Marketing can be one of the more complex and challenging aspects to perform in business. The reason for its complexity is often the fact that most people don’t understand the difference between marketing and many other essential business functions like sales and advertising.
The primary function of marketing is connecting buying customers with the product that matches demand. Some might say marketing is building a bridge between supply and demand, but that might be too generalized. Marketing is a people-focused activity, rather than a purely economic one. If your business is building a marketing plan, here are some things to keep in mind before you begin.
Who is Your Customer?
This is the key question any company must ask time and time again as it moves from concept to sale. If you don’t know who your customer is, you have no chance of making sales. Only the proper identification of a customer will allow you to determine the scope and nature of the demand. For example, if you are selling a product that is very expensive, your customers can’t be teenagers. If you are selling a toy for small children, your customers can’t be corporate attorneys.
However, once you do know who your customer is, and more importantly what your customer wants, you can then move on to questions like price, distribution and promotions.
What is the Demand?
The second phase of your plan should include the answers to two questions: what do my newly identified customers want, and at what price? The question about price often eludes even the best marketers, since they often are in too big a hurry to design the world’s greatest product without realizing demand relies far more on price than it does features.
Some business people will respond by pointing out most people want great products for free. While they have a point, the best marketing plans will identify the combination of features and price that will satisfy the largest potential segment of the total market, and then deliver that plan to business development to see if it can be built and sold profitably.
A plan that answers those three questions is likely to be far superior to what most businesses produce. While it is guaranteed to take time and possibly involve increased costs, the results will be a plan that can be measured against the real world, and that is worth the extra effort.