A simple definition of marketing is managing profitable customer relationships. Marketing must both attract new customers and grow the current customers. Every organization must perform marketing functions, not Just for-profit companies. Nonprofits (colleges, hospitals, churches, etc. ) also must perform marketing.
Most people think of marketing as selling and advertising?”telling and selling. ” Marketing must focus on satisfying customer needs. Marketing is a process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships to capture value from customers in return In the first four steps, companies work to understand consumers, create customer value, and build strong customer relationships. In the final step, companies reap the rewards of creating superior customer value. By creating value for consumers, they in turn capture value from consumers in the form of sales, profits, and long-term customer equity.
Five core customer and marketplace concepts are critical: (1) needs, wants, and demands; (2) marketing offers (products, services, and experiences); (3) value and satisfaction; (4) exchanges and relationships; and (5) markets. Customer Needs, Wants, and Demands The most basic concept underlying marketing is that of human needs. Human needs are states of felt deprivation. They include physical, social, and individual needs. These needs were not created by marketers; they are a basic part of the human makeup.
Wants are the form human needs take as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. An American needs food but wants a Big Mac. When backed by buying power, wants become demands. The best marketing companies go to great lengths to learn and understand their What is marketing By Teleconference products, services, information, or experiences offered to a market to satisfy a need or want Marketing myopia is focusing only on existing wants and losing sight of underlying consumer needs Needs and wants are fulfilled through market offerings?some combination of or want.
Market offerings include products and services?activities or benefits offered for sale that are essentially intangible and do not result in the ownership of anything. Marketing myopia occurs when a company becomes so taken with their own products that they lose sight of underlying customer needs. Customer Value and Satisfaction Customers form expectations about the value and satisfaction that various market offerings will deliver and buy accordingly.
Satisfied customers buy again and tell others about their good experiences. Dissatisfied customers switch to competitors and disparage the product to others. Customer value and customer satisfaction are key building blocks for developing and managing customer relationships. Exchange is the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering meeting in return Marketing consists of actions taken to build and maintain desirable exchange relationships with target audiences.
Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and building profitable relationships with them What customers will we serve? How can we best serve these customers? The marketing manager must answer two important questions: What customers will we serve (what’s our target market)? How can we serve these customers best (what’s our value proposition)? Market segmentation refers to dividing the markets into segments of customers Target marketing refers to which segments to go after Selecting Customers to Serve A company must decide whom it will serve.
It does this by dividing the market into segments of customers (market segmentation) and selecting which segments it will go after (target marketing). Marketing managers know they cannot serve all customers. By trying to do so, they end up not serving any well. Marketing managers must decide which customers they want to target and on which level, timing, and nature of their demand. Marketing management is customer management and demand management.
