WHAT IS MARKETING?
To answer the above question, a very basic answer is selling your goods to potential customers, and getting the value in returns is called marketing. But there is a big NO my dear friends. Marketing is not only the sale of goods to the customer.
Before you learn marketing, you should first understand what marketing really is, because the topic is so often misunderstood.
Marketing is a wide range of activities involved in making sure that you are continuing to meet the needs of your customer and are getting appropriate value in return.
If we talk about the definition of marketing, the best definition till now is given by AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION (AMA)
It says, "Marketing includes all those activities having to do with effecting changes in ownership and possessions of goods and services. It is that part of economics which deals with the creation of time, place and possession utilities and that phase of business activity through which human wants are satisfied by the exchange of goods and services for some valuable considerations."
MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT MARKETING
Often organizations try to develop the product to meet customers' needs without really knowing and verifying what customers actually want in the first place. those organizations make efforts to "sell" the product through various activities of advertisement, publicity, and promotions.
Experienced organizations have learned that it is not their opinion that matters the most, but it is the customer's opinion that matters the most regarding whether their product is needed or not.
So the basic thing in marketing is to know your customers. the precious knowledge about customers comes from inbound marketing- through market research to clarify customers' needs and what they actually want. If inbound marketing is done well, outbound marketing becomes particularly effective and easy.
INBOUND MARKETING IS ALL ABOUT HOW TO PULL YOUR CUSTOMERS. IT INCLUDES MARKET RESEARCH TO FIND OUT-
1. What potential groups of customers/clients have which specific needs
2. How those needs might be met for each group (target market)- how a product might be designed to meet the needs of customers
3. How each of the target markets might choose to access the products, (it's packaging, labels)
4. How much the customers might be willing to pay or ready to pay and how- Pricing analysis and pricing decisions
5. Who are the competitors that are making the same type/kind of product- Competitor analysis
6. How to design, describe and develop the product that will attract the customers and they will buy the product from our organization rather than competitors - Its value proposition
7. How the product should be identified ( its personality)- It's naming and Branding
OUTBOUND MARKETING IS ALL ABOUT WHERE COMPANY INITIATES THE CONVERSATION AND SENDS IT'S MESSAGE OUT TO AN AUDIENCE.
It includes--
1. Advertisement and Promotions
2.Sales
3.Public and Media Relation
4.Customer Services
5.Customer Satisfaction
6.Feedback and Continuous Improvement
INBOUND VS. OUTBOUND MARKETING
Taking the present scenario in mind when everything is becoming digital whether its marketing or something else, I would compare inbound and outbound marketing as
INBOUND Marketing is a strategy where you create content or social media tactics that can spread brand awareness making people know about you. People might go on your website for information or they can show some interest in your product. From a traditional point of view, it can be done through various efforts such as analysis of the customer's needs thorough conducting market research, developing the strategy for product development, branding, labeling, packaging, etc of the product.
OUTBOUND Marketing is when a marketer (organization) reaches out to the customers to see if they are interested in their products. It can include door to door selling, advertisement, promotion, public relations, etc.
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