Let me be clear and start off by saying that marketing is not advertising. Marketing dictates the strategic objectives of an advertisement, but it does not create the advertisement. Marketing is the heart behind any business. By this I mean that without marketing, a business will not have financial objectives, a distribution plan, a product, a supply chain, etc. When I was in my MBA program, each marketing class highlights the fact that marketing is the hub of a wheel and each other function are the spokes leading out from the hub. Below is an image of a typical business school marketing hub illustration:
Marketing is the heart of any business/organization – it determines the price points, and therefore the margins, dictates the quality needed to determine value to the consumer (and therefore the cost of production), what channels to distribute the product at, what resources are needed for developing new products, creating volume forecasts for supply chain accuracy, etc. In other words, without marketing there would be no finance, operations, supply chain, distribution, sales, product, HR, etc.
Why is this important to you, if you have an online business that is fairly seamless? Consider the below:
- Effective small business marketing strategy dictates the price points – both promoted and non-promoted
- Effective small business marketing strategy dictates the product – how is your product differentiated from its competition
When you launched your product, did you consider the price points as part of your market segmentation strategy? If not, think again. Check this post for more information on finding the optimal price point. When pricing, crossing a price threshold from $19.99 to $20.99 might target a different consumer, depending on the product that you are selling.
When creating your product, did you consider the value proposition and points of difference inclusive of your effective marketing strategy by determining what your core consumer’s needs are? If not, you do not have an effective market segmentation strategy plan that is effectively communicating how your product will fulfill what the consumer needs and wants – not what you think they need and want. Check this post on more details around the value proposition method.
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