General
Definition
In plain and simple terms, marketing
activities and strategies result in making products available that
satisfy customers while making profits for the companies that offer
those products. That's it in a nutshell!
Marketing produces a "win-win"
because:
- Customers have a product that meets their needs, and
- Healthy profits are achieved for the company. (These profits allow
the company to continue to do business in order to meet the needs
of future customers.)
Stated another
way: A focus on what the customer wants is essential to successful
marketing efforts. This customer-orientation must also be balanced with
the company's objective of maintaining a profitable volume of sales
in order for the company to continue to do business. Marketing is
a creative, ever-changing orchestration of all the activities needed
to accomplish both of these objectives.
How Are The
Customer And Business Objectives Met?
The American Marketing Association's
definition of marketing is:
the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing,
promotion and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create
exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.
You see in the above definition
that the process of marketing begins with discovering
what product customers want to buy. Providing the features and
quality customers want is a critical first step in marketing.
You'll be facing an uphill battle if you provide something you
want to produce and then try to convince someone to buy
it.
The marketing process then continues
with setting a price
letting potential customers know about your
product, and making it
available to them. |