Marketing involves promoting, advertising, distributing, and selling of products or services that any business needs to succeed with. Some firms outsource their marketing needs to sales and marketing companies, while others employ a professional marketer. However, the case may be, it is essential to know that the ideal marketing of any business is to be handled by individuals who are well educated in the field of marketing.
The study of marketing can be carried out either as a high school subject, or a higher institution course, or a certified training program, or as informal skill acquisition. Just like every other field of study, it requires concentration, determination, consistency, as well as other good traits for any student to succeed in its education. It is categorized among Art subjects/courses, yet every category of business, be it science or technology et al., requires it to be able to succeed.
Business Needs
Even education requires a lot of marketing. Educational institutions and business training schools need a marketing team to help reach and attract students. The marketing team is tasked with ensuring that the image or standard of the school is held high. They will put out publications concerning achievements, enrollments, and other activities to the public.
The institutions require a robust and attractive portfolio to attract many students: the more students that apply, the better. It’s even better when they accept mostly exceptional students, such that their acceptance rate is low compared to the number of students who apply. For that reason, some buoyant students resort to using statistics homework help to boost their college performance.
In under-developed and developing countries, marketing education is essential to ensure that people living in rural areas understand the importance of education and send their wards to school. Many children in rural areas are used as money-making or chore completion tools by their parents or guardians. Many are sent to the urban areas to hawk or sell products along busy roads and streets. Many are sent to the farms to till the soil and plant.
It’s sad when one takes a look at the statistics of out-of-school children in under-developed and developing countries. Marketing education and all its benefits are vital to ensuring that these unfortunate children are sent to school. Thus, some governments have embarked upon continuous publicity and sensitization about the indisputable role of education.
Customers
Marketing also involves the distribution of goods and services from businesses to suppliers or retailers or customers. If your products or services cannot get to your customers, then your business will eventually fold.
Distribution can come in the form of physical or virtual transportation of products or services; ships, aircraft, trains, trucks, vans, personnel, etc., represent mediums of physical distribution. Websites, apps, software, etc., represent channels of digital delivery. Without an educated marketer, effective distribution techniques may never be considered in the business. Thus, it will be challenging to make sales.
A marketer is an essential decision-maker. Marketing is a field of study that not only grooms the student in general marketing principles, but also teaches certain behavioral qualities that are geared towards proper human relations management, leadership, and decision making. A marketer should know how best to communicate with potential suppliers and customers, in the best interests of a company. He or she is at the helm of affairs concerning customer attraction, retention, and satisfaction.
To be able to market a product or service effectively, one must be ready to dive deep into research and analysis concerning the product or service being sold. You ought to discern the need or problem being solved, the vast and target market to be reached, the most effective ways to reach the target market, the most effective sales strategies, how to retain customers, etc.
These factors may have varying analytics, depending on the business sector being researched. I shows how marketing is steeped in education. After obtaining the general knowledge of marketing, a marketer also has to acquire more knowledge concerning the business he or she is venturing into.
Promotions
In marketing, the knowledge of promotion helps a business to curate the right event or strategy to stimulate an increase in the sales value of their products or services. Promotions can come in the form of price cuts, bonuses, customer appreciation contests, trade fares, event sponsorships, etc., all in the bid to increase the reach and image of the business.
Temporary or permanent discount price cuts are very effective in increasing the sales of any product or service. Everyone would appreciate buying their usual product or service at a cheaper rate, without any reduction in the original quality. Bonuses can come in the form of increased quantity, or “buy two, get one free” style, or referral rewards, or customer appreciation programs. Customer appreciation programs are those where some active customers are selected to be awarded individual prices and gifts.
Marketing involves direct and indirect advertising. Direct marketing comes in the form of in-person sales calls, print advertisements, telephone sales calls, email advertisement campaigns. Indirect marketing strategies include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media fan pages, social media influencers, product placements, etc.
It is vital to understand that while direct marketing involves being aggressive and chasing customers with sales pitches intended to lead to revenue, indirect marketing consists of creating a connection with the audience, giving out information to them, and getting customers to come to you.
The study of marketing comes with a responsibility to ensure that a business reaches more customers with ease and that they ultimately make a lot of profit. It should be taken seriously because its application cuts across all works of life. Every business requires marketing, so as a student of marketing, be prepared to work in any industry out there. You have to be attuned with the skill set to win just anyone over.
Education and its institutions require continuous marketing to ensure that people understand the immense value and that they choose the right places to study, respectively.
George Thompson is a digital advertising & marketing specialist with nearly 5-year long practices of offering direct-to-business and reseller services. Has a great deal of experience in SEO, Ethical Affiliate Management, Adware and Theft detection as well as PPC and Sales Funneling. He enjoys helping his clients scale with clear and measurable results.