Marketing: What is Marketing?
The four elements of marketing…Marketing is any activity that has to do with buying and selling of a product. In this sense, a product can mean goods and services. Marketing encompasses advertising, sales, and product delivery, as long as the aim is to get products sold to the final consumer.
What else is Marketing…?.
When a company cold calls and with the aim of acquiring new customers or warm calls with the aim of maintaining a healthy relationship with its customers, it is engaging in marketing
When a company engages in promotional activities, like sending out bulk SMS to inform the public of their products, or posting billboards and hosting events, they are engaging in marketing.
When a company decides to visit a past client or return calls from customers, they are engaged in marketing.
Simply put, every activity a company engages in with the aim of promoting the sale of their product is called marketing.
The four elements of marketing
The four elements of marketing are otherwise called the 4Ps of marketing. They are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
Product refers to the item or service a company intends to sell to the public. While a company engages in marketing, the first question that is often raised is- what is their product? How is it unique from the competitors’? Is it marketable? What is the relevance of the product?
Price refers to the monetary value of the product. The price of a product is what it will cost you, as a consumer to get the product. Other questions raised during marketing are- is the product affordable? Who can buy the product?
Place is concerned with the distribution and location of sale of the product. Questions raised concerning place are- who are the target consumers of this product? Will the products be sold on a physical storefront or through virtual/online means?
Promotion refers to the integrated activities involved advertising and communication the company’s product to the target customer. Promotional activities include advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, sponsorship and guerrilla marketing. Promotion is concerned with a company’s direct communication with customers or target customers.
