Sales are part of the marketing process, but marketing has a much broader meaning. Marketing is a generalizing concept that determines the place of an enterprise in the market concerning competitors, its competitive advantages, and the choice of promising market segments by the enterprise. The right choice of marketing strategies depends on how well the marketing goals are set and what methods to achieve them. As a rule, this is a set of techniques that include collecting data about the target audience, analyzing competitors, implementing and comparing specific methods to select the optimal ones.
The marketing mix is a set of controllable variable factors, whose totality an enterprise uses to cause a desirable response from the target market. The function of the marketing mix is to form a complex that not only meets the needs of potential customers within the target markets but also maximizes the efficiency of the enterprise. One of the fundamental components of the marketing complex is the product or assortment policy, which directly depends on the direction of cash flows, assessment, and forecast. The price as the most important economic tool of the marketing complex directly impacts the nature of the enterprise’s profitability (Badi, 2018). Place and promotion are also important elements of the marketing mix.
The choice of the distribution system is decisive in determining the direction of the sales policy. It can be carried out both by the enterprise itself and with the involvement of trade intermediaries. Advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and direct marketing contribute to the advancement of goods on the market. The price is the most essential factor because it affects the profit that the company will receive and the perception of the product by the consumer. If the assigned price is much higher or much lower than expected, this can negatively affect the purchase decision and reduce consumer confidence.
The price of a product is influenced by several factors, for example, the cost of production. Moreover, the price of the goods includes the seller’s margin, which is their primary income. In addition, the method of selling the product, service, and advertising are the components that make up the product’s final price. The price set by the seller also depends on the number of goods available to the seller. The greater the number of goods offered for sale, the lower the cost of costs for each production unit, and thus the seller can offer a lower price for buyers without losing profit. The price also depends on competition, the economic situation, and state policy.
Advertising at its core is, first of all, an economic phenomenon that has a significant impact on market participants and participants in economic relations, affecting both producers and consumers. The function of advertising as a financial tool is to stimulate market relations of supply and demand, which is produced by providing consumer audiences with information models of proposals submitted to the market. Small advertising is designed to have a particular impact on the level of market competition. In addition, it provides consumers with preliminary information about a product or service. The tendencies of high demand, hidden qualities, as well as the possibility of using solid emotional appeals are the characteristics of the product that encourage intensive advertising. This is because each approach will have a different effect on buyers and customers.
Marketing research is the search, collection and analysis of information that meets the marketing needs of a company. A large amount of different information helps to retain, acquire and return customers. Primary marketing research is research conducted by a company to collect information to improve products, services, or any production functions. Primary research is also called research conducted “from scratch” without using any other information obtained from other sources. Primary marketing research is the most common type, as well as the most valuable.
Their main advantage is that they answer only specific questions, filtering out irrelevant problems. Secondary marketing research is research that relies on already available data from several different sources. This research focuses on information that other companies have already collected and is available for free use. One of the advantages of conducting secondary marketing research is that they are primarily accessible or less expensive than primary ones and take much less time.
To determine in which direction the company needs to move, what needs to be changed or improved, marketing has such a tool as surveys. The most expensive survey method is a personal interview (Ratchford, 2018). This interview can be conducted in a store, at home, on the street, and others. This method has its advantages and disadvantages. The strengths include the ability to discuss specific topics and target a certain contingent of people. The disadvantages include the high cost, which is the highest compared to other survey methods. Still, interviewing is a worthwhile method that requires special conditions and financial costs, but it is quite effective.
In conclusion, marketing is a set of goals, tasks, functions, methods, and strategies for developing a product or service, promoting it, distributing it to customers, as well as managing relationships with customers, personnel, and suppliers. It helps to inform people about goods and services, allows influencing the consumer competently, and also allows more dynamic business development. People in business who strive to attract customers actively use many marketing tools to promote their own company.
References
Badi, K. (2018). The impact of marketing mix on the competitive advantage of the SME sector in the Al Buraimi governorate in Oman. Sage Open, 8(3), 1-11. Web.
Ratchford, B. The history of academic research in marketing and its implications for the future. Spanish Journal of Marketing, 24(1), 3-36. Web.