When you go into business, you may think that marketing is simply marketing: a management process in which products, goods and services move from concept to customer. But that’s just the start of things. There are various types of marketing, each varying from others and to be used for different purposes to meet your company’s specific, temporary needs. Here’s a quick run through of the basics and some more complex marketing techniques to employ later down the line.
Marketing Basics
For effective marketing, you need to successfully incorporate what are commonly known as “the four Ps” into your business. These are the identification, selection and development of a product, determining its price, clarification of the necessary distribution channel to reach the customers place and the development and implementation of a promotional strategy. Now, let’s look into each of these a little more closely.
Product selection and development
Product selection investigates how customers choose what to buy. It examines the process that goes into their decision making when spending their cash. This will give you an insight into what the market want and how to best cater to consumer trends. Product development, on the other hand, involves the conceptualization, design and development of newly created or rebranded goods. It is also commonly referred to as product management or NPD (short for New Product Development), so don’t be thrown if you see these term used by others.
Price determination
Price determination allows you to set the optimum price for your goods. This is achieved by analyzing the difference between demand and supply in the free market. If demand is high and supply is low, you can charge more for your goods and services.
Distribution
The distribution process incorporates making your products available for the customers who need them. You can generally opt for one of three options: mass distribution, selective distribution or exclusive distribution.
Promotional Strategy
Promotional strategy focuses on meeting all of the needs above to create the most effective and profitable marketing campaign by concentrating limited resources on the task at hand. The overall aim of the strategy is to increase sales (and thus profit) and to achieve an overall sustainable, competitive advantage over market rivals.
Viral Marketing
We live in the internet generation and if you want to succeed and establish your business within its field, one of the easiest marketing options to undertake and a safe bet to catching the general public’s attention is viral marketing and campaigning. This is a method where consumers and potential customers are encouraged to share information about your goods and services by sharing your advertisements online. This could involve sending video links to friends, images of your goods on their social media feeds or sharing your advertisements on their home page.
The best way to do this is to either appeal to their sense of humor, their heart or their aesthetic. Humor can be achieved with witty, clever or slapstick videos pertaining to your goods. Alternatively, you can discreetly use product placement to subtly create connotations between feel good videos and your brand. Use sentimental adverts to reach out and touch the consumer market’s hearts. Think of Amazon Prime’s popular lion advert or John Lewis’ much anticipated Christmas adverts.
MSP Marketing
MSP marketing is a form of marketing carried out on your behalf by a third party of managed service providers. Many people are wary of outsourcing aspects of their brand, but allowing independent, qualified and experienced individuals to take care of your marketing for you is a logical and beneficial option for smaller businesses. It frees up your time, allowing you to focus on other areas of your company, such as forging business relations and focusing on making sales and turning over profit. You will have an extensive team’s support at hand to make your marketing campaigns as effective and smooth running as possible. For more information on MSP Marketing, check out Pronto Marketing, leaders in the field and pioneers in the future of doing MSP Marketing.
Bear in mind that these are just a few of the many different types of marketing strategies that you can employ. There are plenty more out there, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. So do your research and work out which is best for your business, your brand, and your aims. Consider this an opportunity to raise your company above competitors, expose your brand to as many people as possible, secure new customers and create a loyal and happy customer base.
