OfficiaNet - Online Business Networking Directory 01 11 2024

OfficiaNet - Knowledge Base

Marketing

Marketing is a wide term, generally used to explain how a product or service is conceived, developed, advertised and sold to the consumer. It’s based on either satisfying existing customer requirements, or generating a new need or desire.

Marketing Strategy

The marketing strategy is usually a part of the overall business planning process, and combines product or service development, manufacturing, marketing and distribution. It sets specific marketing goals, and states how they will be achieved within a given time scale, and pre-set budget.

Market Research

There are several aspects which come under the wide term ‘market research’. It can mean proposing a product or service to consumers, for an initial reaction, or actually testing it for their opinions. Market research also incorporates collecting information about your market sector to help you locate your target clients, and position your business appropriately amongst competitors. Identifying new trends for future product or service development is also an important feature of this activity

Marketing Mix

The marketing strategy also determines the marketing mix, which is often known as’ the 4Ps’: product (or presentation in the service industries), price, place and promotion. The product is the item you want to sell, and having done your previous research, you will know it is viable.

The price you charge needs to take into account development and manufacturing costs, transportation and your profit margin, as well as being realistic against similar items offered by competitors.

The place is the market you aim to sell in. With ICT, this can be a virtual market anywhere in the world, as long as you can manage the financial transactions and guarantee delivery. Place also considers whether you want to operate in your existing market, or venture into a new market where you haven’t sold your product or service before.

The final P is promotion, which largely relates to where and how you aim to advertise your product or service, and setting a budget for that activity. It can involve personal representation, posters, mail shots, the media, or the internet. Of course, personal recommendation from your clients to other potential clients is also a wonderful method of promotion!