Marketing managers or officers are focused mainly on the practical application and management of an organization’s marketing operations. For marketing managers to be efficient and effective in performing their functions, they should have excellent communication and analytical skills.
In small organizations, the marketing manager is in charge of the organization’s entire marketing activities and therefore handles formulating, directing and coordinating marketing activities so as to influence customers to choose the organization’s products over those of competitors. 1)Conducting Market Research Marketing managers carry out market research to gain a clear understanding of what an organization’s customers really want. Marketing research enables these managers to identify new market opportunities, helping the organization create a market niche for its products or services.
Market research also involves studying the organization’s competitors so as to develop superior products and employ efficient marketing techniques. Companies conduct market research using questionnaires, face-to-face interviews or analyzing the buying habits of consumers.Marketing planning should be at the core to any business and is usually presented in the form of a written marketing plan. A consultant called Paul Smith first developed a process known as COSTA@ which is a useful model used to structure a marketing plan.
COSTA is an acronym for the following elements of the plan: Situation Analysis – where are we now? Objectives – what do you want to achieve? Strategy – how are you going to get there? Tactics – what are the details of the strategy? Actions – who is going to do what, and by when? Controls – how are you going to measure success? The marketing plan should provide direction for all relevant members of the organization and should be referred to and updated throughout the year.
The main reason for the marketing plan is that it provides a structured approach that forces the marketing manager to consider all the relevant elements of the planning process which might be missed if a more rushed approach is adopted. He marketing mix includes all tangible elements that allow you to market your product. This includes facilities, your employees, the product itself, the cost strategy, the process of selling, and how you promote and advertise. The extent to which the marketing manager gets involved in these elements depends on how marketing focused your business is.
A product focused organization will probably start with an ides for a new product, then try and determine who is likely to buy it. A marketing focused business starts with the consumer and tried to figure out what they want to buy. Some product focused businesses are very successful but it is generally. Customer relationship management is the process of communicating with customers throughout the various stages of the purchasing process, and this includes people who have already bought from you.
It is significantly easier to hold on to an existing customer than it is to find new ones, but doing this requires all elements of the marketing mix to be run well. For example, it’s no use sending out a beautifully produced customer magazine if your customer service is dreadful or the product rears easily. 5) Employee Management Marketing managers are in charge of the marketing department and therefore are responsible for employees within their department. They assign duties and set targets for departmental staff.
It is also the function of marketing managers to perform periodic performance evaluations of the staff working for them.
