Marketing

As a subject, marketing includes the activities an organization undertakes to engage consumers and maintain good relationships with them. Potential or past customers are also subject to these activities.

The major elements of any successful marketing strategy comprise the marketing mix (4Ps):

1. Product. This describes what product or service an organization wants to sell to consumers. The product or service should meet the customer’s desires and be something they are willing to buy. To determine a target audience, it is necessary to consider factors such as age, income level, and geographic location. However, there are many more features to consider when defining a target market.
2. Price. An organization should sell a product or service that adds value for the customer. The price should be set at a level that people are willing to pay. To define an effective pricing strategy, a company may also consider competing products or services.
3. Place. This refers to the distribution of a product or service. It becomes a significant issue if a customer is willing to buy the product but cannot find where to purchase it. Companies often consider whether to sell through offline stores, online via websites or apps, or by using multiple distribution channels.
4. Promotion. This involves how a company informs consumers about its products. Promotion includes a wide range of activities, such as advertising on billboards, direct marketing through TV and videos, sponsorships with films, and guerilla marketing (surprising customers).

Nowadays, there are more than 150 types of marketing. The most widely used include incentive marketing, social marketing, developmental marketing, network marketing, remarketing, supporting marketing, and demarketing.

Marketing is widely utilized in all spheres, including the B2B and B2C sectors. Each economic industry has its own peculiarities. For instance, tools used in product retail for the manufacturing sector often do not work effectively. Some years ago, companies only had internal marketing departments, whereas now marketing agencies offer promotion services to businesses.

Trends in artificial intelligence play a significant role for brands as they look to personalize and automate both digital and traditional communications, creating new emotional connections with customers. Advanced technology allows us to use smart speakers and voice assistants that send personalized messages and content.

Content marketing is now ubiquitous; once we search for something, we see related content everywhere. By utilizing tools like YotPo and BazaarVoice, companies can leverage their customers as brand ambassadors by encouraging them to share product information with their networks. Additionally, new search methods have emerged, such as finding similar clothing by uploading a photo.

Marketers now have access to new tools for analytics, such as:

• Nightwatch.io: Assesses search visibility.
• Brand24: Gathers all mentions of a brand on the Internet.
• MobileMonkey: A Facebook Messenger chatbot that helps find new leads and promote content.