Without targeted marketing, it is not possible today. For most people, marketing is just advertising, whether in the newspaper, on billboards, or on television. But marketing is much more than that. Marketing has to be well thought out and marketing has to be understood.
What is marketing
Marketing is used to make a brand, a service or a product interesting for certain people in the market. Marketing is a summary of activities in a company paired with strategies. Marketing includes target group analysis , price management , branding and advertising itself. In a company there is the marketing department, which is responsible on the one hand for marketing the product and publicizing the company. On the other hand, marketing also means aligning your own company in such a way that it meets the customer’s expectations.
Where is marketing defined?
Marketing is defined in the company. Each company has its own orientation to meet the needs of the market. All of your decisions as an entrepreneur, all of your actions, must therefore aim to meet the expectations of your customers . The definition of marketing in your company must therefore be to recognize the needs of the market as well as their changes. This means that your marketing must be defined in such a way that it recognizes both increasing sales of your products or services as well as decreasing sales and reacts accordingly.
What do you need marketing for?
You will surely hear in other companies, especially in small and medium-sized companies, that Mr X or Ms Y do the marketing there and that mostly on the side. But that usually has little to do with marketing. If marketing is really going to do its job, then you need sufficient resources for it. You clearly need marketing if you are to succeed in generating sufficient profits under market conditions to be successful. You need marketing to make something new and special out of a very simple product. We no longer live in times when things were simply bought in markets. With the purchase of your product, the customer today wants a solution to an existing problem get delivered. And you need marketing to provide him with this information and thus to influence his buying behavior.
How did the term marketing develop?
Marketing as you know it today did not take shape until the end of the 19th century. Before, there was a relatively manageable range of products from which potential customers on sales markets could or had to choose. Only with the beginning of industrialization and the beginning of mass production did the market change. Suddenly there were a lot of products from a lot of manufacturers, but the proportion of potential buyers did not change. Suddenly, strategies were necessary to bring your own products to the customer and prevent them from buying from the competition. And the topic of marketing became more important.
Historical development of marketing
Marketing really picked up speed at the beginning of the 1950s . The demand for goods in the post-war years was very high. For companies, the focus was therefore on satisfying this demand. At the beginning of the 1960s , a marketing concept followed that was based on sales. It was then that the heyday of radio and television advertising began . Advertising suddenly became more and more the focus of marketing. The amount of advertising in these media increased even further with the introduction of private television. The sale of newspapers of all kinds also increased steadily, as did offline marketing made it very interesting. But this also had consequences and consumers felt completely overloaded with advertising.
Yes, and then something happened that completely changed marketing. The internet arrived and online marketing was born.
What are the goals of marketing?
You can use marketing for a variety of business goals. But for this it is very important that you first describe and define these goals very clearly. It is also important that you define who your target group is and your USP , i.e. your unique selling point . Only when this has been done can you think about the right marketing strategy and marketing instruments . You can use marketing for direct sales, but also for your branding . This results in the following goals.
| Economic goals in sales |
| Increase in sales of products |
| Achieve increased sales |
| Improve contribution margin |
| Increase in profitability |
| Achieve increase in profit |
| Shaping the price level |
| Increase in conversion rate |
| Increase new customer acquisition |
So behind the economic goals are goals that are quantitative and that can be measured using defined key figures. Classically, these are variables such as turnover , sales and profit . These goals are supplemented by parameters such as the conversion rate .
| Psychological goals in the area of branding / brand building |
| Announcement of your corporate philosophy to the outside world |
| Creating trust with corporate identity and strengthening customer relationships |
| Announce your USP positioning (cheap offer, highest quality, exceptional service, excellent value for money, etc.) |
| Building a brand and corporate image and constantly improving it |
So the psychological goals are perceptual goals. With these goals you determine how outsiders perceive your company. This in turn leads you to the quantitative goals, because the better your company is perceived, the better your image, the more this affects sales, sales and profit.
What is the Marketing Strategy?
As a marketing strategy, you have to understand a long-term effective and planning activity. For you, it represents the foundation that focuses on your range of services. However, the marketing strategy has to be aligned in such a way that you are always able to react to changes in the market. The marketing strategy must already be part of your business plan. The result of the marketing strategy is a very precise planning of the quantities and time frames of the products to be created and the definition of your target groups. The direction of your sales is also the result of your strategy.
What is the classic marketing mix?
In order to be able to achieve your marketing goals, you have to use different marketing tools . These different tools are known as the marketing mix . The four most important of these instruments are referred to as four P’s. This is
- Product
- Price
- Place
- promotion
| Instrument | Description |
| 1. Product | In the product policy , which stands for the first of the P’s, you devote yourself to all information that is directly related to your product or service. Of course, you yourself know what you are offering. But do you also know how you differentiate yourself from your competitors? This means that you define your USP with this tool and thus also which customer needs you meet and how you want to fulfill them in the future. |
| 2. Price | As the name suggests, you are dealing here with the pricing policy that is applied to a product. You have to find out everything that is important for you and also for the customer on the subject of price in order to then be able to find the right price.
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| 3. Place | The third P is about your distribution policy . That means what is important to be able to sell your product properly. How do you want to sell? In the store, online or in some other way? Does this type of sales also suit your target group? |
| 4. Promotion | This is about communication . So how you want to draw attention to your offer. With this instrument, the concrete definition of your marketing measures also occurs for you for the first time. Which communication channels do you choose? What content do you want to use for this? |
What types of marketing are there?
It’s been over 100 years since marketing theory developed and became a success. In the course of time, however, a lot has changed in the markets, so that there are special approaches to marketing. Above all, the ever advancing digitization contributes to the fact that there are more and more different types of marketing. The most important ones should be presented to you below.
| Marketing Art | Description |
| Classic marketing | Before the times of the Internet and before the times of digital possibilities, traditional marketing was the most common form. Classic marketing includes posters , flyers , newspaper advertisements , but also television and radio advertising . Even at these times, the success of a campaign was measurable, albeit only very imprecisely. You had the opportunity to measure the success of a poster campaign, for example. But you weren’t able to measure exactly where the poster appealed to most of the customers. |
| Direct marketing | Direct marketing can also still be described as classic marketing. Even before the times of digitization, people were relying on telephone , fax and letters . These were later replaced by e-mails or personalized advertising on the Internet . The aim of direct marketing is to address the customer directly and in this way to achieve customer loyalty. It’s less about sales and more about customer loyalty. |
| Online marketing | Online marketing is also called digital media marketing. Over the years it has become a major part of marketing. This is also due to the variety of options. You can use banners , emails , affiliate marketing or influencer marketing , to name just a few examples. The further the technology advances, the more opportunities arise for you. |
| Event marketing | Today you also have the opportunity to use an advertising campaign at an event to attract attention. The larger and the more unusual this event, the greater the range and the better your image will be. |
| Cross media marketing | Thanks to digitization, cross-media marketing has also gained in importance. Before the advancing digitization, this form was also known as multichannel marketing . Cross-media marketing means that you rely on multiple channels, both offline and online. |
| Neuromarketing | Neuromarketing is as exciting as it is controversial. The customer does not even notice here that his purchasing behavior may be influenced. Neuromarketing has many faces, from the background music in the department store to the arrangement of certain goods in the store. |
| Guerilla marketing | This shape is still relatively new, but it is becoming increasingly popular. You will surprise customers and potential customers with funny and unusual advertising campaigns. The budget required is relatively small, but the effect is all the greater. |
Difference between offline and online marketing
With offline marketing the classic marketing measures and their instruments are understood. None of them relate to a digital offer. Above all, you use the print media in offline marketing . Offline marketing also includes appearing at trade fairs , advertising on TV and radio and outdoor advertising . In online marketing, on the other hand, all instruments and measures that are digitally available are described. These measures are, for example, affiliate marketing , newsletter marketing or advertising in the search engines, to give you a few examples.
| Advantages and disadvantages of offline marketing | Advantages and disadvantages of online marketing |
Benefits of offline marketing
Disadvantages of offline marketing
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Benefits of Online Marketing
Cons of Online Marketing
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Can both methods be combined?
You can of course combine both methods. It just has to fit your marketing strategy. You have to take particularly good account of the fact that you are weighting. The weighting depends on the one hand on the amount of your available budget, but above all on the target group you want to reach.
Both online marketing and offline marketing can bring you great benefits. It is important for you what you focus on. Is it about acquiring new customers or about customer loyalty? You have to align your strategy accordingly.
What are the challenges for marketing in the future?
Marketing has become more and more complex over the past 50 years . In the past, creativity and inventiveness were in the foreground, now technology and analysis are more and more important. Added with disciplines such as SEO , SEA and optimization of conversion. In the future, the great challenge will be that there are competencies to be bundled and that both methods and implementation are well recognized for the respective campaigns. In the future, individual measures need to be related to one another. The measures no longer have to be recorded individually, but as a whole. This in turn has the effect that large amounts of data are created here and you have to master this and be able to evaluate it accordingly.
Conclusion
Effective marketing with a clear marketing strategy can make a very important contribution to the success of your company. If you use your marketing correctly, you will increase your profitability and constantly win new customers. Your marketing strategy and the marketing instruments and measures to be applied from it must always be aimed at your target group. Marketing shouldn’t be related to your products or services, but should be focused on the customer.
