Fundamentals

Here’s a Quick Question: What is the main propellant of practically any business - the mechanism that keeps it alive and thriving?

If your answer is “Marketing”. Congratulations!! And I’m happy to tell you that you’re one of the better informed  people  that understand this fundamental truth. If your answer wasn’t “Marketing”,  then here is a short explanation and my personal definition.

Marketing is the mainspring of every business, and is the science of getting people to come and try your product or service, getting them to come back again and again, and getting them to purchase more when they do come back. It incorporates sales, advertising, product design, public relations and a host of other ingredients that are less obvious. Many businesses fail because they fail to understand marketing. Without marketing, you lose customers, and without customers you lose business.

In the words of the famous speaker, trainer and author Brian Tracy “If your business is succeeding it’s because your marketing strategy is good. If your business is failing it’s because your marketing strategy is poor.

Marketing means many things to many people, and in the main seems to mean to most people a fancy name for selling, advertising and other promotional activities associated with fast moving consumer goods such as beer, cigarettes, breakfast cereals, toiletries etc., or packaged holidays and branded goods and consumer durables such as videos, cameras, televisions, etc.

These activities can also give the impression that marketing is an expensive, large company activity and not applicable to the small business making industrial products or to the self employed.

Marketing is vital to each business, no matter how small. Selling, advertising and other methods are important, but are only parts of marketing.

The term “Marketing” has various meanings.

Marketing is a Concept, a philosophy, and a driving force behind the business. A way of doing business. The guiding force that permeates into all aspects of our dealings with the customer.

Marketing is a Mindset, a way of thinking that determines whether you are just going to do enough placate or minimally satisfy the customer or whether you are going to go the extra mile and delight the customer so much that they would never, ever think of going anywhere else for the services or products you provide and shout from the roof tops to all their friends, colleagues and everyone in their centres of influence, that you are “The best thing since sliced bread”.

Marketing is a Function that must be performed by someone in or connected with the business. This is one of the most problematic areas for owners and managers of Small to medium size businesses that have to spend most of their time working in the business and not working on the business. This is a recipe for frustration, stress and a feeling of not being out of control. The fire extinguishers come out and you are often into crisis management.

Marketing is a Technique these will be the methods and the strategies through which you will be able to maximise the return for any marketing investment made. It is the obligation of any businesses not only to gain a return on any resources invested in the business, but also to maximise the return on that investment and marketing is the only leverage that a business has available to increase their return on that investment.

Marketing starts from an essentially different viewpoint than selling.

Marketing starts not from the products and services, which the business can offer to customers but from the customers themselves. They have a range of needs and wants which demand to be satisfied, and to which products and services will need to be developed and adapted

When starting a business it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing the business with the products and services that will be provided, and that selling, advertising and other promotion will be the means by which customers will be persuaded to buy. There are many different definitions of what marketing is. All effective marketing definitions emphasise the customer as the person of the greatest importance to the of any business depend upon delighting the customer by meeting his or her needs and exceeding their expectations.

Marketing is, therefore concerned with every aspect of the business rather than being a single activity, and it just as important for a Sole trader, for a Partnership as for the large multinational corporation.

My personal definition of Marketing is:

MARKETING IS EVERYTHING A BUSINESS HAS TO DO TO FIND, to win AND TO KEEP CUSTOMERS SATISFIED AND DELIGHTED