One of the greatest needs of managers of business is to understand and develop marketing programs for

their products and services. Business success is based on the ability to build a growing body of satisfied
customers. Modern marketing programs are built around the "marketing concept," which directs
managers to focus their efforts on identifying and satisfying customer needs - at a profit.

Marketing continues to be a mystery . . . to those who create it and to those who sponsor it. Often, the ad
that generates record-breaking volume for a retail store one month is repeated the following month and
bombs. A campaign designed by the best ad agency may elicit a mediocre response. The same item sells
like hotcakes after a 30-word classified ad, with abominable grammar, appears on page 35 of an all-
advertising shopper tossed on the front stoops of homes during a rainstorm! The mystery eludes solution
but demands attention.

Your marketing results can be improved through a better understanding of your customers. This approach
usually is referred to as the marketing concept.

Putting the customer first is probably the most popular phrase used by firms ranging from giant
conglomerates to the corner barber shop, but the sloganizing is often just lip service. The business
continues to operate under the classic approach - "Come buy this great product we have created or this
fantastic service we are offering." The giveaway, of course, is the word we. In other words, most business
activities, including advertising, are dedicated to solving the firm's problems. Success, however, is more
likely if you dedicate your activities exclusively to solving your customer's problems.

Any marketing program has a better chance of being productive if it is timed, designed and written to
solve a problem for potential customers and is carried out in a way that the customer understands and
trusts. The pages that follow will present the marketing concept of putting the customer first. Marketing is
a very complex subject; it deals with all the steps between determining customer needs and supplying
them at a profit.

The Marketing Concept 

The marketing concept rests on the importance of customers to a firm and states that:

 All company policies and activities should be aimed at satisfying customer needs, and
 Profitable sales volume is a better company goal than maximum sales volume.

To use the marketing concept, businesses should:

 Determine the needs of their customers (Market Research);

 Analyze their competitive advantages (Market Strategy);
 Select specific markets to serve (Target Marketing), and;
 Determine how to satisfy those needs (Market Mix).

Market Research 

In order to manage the marketing function successfully, good information about the market is necessary.
Frequently, a small market research program, based on a questionnaire given to present customers
and/or prospective customers, can disclose problems and areas of dissatisfaction that can be easily
remedied, or new products or services that could be offered successfully.

Marketing Strategy 

Marketing strategy encompasses identifying customer groups (Target Markets), which a small business
can serve better than its larger competitors, and tailoring its product offerings, prices, distribution,
promotional efforts and services towards that particular market segment (Managing the Market Mix). A
good strategy implies that a business cannot be all things to all people and must analyze its markets and
its own capabilities so as to focus on a target market it can serve best.

Target Marketing 

Owners of small businesses have limited resources to spend on marketing activities. Concentrating their
marketing efforts on one or a few key market segments is the basis of target marketing. The major ways
to segment a market are:

 Geographical segmentation - developing a loyal group of consumers in the home geographical

territory before expanding into new territories.
 Product segmentation - extensively promoting existing best-selling products and services before
introducing a lot of new products.
 Customer segmentation - identifying and promoting to those groups of people most likely to buy
the product. In other words, selling to heavy users before trying to develop new users.

Managing the Market Mix 

There are four key marketing decision areas in a marketing program. They are:

 Products and Services,

 Promotion,
 Distribution, and
 Pricing.

The marketing mix is used to describe how owner-managers combine these four areas into an overall
marketing program.

Products and Services 

Effective product strategies for a business may include concentrating on a narrow product line,
developing a highly specialized product containing an unusual amount of service.

Promotion 

This marketing decision area includes advertising, salesmanship and other promotional activities. In
general, high quality salesmanship is a must for small businesses due to their limited ability to advertise
heavily. Good yellow-page advertising is a must for small retailers. Direct mail is an effective, low-cost
medium of advertising available to small businesses.

Price 

Determining price levels and/or pricing policies (including credit policy) is the major factor affecting total
revenue. Generally, higher prices mean lower volume and vice-versa, however, small businesses can
often command higher prices due to the personalized service they can offer.

Distribution 

The manufacturer and wholesaler must decide how to distribute their products. Working through
established distributors or manufacturers' agents generally is most feasible for small manufacturers.
retailers should consider cost and traffic flow as two major factors in location site selection, especially
since advertising and rent can be reciprocal. In other words, low-cost, low-traffic location means you must
spend more on advertising to build traffic.

Marketing Performance 

After marketing program decisions are made, owner-managers need to evaluate how well decisions have
turned out. Standards of performance need to be set up so results can be evaluated against them. Sound
data on industry norms and past performance provide the basis for comparing against present
performance. 

Owner-managers should audit their company's performance at least quarterly. The key questions to ask
are:

 Is the company doing all it can to be customer-orientated?

 Do the employees make sure the customer's needs are truly satisfied and leave them with the
feeling that they would enjoy coming back?
 Is it easy for the customer to find what he or she wants and at a competitive price?

Read more: 1. Introduction to marketing 

Get more information on Entrepreneurship

Marketing is the process by which companies create customer interest in goods or services. It generates
the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business development. [1] It is
an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for
their customers and for themselves.[1]

Marketing is used to identify the customer, to keep the customer, and to satisfy the customer. With the
customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing managementis one of the
major components of business management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new
markets caused by mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries.[citation needed] The adoption of
marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and
wants of their customers as the means of stayingprofitable.[citation needed]

The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and
wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions.[2] It proposes that in order to satisfy its
organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and
satisfy these more effectively than competitors.[2]