Marketing is not just a nice thing. It’s a necessary thing for your success in business. Marketing consists of proven core concepts that will skyrocket your success in today’s competitive marketplace.
You need to have your finger on the pulse of your consumers and know their needs, wants and pain points. These powerful marketing strategies have been used by business giants, so why not use them for your small business?
I needed to be scrappy because if I didn’t market my business, I didn’t eat.
Understanding marketing is the difference between success and failure in your business. Your marketing determines the look of your website, brand promise, advertising, customer relations and the sales pipeline. You’ll be able to craft omnichannel marketing that creates brand loyalty and grows your customer base.
The landscape of business may change, but the main tenants of marketing are evergreen.
Key Takeaways
- Marketing is the lifeblood of your business and it’s crucial to your success.
- Knowledge of marketing strategies establishes the framework of your messaging and customer relationships
- Integrating traditional and digital marketing is essential for your success in today’s competitive landscape.
3 Core Marketing Concepts:
- Know Your Audience
- Create Your Marketing Strategy (Flight Plan)
- Manage Your Brand Consistently
Now let’s explain them in detail.
1. Know Your Audience
Marketing Fundamentals
Have you ever traveled without directions on a roadmap or an app? Were you successful in reaching your destination? Marketing serves as the premier roadmap for your business, strategies, messaging and creating a great customer journey. With effective marketing, you can also encourage referrals and you can close more new business.
Core Concepts of Marketing
Core marketing concepts must be applied in a consistent basis. This is not flavor of the month, but the mission critical strategies of identifying and meeting customer needs, creating value, building strong relationships and offering great service.
Customer complaints are actually a great way to get information about where your solutions may need to be fixed. If you handle a complaining customer quickly and with aplomb, they can become your best cheerleader.
Know the demographic hard data such as age range, gender, income, education, family status and diversity. Also pay attention to where your audience goes on the internet, their lifestyle, motivations, pain points, trends and buying habits. Analyzing this data helps you craft effective marketing strategies. You can also future-proof your business by taking advantage of trends.
Why Do Market Research?
Market research helps you understand your audience and offer brilliant and unique solutions to your customers. You can investigate and gather information about their frustrations, needs, and why they buy from your competitors. This helps you design your product and service development, pricing strategies and brilliant marketing messages.
Qualitative vs Quantitative Market Research
Qualitative Research is about non-tangible data which includes your clients’ opinions, biases, preferences and experiences. It provides insights into how and why consumers make their choices and helps you take the pulse of your customer and predict future behavior.
- Focus groups
- Interviews of customers and prospects
- Open-ended surveys
Quantitative Research focuses on tangible data, to quantify behaviors, attitudes and opinions. This numerical data allows you to make informed conclusions about your target market.
- Surveys: live with numeric ratings and multiple choice
- Experiments and controlled market testing
- Statistical analysis
Analyze the Marketing Data
Data Collection needs to be done first and the strategies include:
- Online surveys
- Social media monitoring
- Sales transactions
Data Interpretation is done next and includes actionable marketing insights and analytical tools including:
- Software and apps that give you statistics
- Market data visualization tools
- Models for predicting consumer behavior
Marketing Mix and 4 Ps
The concept of the tiered marketing mix is delineated by the 4 Ps:
- Product: The goods and services you offer your customers.
- Price: How your customers trade money for the value you provide.
- Promotion: The brand messaging that informs and persuades potential customers.
- Place: The channels where your products and services are available.
Each element of the 4 Ps of marketing needs to be orchestrated with strategy and consistency.
What Makes Your Customers Tick?
Psychographics are what make your customers tick. What are their values, beliefs, interests, biases, and attitudes? You can make highly-tailored marketing messages and tap into the emotional triggers that make people buy. You can also spotlight how your business is different than your competitors and how you are the solution your customers are searching for.
Consumer Behavior is a Great Teacher
Pay attention to the consumer behavior when you craft your marketing strategies. Monitor how they make their purchasing decisions. Sometimes the consumer makes their decision emotionally and justifies it with logic. Pay attention to reviews from your clients and third party review sites.
2. Create Your Marketing Strategy (Your Flight Plan)
If your business is an airplane, then the marketing is your flight plan. It steers your business in the way you deliver products and services to customers effectively. It shapes your decisions and outlines the path to achieving your success.
Your Strategic Planning Process
Your strategic planning process involves your sales and marketing objectives. It’s about analyzing internal and external strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, often called the SWOT analysis. First identify your clear and measurable goals. Then select the right strategies to reach your target audience and convert them into consumers.
Your Implementation and Control
You’ve designed your marketing plan. Now it’s time for implementation which translates the marketing plan into actions and ensuring that your company’s goals are achieved with your guidelines and timetables.
Control is the process of monitoring performance and comparing it to your SWOT analysis. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) meet to be regularly reviewed and adjusted for your strategies to stay on track.
Your Digital Marketing
Digital marketing includes implementing SEO, online content strategies, internet advertising and social media campaigns for your marketing success.
SEO and Content Marketing
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is all about increasing your website and blog’s visibility in search engines with organic keywords and phrases. Every company has a Google strategy and don’t forget Pinterest. People think Pinterest is a social media site, but it’s actually a visual search engine. YouTube can also be a powerful authority site for you.
Your Social Media and Online Advertising
Social media marketing includes platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc. that connect your brand to niche audiences. Followers and fresh content are key to this strategy.
Online advertising includes paid ads on the social media feeds, results pages, websites, and media feeds. Tools include Google AdWords, Facebook Ads and YouTube. If you’re a local business, check out the NextDoor social media platform.
Integrated Your Marketing Communication
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) us a strategic approach to creating a seamless experience for the customer. Consolidate all aspects of your marketing communications such as paid advertising, promotions, public relations, social media and online content into something that is actionable and measurable.
Marketing Messaging Consistency
Integrating your marketing across various platforms maintains a consistent tone, style, identity and cadence. This reinforces your brand promise and helps you in building a strong brand image for your company.
How to Select Media and Marketing Channels
Selecting your channels and media needs to align with your integrated marketing plan as well as your customer’s preferences, behaviors and motivations.
3. Manage Your Brand
Managing your brand includes maintaining, improving and upholding your brand so people have a positive association with your business and spread the word about the great work you do.
Brand Equity and Lovemarks
Brand Equity is the perceived value of your product or service. It includes customer perceptions that customers associate with your brand. If you want to sell your business, this comprises the value to a buyer or investor.
- Brand awareness: How are customers aware of your brand?
- Brand associations: The attributes that consumers attribute to your brand.
- Brand loyalty: What makes consumers place re-orders and recommend your brand.
- Perceived quality: The customer’s evaluation of the quality of your work.
Example of companies with high brand equity include Whole Foods, Dove, and Band-Aid which have great customer ratings and appeal. High-equity brands are also called Lovemarks.
Positioning Your Brand
Positioning your brand refers to your differentiator in your market. It’s how customers see you as different and better than your competition.
- Targeting: Identifying the specific market segments that your brand is targeting.
- Differentiation: What separates your business from the mediocre middle.
- Consistency: Putting out your marketing messages out regularly on the different touchpoints.
Successful brand positioning is when a company like Kleenex is synonymous with facial tissues.
Integrity is Part of Your Brand
Your marketing is more than a cute character and logo. Your integrity is a major part of your brand.
I’m surprised that many companies spend buckets of money on advertising and marketing campaigns. However, when you call the company, you get a frustrating voicemail circus and rude representatives at a call center. It seems like you’re an interruption to their day, rather than being the reason for their business.
Companies try to save money on the host at a restaurant who greets you, the driver who picks up an delivers your food and packages and the person who answers the phone, but these front-line workers create an indelible first impression of your business.
At Zappos, they have wonderful customer service. A lady called to order a dress and shoes for a funeral and the phone representative also send her condolence flowers. This is a great story about how you can surprise and delight your customer, the best form of marketing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do the 3 marketing functions complement each other?
The 3 marketing functions work together to enhance the customer experience, perceived value and word-of-mouth marketing. Each part of your deliverables including distribution, selling, financing, customer service and credibility to meet customer needs effectively.
What are the specific roles of each of the 3 marketing principles?
Each marketing function has a distinct role, but works in concert with your overall strategy. Distribution ensures product availability, pricing establishes value, product and service management develops your unique offering. Promotion creates demand, selling converts customers to profit and market information gathers and analyzes consumer data to inform decisions.
What’s the difference between marketing concepts and functions
Marketing concepts guide your strategic approach to fulfilling your customer needs. Functions are the specific activities that implement your marketing concepts.
How do the 3 marketing principles work in the real world?
In real life, the 3 core marketing principles ultimately influence your distribution channels, brand messaging and even customer interactions.
Why are the 3 core marketing concepts integral to an effective marketing strategy?
The 3 core marketing concepts add up to success because they provide a comprehensive roadmap for meeting customer needs, building relationships and delivering value, which equals business success and having your company stand out from the crowd.
Use the 3 core marketing concepts and reap.
Deckard & Company.