Today marketing is an indispensable element of any market activity. Due to such a total inclusion in all business processes, the main areas of marketing are growing and developing. Today we can talk about a minimum of 10-15 main marketing areas. They cover the initial stages of designing and launching the product on the market, the production process, product promotion to the consumer, as well as all stages of the manufacturer’s communication with target audiences. Let's talk about what areas of marketing strategies exist and what are their specifics.
Marketing concept
Philippe Kotler, the classic of marketing, defined this concept as a type of people’s activity aimed at meeting needs through exchange. This too vague definition weakly helps to understand the essence of marketing. Today, this word refers to the philosophy of market activity, this is a kind of thinking aimed at how to satisfy the needs of all market entities (producers, consumers, authorities, intermediaries). Therefore, the main directions of marketing cover the entire life cycle of the product - from the plan to its departure from the market, as well as the processes of market management and the establishment of communications between all market participants. In this concept, three main semantic components can be distinguished:
- meeting the needs and requirements of the consumer with the help of goods having a certain value for them;
- management process and market philosophy;
- establishing mutually beneficial exchange relations.
Over its history, marketing has undergone a number of evolutionary changes and today it has become a process of creating consumer values, a tool for building strong relationships with target audiences in order to profit.
Goals and objectives of marketing
The variety of activities that use marketing tools is great. Starting from the production of stools and ending with the promotion of scientific ideas and state ideology. Therefore, the goals and directions of marketing are also diverse. Four classic goals are traditionally distinguished:
- Increase consumption to maximum values. For companies to make more profit, people must buy more. And the goal of marketing is to encourage them to purchase more goods and services.
- Maximizing customer satisfaction. Marketing is designed to help consumers satisfy their needs, navigate the world of goods. And the better he does it, the happier the buyer. A satisfied customer will not only return for a repeat purchase, but will also tell other people about his positive experience.
- Providing consumers with the largest selection of possible ways to meet their needs. Marketing should not only satisfy the existing needs of the audience, but also anticipate the future desires of consumers. A person who is given the choice of a product that can relieve his need feels more satisfied. Although this process has a downside, when the choice of goods in one category exceeds the number 5, people begin to have difficulty in choosing, and this complicates the buying process. Here, consumers come to the aid of various areas of marketing, which help a person make a choice.
- Improving the quality of life of consumers. For people to be satisfied with their purchases, they need to create special conditions. Therefore, marketing is engaged in services, purchase support, communications with consumers. And also marketing makes the business more responsible and socially significant. It is in this direction that modern directions of marketing development are moving.
Based on these global goals, marketing objectives are formulated. There are a lot of them, including: market research, development of new goods and services, development of pricing policies and distribution channels for goods, organization of company communications and after-sales service of goods.
Marketing mix
Traditionally, when they characterize marketing tools and activities, they talk about a marketing mix or marketing mix. In the process of understanding the basic marketing tools, the so-called 4P model has developed, which includes the main components of marketing:
- Product or item. This is what can satisfy the needs of the consumer. Marketing deals with all aspects of the product: its design, communication support, distribution.
- Price. Setting the right price is an essential marketing decision. It should be consistent with the positioning and image of the brand.
- A place. Distribution of goods, registration of points of sale - another important area of marketing. The buyer should enjoy the purchase, and this is greatly facilitated by the atmosphere of the store, the reputation of the seller, service.
- Promotion In order for the product to find its buyer, it is necessary to build a coherent system of communication with the consumer. Promotion programs should generate demand and drive sales.
In 1981, it was proposed to add three more elements to this model: people, the process and the environment, and the physical environment. There are other models. However, the base continues to be the classic 4P complex.
Marketing management concepts
Throughout its existence, marketing has undergone significant changes, in theory they are called evolution of marketing concepts. The very first was the idea that it was necessary to improve production in order to produce as many goods as possible. Then the markets were still not saturated with a large number of available goods, and this concept was working. You can recall that in Russia, after the collapse of the USSR, there was a shortage of goods and buyers bought up everything that was just brought and produced. But gradually the situation changed, there were a lot of goods and the consumer no longer wanted to buy everything in a row. Then a new idea appeared about the need to improve the product. And all areas of marketing management were redirected to the creation of better and more useful products.
When the market was saturated with a large number of goods with high consumer properties, and consumers no longer wanted to buy them, the concept of intensifying commercial efforts appeared. Then it was believed that if the seller would advertise a lot of his goods, especially through television, then the consumer would definitely buy everything. After some time, this approach ceased to provide sufficient volumes of profit.
Then a classic marketing concept appears, within which the emphasis is on the needs and requirements of consumers. They need to be studied, and on this basis to build marketing programs that should increase the satisfaction of target audiences. This concept has not yet lost its relevance, but because of its high prevalence it has ceased to bring high profits.
Then the idea arises that the manufacturer should not only fight for customer satisfaction, but also make sure that the production of goods is environmentally friendly, without harming nature and society. The next round of evolution was relationship marketing. Within the framework of this concept, marketing directions set themselves the goal of establishing strong, trusting relationships with consumers, suppliers, and dealers.
At the same time, the concept of international marketing appears, due to the processes of globalization in the markets. It proposes to develop foreign markets for sales growth, and in these segments the work should be carried out in the same way as in the "native" markets. Next comes the process of complication and ramification of marketing, there are such areas of marketing activity as innovative, holistic, total marketing, branding. This is due to the fact that marketing is increasingly integrating with management processes in various areas of commercial and public activities.
Strategic marketing
Marketing faces the challenges of company development, ensuring systematic growth. And therefore, the strategic directions of marketing are one of the most important. His tasks include determining the position of the product on the market, setting long-term goals and developing the company's mission. There are many strategies to successfully develop and grow various enterprises. These include global strategies: differentiation or positioning, cooperation, segmentation, globalization, diversification. There are also growth strategies, market expansion, and competitive strategies. All of them answer the question of how the company needs to act in the long term in order to continue to grow and develop.
Marketing research
Any marketing decisions cannot be made without research. They consist in a comprehensive, systematic collection of data on the market and its trends. Based on the analysis of market threats and opportunities, the direction of marketing is selected. Market and consumer research is an obligatory preliminary stage before the launch of new products, the beginning of a new stage in relations with target audiences. Marketing research is traditionally divided into qualitative and quantitative. The first allows you to understand the causes and characteristics of consumer behavior, identify their needs. The second ones help to collect numerical data on market conditions. Based on the data collected, decisions are made about which areas of marketing need to be applied and developed.
Types of marketing
There are many marketing classifications for a variety of reasons. So, according to consumer demand, there are conversion, stimulating, developing, supporting, counteracting marketing, as well as synchromarketing, remarketing, demarketing.
The scale of market coverage distinguish not differentiated or mass, differentiated and concentrated marketing. According to the specifics of the promotion object and the tools used, there are territorial, network, mobile, viral, partisan marketing, as well as service marketing, content marketing, event and Internet marketing.
Introducing new products and services to the market
Before putting the goods on the shelf, the manufacturer must conduct a lot of marketing work. Traditionally, this activity takes place in six main stages:
- Creating an idea for a new product. It can be innovative, i.e., nothing of the kind is presented on the market or is associated with the improvement of the product.
- Analysis of the marketing mix. It includes an assessment of the company's potential, analysis of competitors, the target audience, the macro environment, as well as an assessment of possible risks.
- Analysis of the designed product. Here, studies are conducted on how fully and efficiently this product is able to meet the needs of target consumers. Possible values of the product for the consumer, his consumer properties and competitiveness are evaluated.
- Assessment of the projected economic effect from the launch of the product. At this stage, the potential sales volume and structure, sales channels, the volume and market share of the enterprise are analyzed, and possible profit is determined.
- Development of a marketing strategy for a product. Here we are talking about the positioning of the product in the perception of consumers and the niche in the market, as well as the choice of promotion tools.
- Launch of pilot production. At this stage, product testing is carried out, its potential is assessed and a decision is made on the feasibility of launching mass production.
Sales and distribution of goods
For the development of the company and the quality delivery of the product to the consumer in the marketing mix, work is underway to promote sales and optimize distribution channels. Management plays an important role in this activity. The direction of marketing is an important component of management activities. Only managers can decide which distribution channel is most appropriate in this case. Today, a consumer can buy goods in a store, order online, buy through a representative, write out by mail. Such diversity requires careful evaluation of options before choosing the best. The company should also understand, based on marketing assessments, when it becomes necessary to promote sales. Moreover, there is an opportunity to motivate to purchase both the end consumer and the distributor. This area of marketing is called sales promotion, or sales promotion.
HR marketing
All the efforts of the marketer will be in vain if the company does not pay due attention to customer service, the competence of employees. In this regard, there is a direction of marketing personnel, or HR marketing. Its tasks are the development of personnel, increasing their loyalty to the company, qualification assessment, monitoring the implementation of service standards. A specialist in the field of HR marketing should engage in the selection of high-quality personnel who would strengthen the brand being promoted, and also create conditions in which the best employees would strive to work in the company. For this, it is necessary to establish internal communications, improve working conditions, and develop staff motivation programs.
Service marketing
Unlike a product, a service is intangible, its result can be evaluated only after receipt, it is not saved in time and space, it cannot be separated from consumption, it is inconsistent and often evaluated subjectively by the consumer. All these specific features of the service have led to a special type of marketing developing around it. It is based on an understanding of the essence of the service, as well as on the features of consumer behavior in the service market. The most important thing in the direction of marketing services is to increase customer satisfaction. A satisfied consumer is ready to return to the service provider again and bring his friends. Conversely, a dissatisfied customer will tell everyone about their bad experiences and will never make a repeat purchase.
Internet Marketing
With the advent of the World Wide Web, ways to promote products are radically changing. Gradually, a new direction stands out - Internet marketing. Its feature is that in it all the traditional tools are combined with new network capabilities. Its main differences are the emergence of new ways to promote the product, they include targeted and contextual advertising, content marketing, social media marketing. The specificity of Internet marketing lies in the possibility of a very accurate choice of the target audience of the impact, high audience involvement, huge opportunities to collect information about the consumer, his interests, and the market. Another feature of this marketing area is interactivity and the possibility of coming into direct contact with the consumer. Internet marketing erases geographic boundaries and timelines. Now you can influence the consumer around the clock. An important advantage of this type of marketing is its relative cheapness compared to traditional promotion.
Innovative marketing
Another newest direction in the development of marketing is the marketing of innovation. All modern markets today are affected by technology, and new tools and techniques are needed to promote innovation. It allows you to introduce new products or significantly improve traditional products. And this, in turn, significantly affects the quality of life of consumers, who are becoming more susceptible to innovation. Also, due to new technologies, marketers make companies more profitable, increase customer satisfaction and product competitiveness.
Customer relationship
And another newest direction in marketing is the course on establishing partnerships with different target groups: consumers, suppliers, distributors. However, customer satisfaction and loyalty is a top priority. To solve it, special loyalty programs are developed, communications in social networks are conducted, huge databases of consumers are collected.