Marketing, the heart and soul of business
What is marketing?
Marketing in simple terms can be the processes of letting the customers know about the availability of your product, service or brand in the market. Marketing is a set of activities concerned with making your product or service sellable in the market. The basic definition of marketing can be the process of promoting, advertising, and selling of products and services, the process of marketing includes extensive market research and planning, based on which the promotion and advertising is done to target various segments of consumers.
The field of marketing can be regarded as the heart of a business firm or industry as it is the process through which a company or business establishes the brand name. It is very important for any business organization as the growth, development, and earning profit are directly affected by marketing. A good marketing campaign can do wonders for any organization whereas bad marketing can result in losses for any company irrespective of how big or small an organization is. Every organization requires a marketing specialist to represent the company in the form of promotion and advertisements to the world.
The demand of marketing specialist increases with the increase in competition and new industries in the market, and hence pursuing an education in the marketing field can be a wise choice. Marketing degrees are provided by a lot of colleges and universities around the world and because of the online revolution various students prefer online education over the on-campus education. To find the top colleges for marketing, search for the best online marketing colleges to get the details of all the colleges offering marketing degrees, for the students interested in the online education.
Why study marketing?
Marketing is a field that is concerned with making your product or services known to the customers, providing customer satisfaction, and creating a brand name and image for the product or service offered by the business organization. Marketing is a field without which a business cannot succeed. Marketing can be used not just for the business knowledge, but it can also be useful in various aspects of life. There are various reasons to study marketing and few of those reasons are mentioned below.
Marketing is a field that teaches the students about various skill sets required to succeed as a sales person or marketing manager.
It enhances the interpersonal skills sets and prepares a student to understand the psychology of the customer and create a marketing plan that may affect the customer’s psychology.
It allows the students with the opportunity to combine courses, such as, combining marketing with the field of psychology, to understand the human psychology and how to create marketing plan based on how the human brain works.
Marketing is the heart of any business firm and thus the marketing students can expect a lot of career and job opportunities. A student having a marketing degree can get a job in various diverse industries or business sectors.
Marketing courses provide theoretical as well as practical knowledge of the market and business models, through various case studies, field works, market research, and projects.
As marketing is of utmost importance for business, the marketers will never find any difficulties finding jobs and they will always be in demand.
Marketing is a very rewarding career and can provide various opportunities to earn a lot of money.
There are several other reasons for choosing marketing as a major for pursuing higher education.
Model of Marketing (Marketing Mix)
According to E. Jerome McCarthy, marketing revolves around 4 Ps of marketing; The Marketing Mix can be understood as the combination of tools and techniques used by marketers to promote and advertise their products and services to achieve the desired objectives. The 4 Ps of marketing are mentioned below.
Product: It is the tangible or intangible goods or services that are manufactured to satisfy the needs of the group of customers or consumers.
Price: It is basically the cost or amount that a customer has to pay in return of availing the product or service.
Place: The place where the products or services are to be distributed to target the potential consumers or customers.
Promotion: It is basically the way a product or service is promoted to attract customers.
But through decades of evolution the concept of marketing mix has also evolved from 4 to 7 Ps of marketing. The 7 Ps marketing model is a modified version of the 4 Ps marketing mix model; the 7 Ps model is generally used for the service industry. The 7 Ps model consist of all the 4 Ps with addition of 3 more terms which are as important for marketing as the original 4 Ps, the 7 Ps of marketing mix are as follows
Product: As discussed earlier, these are the goods and services manufactured by business organizations to be able to satisfy needs and wants of the customers.
Price: Basically the cost of the product.
Place: The place where the goods and services are to be sold.
Promotion: The promotion strategies used to let the customers know about the goods or services.
People: The people associated with the business or the customers are the people.
Process: The processes through which the execution of an organization and marketing takes place.
Physical evidence: The evidence that a service has been delivered in physical form.
These are the new Ps of the service marketing. There is also another extension to the basic concepts of marketing known as the 4 Cs. The 4 Cs are mentioned below.
Cost: The cost of the product is not the only cost a customer has to take care of, the cost of conscience also adds to the cost of the goods and services.
Customer needs and requirements: The organizations must manufacture or sell products that are required by the customers.
Communication: The communication between customers and the manufacturers is of utmost importance.
Convenience: The availability of the products to the customers.
The 4 Ps, 7 Ps, and 4 Cs are the basic concepts of marketing for the success of any business organization.
The Components of Marketing
For starting up a business with limited resource and time, you need a solid marketing plan to survive and make a name for yourself in the market. Marketing is of utmost importance to the business. There are several essential components of marketing one must take into account for the success of any business firm. The components of marketing are described below.
Market research: Probably the most important component of marketing, the marketing research is all about studying and understanding the market and business environment. It is conducted with a specific aim to understand the market, consumer needs and wants, and the various aspects that can affect business. The information gathered by conducting market research helps in decision making.
Segmentation: Based on the results of the research, a business firm or the management of the business must decide on the potential customers of the product. The segmentation can be done based on the product; such as men’s clothing is specifically segmented to the male population, cosmetics are segmented mainly for the female population.
Positioning: it is another key component of marketing, creating an image based on the aim of the organization is very important. The aim of the organization should be marketed and developed in such a way, that when the name of your organization comes up, the customers can clearly see how you want the product to be perceived.
Competitive analysis: Strategies and plans should be made in order to compete with the rival organizations, in order to survive in the market.
Marketing strategy: A solid marketing strategy can help you build the brand image and attract more and more customers; marketing strategy should include all the aspects of marketing and a proper plan to address each and every type of marketing.
Budget: A good budget must be prepared, based on which the marketing expenditure must be decided.
Metrics: Tracking the success of marketing with tools, such as Google analytics and MS excel sheets, to compare and figure out the strengths and weakness of the marketing strategy, and make necessary changes if required.
These are the key components of marketing to be taken into account, for the success of any business firm.
Marketing Specializations
Marketing is a very broad term which is required for the success of any business, whether profit or non-profit organizations. It is the key to success and the field of marketing is divided into various areas of study, such as.
Market Research
Digital Marketing
Guerilla Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Database Marketing
Search Engine Marketing
Content Marketing
Direct Marketing
Importance of marketing in business
Marketing is a field that can help a business in various ways to achieve its desired objective. It is important to each and every business firm. There is the various importance of marketing and some of those are mentioned below.
Marketing is the field that helps a business firm to understand a market, its business environment, and the demand of products or services, the field is important for the planning of the future affairs of the business organizations.
Marketing can help attract more and more customers and thus helping in revenue generation, and earning a profit.
It helps in establishing the organization in the market and creates a brand image.
The field helps in segmentation and targeting the population or category of customers who can be the potential buyers of the goods and services.
Marketing helps in understanding the strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats for the business organization.
Marketing helps in understanding the demands, and distribution of the goods and services, by forming various strategies and plans to make the products available in the market.
Marketing is helpful in exchanging information between consumers and the business firm.
It results in the customer satisfaction and forming bonds and relationships with the customers, which helps in the formation of goodwill for the organization.
There are various other reasons as to why marketing is important for business, as marketing is one of the major aspects of any business organization.
Career and job prospects in marketing
The demand of marketing professional never decreases, as the marketing field is required for the success of any business organization. It is a field that builds and shapes the organization in the market and helps to attract customers. There are various jobs for the students having a degree in any of the areas of marketing. Few jobs and career path for the students of marketing are mentioned below.
Public Relation Manager
Market Research Analyst
Advertising manager
Brand Manager
Media Buyer
Chief Marketing Officer
There are lots of other jobs and career prospects available for the students interested in the field of marketing.
Marketing is a field that demands the extensive knowledge of all the applications of marketing to be able to manage a business and its marketing strategies. Thus the associates, bachelors, masters, or doctorate degree is required to get jobs in the field of marketing and higher posts based on the educational qualification.
There are ample amount of colleges offering accredited online as well as on campus marketing degrees in various fields of marketing. The students who are looking for online education in marketing can look for colleges providing such degree, such as Penn foster College which provides various online degrees in the field of marketing. Having a degree in marketing can open doors to various career prospects for the students, as marketing is required in every sector, allowing students to work in various different sectors or business industries.
Conclusion
Marketing is a field that can be termed as the heart of any business firm. It is a field that is responsible for advertising and promoting various products or services; Studying marketing can help students in various ways and help learn various skill sets. It provides various career opportunities for the students.
