What is Marketing?An introduction to the marketing environment

www.elaboratemarketing.com@letselaborate

Marketing - an exchange process

‘Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably’ (CIM, 2012)

It involves exchanges between the organisation, its customers and suppliers

‘The social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others’ (Kotler, 2006) 

The marketing process

Situation analysis - where are we now? look at the company (research)

Objectives - where do you want to be/what do you want to achieve ?

Strategy - how do we get there? who’s your audience?

Tactics - how exactly do we get there? marketing mix

Actions - what are you going to do?

Control - how did you get there? monitoring & correcting marketing

P R Smith – SOSTAC model

Marketing is an exchange between:

The supplier The customerThe organisation

The role of marketing

Not only is marketing a philosophy, it is also a function and a management process which includes:

• Identifying customer needs and wants

• Satisfying customers

• Identifying marketing opportunities

• Targeting the ‘right’ customers

• Staying ahead in a dynamic market

• Knowing your competitors

• Using resources efficiently

• Enhancing profitability

Marketing and Customer SatisfactionHow to incorporate customer satisfaction into your business

Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is a situation where the quality of the product or service delivered meets or exceeds the customers expectations

It should be at the heart of marketing as an organisational philosophy

Customer satisfaction needs to be a business objective. If your customers are not satisfied, then you will not gain any future business.

Integrating customer satisfaction within your organisation

Should be a business objective

Make use of market research to find out if your customers are satisfied (questionnaires, focus groups, surveys, interviews, etc)

The organisation practices need to secure customer retention

Customer satisfaction involves every facet of organisations operations

Customer satisfaction & your organisation departments

Department Actions to achieve customer satisfactionResearch & development • New product development

• Product modifications• Innovation

Human Resources • Staff training to encourage a positive customer focus• Articulate a shared vision• Communicate the ideas to staff• Implement internal marketing

Production operations & logistics

• Ensure product quality• Meet customer demands efficiently• Ensure product availability• Efficient delivery of product

IT • Effective corporation website• Implementing marketers design of online corporate messages• Supplier & key customer access to extranet and intranet

Customer service • Correcting customer problems• Increasing levels of customer satisfaction

Internal MarketingThe key processes and tools your business needs

Internal customers

Internal customers are the people and departments within your organisation who you exchange the products and services you create (CIM, 2012)

Employees are treated as ‘internal customers’

Employee branding

Employees and management communicate with one another through an assortment of methods to plan, coordinate and communicate the brand and corporate goals

Internal Marketing

Internal marketing involves the application of marketing tools in order to create an organisational culture that places the customer at the centre of what the company does (CIM, 2012)

Internal marketing tools: • Newsletter • Staff magazines • Company intranet • Team building activities • Employee awards

External MarketingThe key processes and tools your business needs

External customers

External customers are individuals that have no connection with the organisation, other than that they may have purchased goods/services in the past or at present (CIM, 2012)

External customers provide the revenue through their purchases

External marketing

External marketing involves the promotional/marketing communications mix

It allows your company to communicate with its customers 

External marketing tools include: • Advertising

• Sales promotion

• Public relations

• Direct mail

• Direct marketing

• Personal selling

• E-communications

Summary

• Marketing is an exchange process between the organisation, it’s suppliers and customers

• Customer satisfaction needs to be at the heart of all marketing. It needs to be in an organisation’s philosophy and business objectives

• Good market research is needed to discover your customers needs and wants

• Every facet of an organisations operations needs to work to achieve customer satisfaction

• Internal customers (employees) need to communicate well with management to plan and coordinate corporate goals. Internal marketing tools aid this process

• External customer are individuals that have no connection with the organisation other than past or present purchases of services/goods

• The marketing communications mix allows the organisation to communicate with external customers through a range of tools

@letselaboratewww.elaboratemarketing.comrachel@elaboratemarketing.com