What is marketing? [PDF Inside] Definitions, 4 Ps, Types, & Advantages of Marketing

Marketing is the process of getting consumers interested in your product or service. It involves researching, analyzing competitors, promoting, distributing as well as learning more about your customers to find new ways to get them excited and attract them with promises.

These days, many companies use marketing techniques to achieve their goals.  Marketing aims at providing value for clients and prospects through content, with the long-term goal of maintaining and strengthening brand loyalty, explaining product value, and boosting sales. The success of every business depends on the type of marketing strategy it implemented.

Marketing is not just the advertisements you see on tv or the billboards you see on the street. Marketing is the way for businesses to communicate with their audience and establish their brand. A business’s marketing approaches are iterative, and strategies change with the requirements of its audience.

Definitions of Marketing

Marketing is the activities a company does to promote and sell its products and services to its potential consumers.

Or,

Marketing is referred to the actions a company takes for attracting consumers to the company’s products or services using high-quality messaging.

Or,

Marketing is the process in which your brand or company reaches out to its potential customers to inform them about the products or services that can truly benefit them in their day-to-day lives.

Different Types of Marketing

There are several types of marketing but here I’ll discuss 12 major types of marketing.

1. Outdoor Marketing

This type of marketing takes place outside of the consumer’s house. Outdoor marketing fully relies on high visibility in public places and may include flyers, shop signs, billboards, transit vehicles, stickers, etc. These are designed to draw attention to a particular product or service.

2. Print Marketing

Print marketing is a marketing technique in which marketers select their target demographic and put print advertisements in places where they will be seen, or engaged offline. This type of marketing is the distribution of advertising in newspapers, magazines, and brochures.

3. Event Marketing

Event marketing is the experiential marketing of a product, service, or brand through unique experiences or promotional events. In event marketing, brand representatives set up promotional hubs to maximize their exposure, generate leads, and expand their potential customer base.

4. Direct Mail Marketing

In this type of marketing, company or businesses send advertising materials that contain CTA, coupons, and discounts to encourage potential buyers to become actual buyers.

5. TV and Radio Marketing

Tv and radio advertisements are highly effective and influential marketing strategies as almost 70 percent of people spend at least 1-hour watching tv or listening to radio stations. These advertisements are very expensive. Sometimes they cost 6 million for only 30 seconds. Radio ads are relatively cheaper than tv ads. These ads must be either creative, funny, emotional, or punchy and able to quickly grab the viewer’s attention.

6. SE Marketing and SEO

SE marketing or Search Engine Marketing is a form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search results through paid ads. On the other hand, organic search engine optimization depends on the understanding of internet traffic patterns and related keywords to reach users in a natural way.

7. Email Marketing

Email marketing is basically the act of sending a commercial message to a group of people, using email. Every email that contains promotional materials sent to a potential or current consumer could be regarded as email marketing. These materials could be sale solicitations, coupons, donation requests, and product advertisements.

8. Content Marketing

Contain marketing is best for promoting a brand or building customer loyalty. There are three types of content; podcasts, infographics, and videos. For example, a business analyst with a weekly podcast series may deliver advice and suggestion on their platform to grab audience loyalty. Infographics are the combination of eye catchy visuals and specs data to educate the audience about a specific product or service. Video content is specifically a dedicated video on a product or service that runs on social media platforms, websites, and product pages.

9. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is a very popular marketing strategy in modern days. It includes both organic and paid modes to reach new or existing customers. Organic marketing involves free posts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter that use captions, videos, photos, and hashtags to reach users. On the other hand, brands and businesses pay social media platforms to bypass the free algorithmic limitations to reach users.

10. Performance Marketing / Affiliate Marketing

Performance marketing or affiliate marketing relies on advertising via a third party to convert customer interest into a purchase. In this type of marketing company pays a commission to an external website for sales that are generated through their website referrals. This is a trackable and low-risk strategy for brands.

11. Influencer Marketing

In an influencer marketing strategy, companies pay a content creator or any influential person to promote a product or brand. Influencer marketing is a part of brand awareness campaigns, sometimes it can also result in plenty of conversions and sales. Influencers can also participate in affiliate marketing. In this case, they will not be paid unless their strategies result in a sale.

12. Acquisition Marketing

Acquisition marketing is the strategy of targeting and marketing to new audiences to convert them into new customers. Acquisition marketers focus on customer attention and are less concerned about customer retention.

4 Ps of Marketing

The 4 Ps refer to the 4 important elements in the process of marketing a product or service. The 4 elements are interrelated with each other. Each is considered equally important in developing a strategic marketing plan.

1. Product

A product is basically any good or service that fulfills consumers’ needs. We can consider the product as a bundle of utilities that comes with some physical aspects such as volume, brand name, design, etc.

A product can be tangible, such as a car or food, or intangible, such as a house cleaning service or a beauty solution. A successful product either serves a void in the market or delivers a unique experience that spikes demand.

2. Price

Price is the most important factor in marketing. It directly influences sales volume and business profit. Pricing of a product depends on demand, cost of making, pricing trends, government regulations, etc.

It is important to fix the price that is affordable to the customers at the same time profitable for the business. Price can vary according to the product’s sales cycle and demand and supply.

Pricing has a significant impact on overall product success. For instance, when your price is too low, people think it’s a cheap quality product or the product will not be long-lasting but when the price of your product is too high, very few people will purchase it.

3. Promotion

Promotion involves decisions associated with advertising, direct marketing, sales force, advertising budget, public relations, etc. The main objective of promotion is to spread awareness about the product or service offered by a company.

You can promote your product through some traditional methods such as print advertisements, social media marketing, word of mouth, print advertisements, email marketing, content marketing, television advertisements, and promotional events.

4. Place

You need a distribution channel and a place where you can sell your products. Finding a perfect place to market and sell your product is a key factor in reaching your target consumers. If you put your product in a place that is not visible to your target customer, then you will likely not meet your sales target.

Placing also refers to the right place or medium to advertise the product to get the best attention of the customers.

Advantages of Marketing

1. Beneficial For Consumer

Customers are the ultimate focus of all marketing decisions. Marketing research is an important tool in their management and increases the effectiveness of your products. It also helps you to find out which customers want what product and how to satisfy their needs.

The consumer is the boss. The best marketing strategy empowers consumers to make choices and enhance their consumption levels. A large portion of what the consumer pays goes to cover marketing costs. Aggressive and effective marketing techniques have been responsible for the high standard of living.

2. Importance to Business Organizations

Just building a good product will not result in sales. The success of any industry comes from satisfying the needs and demands of its consumers which is the social and economic basis for the existence of all organizations. Many organizations fail because they fail to focus on marketing. Marketing is the only one that makes money directly.

Marketing is the backbone of business success. It takes care of all the problems which may arise in a company. Observing the environment, discovering market opportunities, pricing plans, Analysing trends, formulating product policies, and growing distribution are some of the problem areas which pose challenges to the success of a business. Marketing takes care of all these challenges by creating products and services that help them stand out from an otherwise crowded competition.

3. Contributes to Economic Development

Marketing is an important sector of an economy. Its contribution to the economic development of a country is reflected in the development of goods and services that can be consumed by its people. In addition, marketing activities generate employment and income and have a positive effect on the standard of living in a country.

Marketing is the foundation of economics. If an economy doesn’t have marketing, it will not work. Marketing bridges the gap between production and consumption, providing stable prices, full employment, and strong economic conditions.

4. Worthwhile for Non-Profit-Organizations

Understanding the essential marketing fundamentals is essential for any non-profit organization. For example, an effective marketing program will ensure that grant applicants and sponsors can hold fundraisers and attract new donors through targeted advertising, communications campaigns, and media relations. It can also enable the nonprofit organization to improve its visibility in the community and at corporate events.

5. Create Employment Opportunities

Marketing not only creates a climate for more products and services but also results in more social overhead as more roads, more warehousing facilities, more transport, and communication, etc are required. In addition to this, marketing is a complex mechanism involving sub-functions that need different specialized personnel for employment. It has been estimated that nearly 40 to 50 percent of the total population is engaged in direct or indirect marketing movements.

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