A Definition of Marketing. And Why It's So Important to Your Small Business.

What is marketing?

Much is written about marketing. But what is the definition of marketing?

Do a search on the internet and you will find hundreds of millions of results.

My definition of marketing is that it is the foundation
of all selling.

Use a marketing plan outline to get started. Marketing activities will help you identify your customers (target marketing and marketing segmentation); help you define your customers’ needs and wants, and help you supply those needs and wants better than your competition.

Your marketing plan needs to include market research on customers, on competition in business, on suppliers and the industry related to your products or services and related to the geography of where you want or plan to sell. Your approach also needs to consider product positioning and product life cycle and the tactics you will use as your marketing mix product moves through its life-cycle stages.

Your marketing plan also needs to consider different marketing tactics or approaches. For example, a popular small business marketing concept or approach is Guerilla Marketing.

You will need to target your market through a comprehensive market segmentation and through comprehensive market research (including competitive intelligence). Your marketing activities will also need to include marketing mix decisions and strategies on product (for example, product differentiation ) price and pricing strategies, place and/or distribution (which is one of the forgotten 4 Ps of Marketing place) and promotion (also known as marketing mix promotion ).

Your marketing plan will need to address how your will reach your existing and/or target customers: will you build a postcard marketing program or a different direct marketing campaign? Will you focus on personal selling or on telemarketing? And so on. Your marketing plan and marketing research plan will help you develop the right
program for your business and will help you to build
your own business definition of marketing.

If your business is related to selling services, then you will need to know to expand your marketing mix in include packaging/physical evidence, process and people - the 4 Ps grow or extend to 7 Ps of Marketing Services. For example, if you operate a software company and need to focus on software marketing activities, you will need to thoroughly understand your industry and market, which has undergone significant changes recently, and how to specifically market those services.

And taking what you’ve discovered in your research and activities will lead you to developing your marketing tactics, strategies and objectives (see a sample marketing plan excerpt of objectives).

Why is marketing important to your small business?

To understand marketing's importance and relevance think about what it might be like to be dumped into the icy ocean and try to swim (to save yourself); without knowing how to swim.

The swim analogy to marketing: How do you sell your products or services without a strategic marketing plan to guide you in small business sales of those products and services: helping you segment your marketing, focus on your target market, develop your marketing objectives and strategies and produce the marketing mix tactics that will allow you to enact your plan?

Learn how to swim: develop your marketing plan.

And once you develop your marketing plan, your marketing concept will become a very key element of your small business success.

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