Marketers develop action plans to promote and sell products and services. Marketing activities often include market research and advertising. However, it is comprehensive and hard to define.
In fact, it encompasses all business activities, from pitching ideas to final sales but at the core of all these activities is a refined high-quality messaging. It is through an effective messaging that a business can attract audience, deliver value to prospects, strengthens brand loyalty, and increase sales.
In this article, we explore the definition and purposes of it, along with types and benefits of it, the essential elements (4 P’s) of it, and the difference between marketing and advertising.
What is Marketing?
It connects to all aspects of a business with the simple goal of getting people interested in company’s product and services. Savvy marketers get involved in product development, distribution methods, sales, and advertising. In recent decades, significant advancements in communication tools have provided marketers with various platforms through which they engage with consumers and convert them to leads.
A prerequisite of a successful marketing plan is a thorough research. Marketers collect critical information in research phase to identify the issues, devise action plans, and evaluate performance.
What Is the Purpose of it?
Marketers constantly research and analyze consumers through focus groups, surveys, and studying shopping habits to figure out where, when, and how consumers communicate with a certain business.
Types of it
Whether your customers spend time on social media or other platforms dictates where to launch your campaign. Employing different types of it, or a mix of tools within each type, highly depends on your understanding of customer behavior which itself depends on your market research.
Here we review several types of it that are used more often today:
Internet Marketing
Just the idea of being present online to promote your product is a type of it. Internet marketing includes many tools and is considered under a broader umbrella term, Digital Marketing.
Blog Marketing
Business produce blog posts to inform their consumers, to talk about their industry, and to connect with site visitors. People still read blog s and an interesting blog post can encourage visitors to spend more time on a business site, potentially converting them to leads.
Why do people still read blogs and what performs best?
Social Media Marketing
Each day, billions of people spend time on social media platforms whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or TikTok. The purpose of social media presence is to create engaging content that connects with audience over time.
Influencer Marketing
Individuals who can influence potential buyers collaborate with businesses to deliver brand message to a larger market. Celebrities, content creators, and customer advocates who are active on social media platforms can spread the word about a brand or product and get compensated by companies.
Viral Marketing
Explosive spread of a marketing message online can expose many people in a short amount of time to new information about a product, service, or brand.
Video Marketing
Use of videos in it is not limited to commercials anymore. Businesses use informational to entertain and at the same time educate their customers.
Content Marketing
Developing and disseminating useful and relevant information to targeted audience with the goal of convincing them to engage further with the brand or purchase a product. Storytelling is a focal skill in content marketing.
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing site content such that the website would rank higher on search engine results. SEO ensures that the business site is visible to customers who search online to know more about an industry or business.
To increase exposure to their audience, sometimes businesses pay a search engine to index site on first pages of search results. This is different than SEO which relies on an organic ranking.
Keyword Marketing
Incorporating the specific keywords that consumers use when searching for a product in the marketing message enables the marketers to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.
Green Marketing
A marketing plan that emphasizes on the environmentally friendly aspects of production or business practices. The goal is to create a conception that the advertised product or service minimized negative impacts on environment or addresses ecological concerns.
Guerilla Marketing
Unconventional and sometimes controversial marketing strategy that relies on minimum resources to achieve maximum results.
Print Marketing
Although the digital world is overtaking our life, print media is still relevant. Some businesses publish sponsored photography, articles, and advertising material in newspapers and magazines.
Outbound Marketing
Marketers create brand preferences and awareness using platforms such as TV, radio, and digital advertising to contact consumers.
Inbound Marketing
Consumers reach out to businesses as a source of information or solution to their problems through email, events, and content.
Benefits of Marketing
Brand Awareness
A marketing plan is effective when it creates trust to your brand and increases customer loyalty. Marketers educate consumers through advertising campaigns and use other tools in the marketing mix to entice buyers.
Traffic
Business websites with higher number of visitors have more potential leads. Effective strategy attracts more customers to search for your brand or product and generates more qualified leads.
Revenue
More leads can eventually turn to more sales. Marketing boosts your sales through implementing SEO, email campaigns, an advertising.
Trust
As more customers trust your brand, they repeat purchase and become loyal to your brand. Loyal customers generate more revenue and provide positive reviews. Customers’ positive feedback, whether online or through word of mouth, is one of the most effective marketing tools.
Metrics
Any marketing plan needs assessment, adjustment, or revisions. Correct metrics not only inform marketers at the time of developing the strategy, but also help measure the success of that strategy.
Essential Elements of Marketing
E Jerome McCarthy coined the term 4P’s of marketing referring to product, price, place, and promotion. Every element interacts with one stage of the business.
Product
A team puts a lot of effort before an idea for a product turns to a viable business. Marketers devise strategies to convey features, functions, benefits, and uses of the product to consumers. The strategy revolves around audience preferences, suitable messages and platforms, and product modification.
Price
It is important to know how much typical customers are willing to pay for your product. To estimate the right market price, the team would consider competitors’ price, use focus groups or surveys, industry research, and consumer analysis.
Place (Distribution)
It is essential to correctly identify where and how to sell your products. Depending on the type of product or services offered ecommerce website or a retail location might be the viable option.
Promotion
Any print or online advertisement, events, and discounts would increase awareness and ultimately sales. To promote your brand or product you can always use social media campaigns, advertisements, or public relation campaigns.
Marketing vs. Advertising
Marketing is present in all aspects of a business, from product development to market research, to distribution and sales, to even public relations and customer support. Advertising is just one component of the strategy, usually a paid effort to increase awareness about a brand or product.
How can we help you?
We at Lyla can help your business to optimize your digital marketing strategy. We can track your marketing plan success and provide analytical reports to react in a timely manner to changes in the market. Our marketing experts at Lyla will exceed your expectations.
