Understanding Seven Functions of Marketing
Seven Functions of Marketing - Business proprietors everywhere recognize that if they want to make money, they have to sell their products or services. But what you might not know is that there are actually seven functions of marketing that span everything from distribution to pricing.
Distribution
Distribution is about choosing how you'll get the goods or services you want to sell to the people who want to buy them. Having new ideas for a product is great, but if you aren't be permitted to get that product to the customers you aren't going to make money. Distribution can be as easy as setting up shop in the part of a city where your target customers are -- but in an increasingly interconnected world, distribution more often than not now means that you'll need to take your products or services to the customers.Financing
It takes fund to make money. As a business owner, an important function of marketing a product is finding the money through investments, loans, or your personal capital to finance the creation and ad of your goods or services.
Market Research
Market research is about gathering information concerning your target customers. Who are the people you want to sell to? Why should they buy from you as opposed to a rival business? Answering these questions requires that you do some on-the-ground observation of the market the progress and competing products.
Pricing
Setting the correct price for your product or service can be a challenge. If you price it too high, you might lose customers -- but if you price it too low you might be robbing yourself of gains. The "right" price commonly comes through trial and error and doing some market research.
Product and Service Management
Once you've decided the specific objectives marketplace and set the price of your product or service, the goals and targets becomes to effectively manage the product or service. This involves listening to customers, responding to their wants and necessities, and keeping your products and services fresh and up to date.
Promotion
Most business owners are familiar with the idea of promotion. Advertising your products and services is essential to attracting new both consumers and keeping existing customers coming back here. As the marketplace changes, you'll want to respond appropriately by tailoring your promotion messages to new media (such as Facebook or Twitter), by sticking with more conventional outlets -- or by using a mix of the old and new.
Selling
Selling is the seventh function of marketing. While we tend to think of selling and marketing as being closely linked, selling is last on the listing of the seven functions of marketing. This is because selling can happen only after you've decided the wants and needs of your client base and are able to respond with the right products at the right price point and time frame.