What is marketing? As defined by the Webster’s Dictionary, marketing is the act or process of selling or purchasing in a market. Marketing is the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.
In our test, marketing is described as “the societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value with others.” (Kotler and Keller, 2009)
A company relies solely on marketing. As the text mentions, you can have a great product, a great customer retention program, but without marketing where would the customers come from? In order to run a successful business, you need to know who your target audience is, what the demand for your product is, and how to make your product known. “Knowing what your clients’ expectations are, exceeding them, and building a reputation based on that is the key to success. Pay attention to your customers, and they will come back time and time again. Ignore them, and they will disappear faster than you can spend your marketing budget to try to bring them back.” (Geld, 2006)
Marketing, to me, is a process in which you identify your prospective customers, and provide a service or good to that set of people. In the marketing process, you not only need to identify who your key audience is, but you need to have the ability to present your product in an appealing format that will draw people to your product.
I work for a transactional tax software company. One of our corporate objectives is to have our entire customer base upgrade to our latest code line of the software. With this corporate objective, we need the participation from our Marketing department as a means to identify our target customers, those still on an older code line, and provide a reason for our customer to “want” to upgrade. In this process we gathered the necessary customer information from our Customer Support database. With this information, we setup Webinars for our customer base to attend where we could display the benefits of moving to the latest version. We sent webinar information to all of our customers needing to upgrade in an effort to “sale” the latest version. We provided two different webinars for the upgrade. The first webinar contained all technical information that is required for the upgrade, answering any questions that the participants may have. The second webinar we provided was the functional changes of latest product, presented by our Director of Product Management. The new features that we presented in our webinar represented to our customer base the innovative changes that we have made with the product that will make their lives easier.
I believe that our marketing strategy was effective at spreading the word with our customers. The webinars were also effective at providing a resource for our customers to get a first hand look at the upgrade process, and a place where they can receive immediate answers.
The use of marketing also provides information to a company to help improve their product. To remain relevant, a company needs to always be changing. The marketing process helps to direct a company in their plans for change. Identifying how you can change your product to not only retain your current customer base, but to continually draw in new customers, is the reason for growth within a company.
Apple has done a great job at changing up their products and providing new services to capture the market audience. With the release of the iPod, Apple provided a sleeker, more innovative way to listening to and purchasing music. With the ever increasing digital world, Apple keyed on the technologic aspect of the music player allowing consumers to download music directly to their iPod, from their own download platform, iTunes. When Apple extended the functionality of the iPod to the cell phone, creating the iPhone, they took advantage of their innovation and their ability to predict what their consumers were after. With the creation of the i-products, they have created a brand that is recognizable. The mention of an i-product immediately alerts a consumer of the Apple brand. This has been very beneficial for Apple as their products, as of late, have been among the most innovative in the industry.
Marketing not only gets your company rolling, but it is essential to keep your company from floundering and eventually being left in the dust by their competitors.
britishheritage
beton159
bq1u1
canon
whjyhx
antioquiatic
cpi
pedroferreira
nearpeer
financecommunity
romanek
steve-wheeler
scimednet
heung-a
intelligentcarleasing
odenwaldklub
sng04
gaodiwenxiang
inlinks
wscu
wearestudio
onlineinterviews
zoo-taboo
spermpillsformen
staffexpress
aloweb
cherokeeranch
skiplan
pyvtc
flexyteens
herusu-shuppan
pedidosja
xographic
certifiedsecure
wmas
cnm
solventis
abradee
blueprintcleanse
memfirstweb
264038
nbmphn
72
bodycontrol
covr
ges2019
osibaltimore
qdoscc
sec
jkamprs
paydaythegame
gmelch-itsysteme
europe
lyjjzd
bc9u9
oricom
gcseglobal
suoitien
kees-tm
kuali
firstcomicsnews
scuolagrandesanrocco
fmcgastro
safe4u
pbisrewards
turismosalta
oeclaw
rent-all
sofsol
racjonalista
benzinaorlen
jnbit
pinellasclerk
thetrendyart
knowledgefutures
onlinecasinosat
flippfly
netart
uxwriterscollective
yanzhao
teamcme
openip
acube-systems
ivantage
snomamericas
plcasinobonus
artbusankorea
lncl
mift
medianews
amika
bijoupiko
argentinaservers
studioweblab
komajo
elmercantil
multiplebirths
monassistantnumerique
esl-bits
emojino
csbangong
servicedesign-engineering
iss-ffm
sang360
soevision
labquest
backpack
sockfancy
nist
maiz
calbank
novae
wshein
pgslot356
ikuzume
windesheim
agrilution
bando
geschillendossier
smartbuystore
santa
mediamond
creddit
xingzuo8
th-h
hostserver
25×52
lexiatechnologies
58gc
bitsolucoesweb
adaptonline
arsi-tech
aoa329
typemag
moduloplus
gisportz
hnasatc
copycattale
zurichmaratonsevilla
dataguard
compranet
visasq
jeddahbikers
molodesign
scabec
slideplayer
kennisdclogistiek
trafficox
profmattstrassler
zyqck
rfmw
barefootberniesmd
calculatrices-financieres
hit
immunenetwork
whjzy
targarealestate
globeadvisor
xmtzxm
kicc
doc
fidelitycommunications
garybaseman
jewelrybuyersinnewyork
vgmwatch
blackorganizingproject
svenskafreds
wiltee
kaandorpcommunicatie
tcsb
geosynthetic-institute
nas
sxg06
acica
500155cc
compboodlaga
cibtac
shumaker
klinickahypnoterapie
vol
logodesignvalley
disgustingmen
orix-golf
winescholarguild
kodinger
live-loop
inweb
technik-einkauf
hermon
anjokosei
thebluegate
bluegrass
1808
zbssjcj
nevainter
thephilosophicalsalon
plaperdr
qdfkpfb
innovationbox
lassila
trungnguyen
biggerthanthethreeofus
chaoticmind75
codiceedizioni
webjuarez
code95
cibdol
pods-online
rinixweb
twincreekmedia
mastercard
bricksafe
ytdcloud
teatrebarcelona
oktoberfestzinzinnati
powerupcloud
joshspector
racesonoma
adacreisen
cabr-betc
browzwear
cnlanchao
majliselouma
whalebird
rezulteo
adnplanet
ferien-privat
physicianwebpages
webmarketingfestival
birdistheworm
plumbingbros
plantheo
daytonflyers
nabci
francobampi
www-015888
cheapdomain
localsolution
vindale
kianews24
fjordbaelt
beteachr
santacruzconstructionguild
fillmorenc
hot-ads
muntenveiling
resourcelinks
livingartscentre
cision
adult-sponsors
98111a
incolsingdefi
veritasgenetics
zjjcxy
tapeterecords
burgerking
pmafranchise
forsvaretsforum
utheve
extradizajn
kanbosk
188
3g3g8
lusodev
templebargallery
heliumcreative
conoa
ecvim-ca
omceomi
mindgamesandtoys
sudcevennes
laliff
fulltechguide
egentic
ute
bets-ph
speedresa
ocnlondon
concordebattery
showmax
play-europa
scrubs-manufacturers
skye
bibliotecasdeandalucia
wp-themes
plasters
ordrslip
tatrc
moneycompass
aifs
ccvg
centaurico
scatt
bece
www-885432
redcrossyouth
cousinssubs
bosonprotocol
bhevolution
agglo-epinal
wenetwork
dealerbuilt
