Note
the phrasing: "The process", "functions
involved", "process or technique", "an
aggregate", "the business activity". These
all get to the heart of the definition of marketing.
As a
process, there are certain foundations of marketing that
will never become obsolete. We still have products,
services, and ideas to sell at some price. We deliver to
our customers via some means of distribution. We promote
and we advertise. Those are the basics. Those basics
still exist and always will.
If The Marketing
Definition Hasn't Changed,
Then What Has?
What
has changed is the business environment. Companies
compete with more efficient technologies. Customers have
better access to their cost options and they communicate
to each other in ways not conceivable in the
pre-Internet age.
In
some industries, the Internet has lowered the cost of
entry so that entrepreneurs - many times from a home
office - have entered the competition. The changes in
competitive environment are numerous. What have also
changed are marketing strategies and the marketing
programs we have available to implement those
strategies.
These have changed, but the basic marketing definition
has not.
Superior marketing is and always has been analysis, then
action. It is strategy development, then logical and
thought-out tactical implementation. It is the way to
customer satisfaction and increasing profit.
The
steps to successful marketing and implementation
include:
1)
Analyzing your customers and the business environment in
order to
2)
identify key opportunities to better and more profitably
meet customer needs,
3)
figuring out how to act on those opportunities, and then
4)
implementing your plan.
The
process doesn't have to be cumbersome. Five-year plans
and novel-length documents are not required. The logic
of the action is what is important.
By
applying the basic marketing process, rather than a
tactic here and a technique there, your chances of
success skyrocket.
About The Author
Bobette is author of the marketing
plan and online promotions manual
How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website
Marketing.
