Having a better understanding of the seven marketing functions is critical to the success of any marketing campaign. The functions include Market information management, Product management, Promotion, Distribution, and Financing. While there are other functions that may exist in a particular industry, these seven are commonly considered the most critical to a successful marketing campaign.
Product management
As a startup company product management is a critical function. It helps you analyze the market, develop a product strategy, and optimize your product portfolio. Product management requires a deep understanding of the user and the technology. The key is to identify problems and solve them in an effective manner. It also helps you define your product’s user experience.
Product management is an ongoing process that involves coordination among internal and external stakeholders. For example, a firm like Apple has several product managers for specific devices or apps. It is also responsible for launching new features and versions of existing products. It involves working closely with engineering and designers while also involving market research. During the development phase, product managers collaborate with sales and marketing teams. They also ensure that the product meets the company’s business goals.
So what are the 7 marketing functions of marketing?
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Promotion
Promotions yield and boost brand awareness while educating the target audiences on a brand’s products or services. It emphasizes on the introduction of receiving potential consumers to your brand. This function of marketing varies in form, and marketing professionals tailor each form to relate to a particular product, brand or target audience. Promotion may include any of these strategies: Email marketing, Social media advertisements, Public relations, Digital/Print advertising, Content marketing, Brand partnerships, influencer marketing, and Events. Each of these methods attempts to generate conversations and excitement about a product or service. Take note that promotion itself often requires the support of other marketing functions to be successful and as such cannot be solely used alone and be expected to be successful in marketing.
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Selling
A function of marketing comprises communicating with potential customers and pursuing sales leads. It’s essential for marketing professionals to pursue sales leads with subtlety, which helps them build relationships with potential customers. As communication with a potential customer progresses, successful marketers may introduce their product and answer questions customers may potentially have. Effective selling techniques can help you distinguish your brand from competitors. Marketers and salespeople may collaborate to determine how to best position their product within their market and sell it to potential customers.
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Product Management
This includes the development, design, and improvement of products or services. The role of a marketer in product management is to ensure that a finished product meets customer needs. This includes examining the overall visual of the product, its usefulness, and how its delivered.
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Pricing
Setting a price for a product incorporates several factors of cost and value. Ideally, marketers find a price between customers’ perceptions of a product’s value and the actual cost of producing it. Other factors include the price your competitors set and the amount customers might pay for your product. Marketing professionals consider these elements when deciding how to price a particular product or service. Though this can be challenging to determine a price for your product, however using in-depth market research can help you make an informed decision. Whatever price you settle with for your product, it’s important for your promotions and branding to match its price.
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Marketing Information Management
Optimizing your marketing strategies when you focus on data and information will allow you to collect and store data like customer preferences and demographics. Often this data directly relates to your target audience for your products and services. This also can inform effective business decisions for the entire company, so consider sharing your data and findings with other departments as well. To gather relevant information from various marketing tools, you can use the survey approach, online reviews, social media engagements, and market research reports.
Take note that marketing tools provide unique data and feedback so choosing the right one depends on your specific needs. This will help you determine whether your efforts succeeded in increasing social media engagement.
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Financing
A marketing function that involves securing funding – internally or externally – to create marketing campaigns. It’s important for marketing teams to secure enough availability in their annual budget to improve previous marketing campaigns and remain updated with industry trends. A good marketing team can demonstrate its added value to its company if revenue continues to increase due to high-quality marketing campaigns. This upward trajectory might also allow that team to secure future funding, as they can demonstrate a quantifiable positive return on their investment.
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Distribution
A process of transporting your company’s products/services to your customers. There are several physical and digital methods of distribution to take note of:
- Online Stores
- Catalogs/Magazines
- Sales Calls
- Retail Stores
- Wholesalers
Marketers will most likely choose the channel of distribution that best fits a particular product, brand, or target audience. It’s important to choose a location to sell your product that your target audience often visits. Distribution is a function of marketing that requires collaboration across departments to ensure that each product reaches its consumers in its intended goal.
Digital Specialist Co. offers a free consultation to find more effective ways to leverage the marketing functions of marketing to cater to your business needs.
