Have you ever gone to the store thinking you just need some bread and some toothpaste but have come away with that new flavor of chips, a packet of gum, some kale you might need for Instagram, and a bill much larger than you expected? Marketing is inescapable in this day and age. Hence, a good understanding of the following marketing management notes is essential for learning effective management.
Basic Definitions of Marketing Management
Marketing is a social process where individual and group demands are met through the creating, offering and free exchange of goods and products with others. This social process occurs in a market, the forum of potential and actual consumers of a certain good or service.
Customers are the consumers seeking their needs to be met through a product or service, which the seller can make available. Marketing, then, is the exchange of goods and services between the customer and seller. There are a few factors of marketing to bear in mind:
- Need and want: this is the demand that the seller caters to
- Market offering: the contents of what supplies exist in the market, from which the consumer can satisfy their demands
- Customer value: Customers have two sorts of value in mind when seeking to satisfy their demands. Desired value refers to what the customer wants within a product, and perceived value is the benefit the consumer perceives will be achieved by purchasing the product.
- Exchange mechanism: this is the method by which a buyer and seller are able to conduct a transaction of goods and services. Typically, sellers provide products or services to buyers for some form of currency.
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Is there a difference between selling and marketing? The answer is yes. A few factors can be used to differentiate the former from the latter.
- While selling focuses on the transference of possessions and requires the attention to business in order to increase the sale of a good, marketing focuses on consumer satisfaction and organizational competition through which an organization can be the best at satisfying a customer’s needs.
- In selling, the focus is on the product, and in marketing, the focus is on the need of the consumer.
- In the former, the approach is from the inside out, starting from the factory where the production begins, and in the latter, the approach is from the outside-in, and the corresponding approach is to evaluate and enhance the target market where the consumer’s needs may be met.
Objectives of Marketing management
With the basics of marketing out of the way, let’s delve into the nuances of management, in relation to marketing. Marketing management is the planning, organization, directing and controlling of activities that facilitate the exchange of goods and services in the marketplace.
Marketing management requires ascertaining the target market, ensuring that the number of consumers does not stagnate by actively facilitating growth, and creating superior value for the product that the consumer should purchase from that particular vendor.
There are four objectives of marketing management
- Creating a demand for the product within consumers
- Carving out the market share that will be dominated by the business
- Generating goodwill and a positive public image by successfully satisfying consumers
- Generate profitable volume of sales by satisfying consumers
The management determines what the objectives of the market are. These can be short-term or long-term and are accompanied by a direct approach that facilitates achieving the aims of the organization.
It is the responsibility of the management to plan how the marketing objectives are to be achieved. Through sales forecasting, formulation of marketing programmes, and marketing strategies, the management can plan and achieve their objectives.
The management then collects and coordinates the means necessary to implement the organizational plan. Here, duties and responsibilities are usually delegated, the powers of various members of an organization are determined.
Once a plan is in place, sales forecasting is ongoing, the product planning, development, transportation & warehousing become key features of facilitating the plan. These steps fall within the coordination responsibility of the marketing manager.
As the management assesses the market and the needs of the consumers, they are equipped and required to provide direction. Through the development of new and innovative markets, the growth and leadership of new employees, guidance, and supervision of employees, the management can provide direction to the organization for success.
The effectiveness of the marketing plan is contingent on the level of control the management has. By determining standards, evaluating marketing performance, and adapting the plan as the situation arises, the management can employ control over the market and be more effective in implementing the marketing plan.
Who’s working in the organization and on what is very important for the successful implementation of any marketing plan? Hence, staffing is a crucial element of the marketing management’s responsibilities. To hire capable employees, the management usually coordinates with the Human Resources entity of an organization.
The last but pivotal aspect of marketing management is the analysis and evaluation of the organization’s performance of the implemented plan. By measuring productivity and the performance of individual employees, the management can increase efficiency within an organization, and make the changes necessary to ensure success in the marketplace.
Functions of Marketing Managers
To gather and analyze information on the exchange of goods and services
- Planning for the market
- Designing and developing a product that satisfies consumer interest
- Standardizing and grading
- Packaging and labeling
- Providing customers with support as needed
- Product pricing
- Promoting and selling products
- Distribution of products
- Transportation of products
- Storing of products
To be successful in the market, it is important to have the appropriate marketing mix, or combination of tools, which can ascertain success in a particular market. The following are elements of the marketing mix:
- The product being sold, which may be tangible or intangible, but is meant to satisfy consumer need
- May be classified as consumer goods or industrial goods
- The place of vending
- The pricing of the product
- The promotion of the product