its competitors – the unique value proposition
- How the company or products should be identified – personality -to be most identifiable i.e. naming and branding
- Ongoing campaigns, which can include advertising, public relations, sales and customer service
All of this was characterised many years ago by Dr. Philip Kotler as the 4Ps:
- Product – making what customers want
- Place – delivering it via the channels they want to use
- Promotion – making them aware of its existence
- Price – making it available at a price they will pay
At the end of the day marketing is really about not losing sight of the basics. You have to be focused on what customers require as the outcome and then find out how to get there by
meeting customers needs over a period of time, in a socially responsible way, whilst making a reasonable profit.
Marketing is really a philosophy and attitude about customer focus that has to run through the whole organisation. If you get that you get marketing.
Easy, of course to say.
Frequently not so easy to achieve!
What Is Guerilla Marketing
SMS marketing stands for short message service and it has become a way for a marketer to bring messages to consumers through their cell phone. As cell phone use has increased to extraordinarily high proportions many companies are realizing the potential that this has created for them.
One of the main reasons that this type of marketing has such great potential is the consumer that is carrying the phone. When you look at the typical cell phone user, they are generally younger and prefer to communicate through text message. Ninety four percent of all text messages will be read by the recipient and a full eighty percent of all cell phone users keep their phones with them at all times. This means that a marketer has the ability to communicate directly with the consumer and be read a majority of the time.
Companies have already begun to see the potential in this type of marketing and created strategies in their marketing plan to take advantage of this huge collection of future customers. There is no limit to the method that a company can use this technology to reach their customers. Setting up text message reminders for important dates with gift suggestions is one of the methods that some businesses have begun to employ in their strategy.
The collection of subscribers to a company or website can be reached via text message as opposed to the email marketing campaigns that were the rage just a few years ago. Reaching consumers has become easier with the use of SMS marketing.
Not only is this a great opportunity for businesses looking to sell directly to consumers, but professional marketing companies should look into adding SMS to their company offerings. It is possible to realize a great deal of business for your customers when you use SMS marketing.
The larger companies have already begun to use this marketing tool in their collection of strategies. Smaller businesses can also use this tool to help reach a wider variety of consumers. Those that acquire the cell phone numbers of their subscribers have the chance to send reminders and special offers to their customers via text message.
As the technology improves there will be a greater chance for video messages and a variety of other tools that marketers can use to grab the attention of their customers. Video also has a greater potential to be passed along to others. The opportunity for marketing professionals to offer this type of service to their clients will cost relatively little in comparison to other marketing strategies.
SMS marketing is a worthwhile investment for companies that are looking for a new way to reach their customers and potential customers. It is a low cost way to get their message out to a greater number of consumers.
Both Richard D S Hill & Peter Geisheker are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Peter Geisheker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Medical Tourism, Home Management and Brochures. Peter Geisheker is the CEO of The Geisheker Group . Peter develops and implements strategic marketing programs for businesses including. Peter Geisheker's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.
Black And White Horse Photo Fortunately with modern technology and a bit of time you can get the pictures that will make the difference between a no-show and a sale