Marketing

Browse the current forum discussions on Lead Generation and discover a wealth of information, tools and resources on various methods of marketing and promotion such as Networking, Referrals and Word of Mouth (viral). Additional topics include Internet Marketing, Public Relations, Publicity, Advertising, Prospecting, Telemarketing, Door-to-door Cold Calling and Direct Marketing.

What is Marketing?

To many the term "marketing" may be familiar; however, one would be surprised at the number of people who really do not know what marketing is or what marketers do. Marketing is officially defined as, "the process of planning and executing the pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, ideas, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals." Quite simply, this means it is the job of the marketer to make a product more appealing to customers to increase sales and profits. Marketing is a key aspect of any business. So, what exactly to marketers do? They conduct the necessary research and work with the "Four P's", price, product, promotion, and placement.

Research is a key aspect of any marketer's job. They must analyze vast amounts of data to determine how to attract customers to a product. This data is primarily demographic data which analyzes the traits of groups of people based on age, income, education, employment, and other characteristics. They also use geographical data, information on groups of people occupying a specific geographical location, to analyze where potential customers are located and then focus their advertising and promotional activities in these regions. To keep their products competitive in the ever changing market, business must provide marketers with up to date data so that they can analyze the most recent customer trends and help alter the products and marketing plan accordingly so that the product is always appealing to the potential customers being targeted.

The "Four P's" are also of prime importance to a marketer. Price, Product, Promotion, and Place are all key concepts of marketing. A marketer must analyze what people are willing to pay for a product and help price the product so that the company earns handsome profits without sacrificing on sales. The marketer also works directly with the development of the product. They now what the target market wants in a product and can help alter the product so that it meets these desires. Promotion also plays an important role in marketing. Promotion is centered on prompting a user to buy a product and that is precisely what marketers must do. They must see what techniques will convince potential buyers to make a purchase. Finally, markers also work with location or "place". They must make sure that the product is targeting the proper geographical location. For example, you do not want to promote the sales of winter coats in a location where it is warm all year around. You are much better marketing these products in areas such as Alaska where they are constantly needed.

To recap, marketing is making the product more appealing to potential customers. To do so, marketers must analyze vast amounts of data and focus on the "Four P's", product, placement, promotion, and price.

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