Some Common Marketing Concepts
The term ‘Marketing’ refers to the act of communicating a message to potential customers, build brand awareness, and create strong customer connections in order to gain value in exchange for payment. This value can be either direct (the sale) or indirect (the information supplied by the customer in return for this sale). Marketing uses many channels and forms and is therefore very broad and complex. However, it can be broken down into four main areas:
The concept of marketing covers a wide range of activities aimed at creating awareness, establishing credibility, and creating a market for products or services. Marketing strategies are generally based on these four factors. In addition, some marketing strategies use indirect channels such as advertising to increase sales and building relationships with consumers. Below we look at some of the marketing concepts commonly used by marketers.
Direct marketing is perhaps the most widely used marketing concept. It involves selling directly to the customer at a low price, usually in a small quantity, and delivering the product or service straight to the customer. For example, the manufacturer might offer a discount to retailers if they order a large number of cases of a particular product. Direct marketing is often used to promote a brand or create a new interest in a product.
Affiliate marketing is another popular marketing concept. This concept involves promoting a product or service on behalf of someone else and gaining a commission from sales made as a result. Marketers who use this concept are called affiliates. A problem arises with some marketers who use this concept to promote products or services that are actually substandard or even fraudulent. Affiliates often face a downfall because they do not fully understand the product concept, they lack the expertise needed, or they lack the ability to attract prospects and convert them into clients.
Another set of marketing concepts are Social Marketing Management and Consumer Marketing Management. Social marketing is the technique of using marketing techniques to build and strengthen relationships with customers and other people in one’s social network, while using those relationships to sell a product or service. In this method, marketers use methods such as blogging, twittering, and video marketing to build their networks and communicate with others. These networks can be used to spread information about the product, attract prospects, and make sales.
Consumer marketing concept revolves around the idea of making consumers aware of a product or service. A marketer targets a specific group of consumers by creating advertisements that highlight the product concept and speaking to them on a personal level. While many marketing concepts have their value, they are not always effective because of the problems that may arise due to implementation. Therefore, it is important to select the marketing concept that is most appropriate for the product or service being offered.
