Before using any marketing technique, you must have a good understanding of the basic marketing concepts. These concepts are the fundamentals of marketing that define what marketing involves, what consumers want and how to market. The goal is to fulfill customers’ needs, increase sales, increase profit and keep ahead of competitors. Both the company and customers should benefit from the marketing initiatives. Marketers now use a variety of marketing channels, including an influencer marketplace like Ainfluencer.
Basic Marketing Concepts to Know
1. Consumer Needs and Demands
People have some basic physiological needs like food, clothing, and shelter. They have different types of needs, wants, and desires. To fulfill these requirements, they need products and services. Once the basic needs are fulfilled, people want to go for products with more features. People have wants after their needs are fulfilled. Now they start using things they do not need for basic needs, but these items satisfy their other expectations. More options are available when people move from needs to wants. Basic foods may be sufficient to satisfy hunger. After that, people look for food varieties. These demands are fulfilled mostly with processed foods. The needs and wants of people create demands for products and services.
2. Product Identification
This concept identifies products that potential consumers need. A lot of research is needed to identify the product and the features that potential customers want. They are ready to pay for it if it meets their expectations. In a competitive field, product manufacturers have to differentiate their offers to stand out in the crowd. They offer features that other product manufacturers are not offering. Here the term product includes a service plan as well. A service has features that potential users need. A product that meets the expectations becomes successful. Sometimes, new products or new features in a product are offered even when no one asks for those items or features.
3. Production
Companies are always trying to make affordable products. Even when a product costs very high, it mostly has only the features that its intended users need. A manufacturer can bring down the cost of a product by increasing its supply. The sales figure also depends on the demands. It is not necessary that a product offered at a very low price will sell more. After a point, its sales will not increase and no extra profit will accrue. Product makers try to fulfill demands and increase profit with economies of scale where the production cost per unit is lowered. Efficient production methods are used to maximize profits.
4. Product Features
Consumers will pay for a product or service only when it has functional and quality characteristics. Prospective buyers first look for basic functions. Once they know the product has all basic functions, they look for other features that improve both functionality and aesthetics of the product. Manufacturers try to make their products stand out by incorporating additional or new features. This goal can also be achieved by improving the aesthetic elements of the product.
5. Marketing
People will buy a product only when they know about it. Once the product is ready, the manufacturer has to go out and market and advertise it. A lot of science is involved in marketing. It requires behavioral analytics tools like WatchThemLive data of prospective and existing customers. Approaching all and everyone does not give the desired results. The goal is to target the prospective buyers who can be converted into actual buyers. Some marketing efforts can be so successful that even users not that interested in a product may buy it. Different types of marketing and promotional techniques are used to sell a product. Sometimes, the goal is not only to sell but also to build the brand along the way. The makers have to go beyond fulfilling the basic needs of the customers when operating in a competitive field.
6. Selling
Once the prospective customers are convinced of the product’s utility, they approach the seller to buy it. The marketing efforts continue at this stage. It is important for the salespersons to market the product effectively. They have to explain the product’s features in easy terms to the customers. A customer who has come to buy the product may decide not to buy it if something looks unconvincing. The salesperson here has a responsibility to clear the doubts. This is the final step in the manufacturing and selling process, where the product leaves the seller’s store and goes into the hands of the buyer. Online sellers improve their marketing campaigns by collecting different types of user data during the sales process. They use a visitor tracking software/tool in this process.
7. Building Long-Term Relationship
The marketing efforts are not limited to acquiring customers. The goal also includes building a long-term relationship with buyers, so they continue to buy again. Satisfied customers keep spreading positive words about the company and its product. A long-term relationship can be highly profitable in certain sectors like B2B, where a satisfied customer will keep ordering lots of products from the seller. The relationship is built not only with the customers. It also extends to the distributors, suppliers and resellers. The goal is to ensure they comply with the quality and other requirements of the manufacturer. New sales opportunities open up with good networking and building long-term relationships with the customers.
Conclusion
The list of marketing concepts differs from one expert to another, but they all agree on some basic ideas. These concepts include people, product, selling, marketing and customer relationship. These concepts apply to both offline and online commercial ventures. Any marketing campaign must also pay attention to ethical standards and expectations. A marketing campaign that uses unethical techniques may give good short-term results, but its long-term consequences can be bad. Marketers must not forget their social responsibility.