Marketing for Success

Marketing is a word that has most of us confused, most people assume that marketing is selling of products or services for profit and that is where it ends,...... Marketing is a whole lot more than just the actual sale of your product or services! The understanding of marketing is the key to success for any business.

What is Marketing?

Marketing is the management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. It involves the activities, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for the customers, clients, partners and society at large.

What does marketing constitute?

Marketing includes the coordination of the following four elements (The 4 P's of marketing):

1. Product: - identification, selection and development of your product
2. Price: - determination of the appropriate price
3. Place: - Proper selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's place
4. Promotion: - the development and implementation of the promotional plan.

What do you need for successful marketing?

First you MUST have a Marketing Plan (a comprehensive blue print which outlines your overall marketing efforts)! Put it down on paper....remember that a faint pencil lasts longer than a sharp memory 

Your marketing plan should be based on extensive market research and detailed enough to spell out exactly what programs and individual activities will be carried out for the planned period. The plan should therefore be:

• Clear - non ambiguous statement of exactly what is to be done
• Quantified - Each activity should have a predicted outcome, as far as possible, quantified to enable the monitoring of its benefits/ performance
• Focused - The activities projected should not be beyond the numbers that can be realistically controlled.
• Realistic - They should be achievable
• Agreed - It is important that the people implementing the plan should be committed and agree that the projected outcomes are achievable. The plan should then become a working document which serves to guide any campaigns,promotions and any other marketing activities undertaken over the period of the plan. 

Note: For the marketing plan to work, every exception to it (throughout the different quarters of the marketing plan) must be questioned and the lessons learnt be incorporated in the next quoters' plan.

What should be in your marketing plan?

A marketing plan should have:

1. Description of the product or service, including special features
2. Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan
3. Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantages for marketing
4. Pricing strategies
5. Market segmentation i.e. a detailed description of the market demographics

A marketing plan for a small business also typically includes small business administration, description of your competitors, including the level of demand for the product or service and the SWOT  (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of your business as well as that of the competitors