A Study of Marketing Basics Using King Solomon's Principles
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With a little study we can see that there are several concepts and misconceptions about marketing that need to be addressed before we get into the meat of this article. The basic concept of marketing is 'the diversity of activities used in assuring that we are meeting the needs of our clients and that we are getting a valuable return in response.' A major misconception of marketing is that it only entails 'advertising your product or service.' Advertising is important, however, it is only one component in the process of marketing.
Developing a good understanding of the needs and wants of your customers and developing a plan that addresses those needs is the essential element of 'marketing.' For a business owner to want his business to grow is a natural aspiration. Giving close attention to 'organic growth' is the most effective way to help your business grow.
The most effective way to grow or expand a business is to focus on 'organic growth.' In order to understand 'organic growth', we need to realize that a business is a living organism. We can either let it fend for itself or we can determine what it needs to help it grow. By determining what the business needs we can thus determine what we need to do to make it thrive.
Let's look at two basic elements of marketing to help us get a better idea of the activities that we need to do to create a successful business. The first element of marketing that we need to consider is 'developing a marketing plan.' The second element is your 'ongoing promotion.' A serious mistake that many business owners make is to create a product or service and immediately begin an advertising campaign. After a further explanation of these two basic elements, you'll understand why this mistake can be a disappointing and costly one.
Developing a 'marketing plan' or 'marketing strategy' is essential to the well being of a business. The first step in creating a marketing plan is to do a little research and analysis. Don't slap yourself on the forehead in exasperation. This is not as difficult as the name implies. It may take a little time but is well worth every minute.
To help us understand, we should look at the advice of King Solomon, the wealthiest man who ever lived. This will show us the effectiveness of marketing analysis. We can apply several of Solomon's Keys to Success in our ongoing marketing efforts.
Proverbs 1:5 (NASB) "A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel," Wise counsel can be found in many forms. We should also remember, for those of us who think we know best, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel." Proverbs 12:15 (NASB) In a nutshell marketing analysis involves the following:
What must we do in 'marketing analysis'?
1.) Discover which groups of potential customers (or markets) there are,
2.) Determining our 'target market' or those clients that we prefer to serve,
3.) Learning the needs of our target market,
4.) Choosing the best products or services that might meet the needs of our target market,
5.) Determining how our potential customers might use our products and services,
6.) Keep track of your competitors' activities,
7.) Determining the pricing structure that we should use and
8.) Developing a plan for the distribution of our products and services to our target markets.
Various methods of 'market research' are used to gather information about markets, target markets and their needs, competitors, etc. A little Internet research will reveal many sources of specific information. We must remember to target our searches. We do this by beginning from a broad area of possibilities and with each subsequent search we can get more specific until we have discovered as much as possible about our market in general and our target market. The resulting information will become our 'niche' market, our specific area of a market that is best for our product or service.
After we have developed our marketing plan, we need to consider our plan for 'ongoing promotions.' Our ongoing promotion will include advertising, public relations, sales and client service to name a few. These terms (advertising, marketing, promotion, public relations and publicity, and sales) can easily become confusing. These terms are often used interchangeably. However, they refer to different but similar activities.
Let's look at a list of quick definition of each term.
1.) Advertising -- effectively presenting a product (or service) to potential and current customers. Advertising must be focused on one particular product or service. This demonstrates that an advertising plan for one particular product or service might not work for another product or service. Advertising is done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, website banners, etc.
2.) Promotion - keeping our product in the minds of our customer (product recognition). The ongoing activities of advertising and public relations are often considered aspects of promotions.
3.) Public Relations -- ongoing processes we use to ensure that our business has a strong and positive public image. This is referred to as "PR."
4.) Publicity -- Publicity is public or 'media' attention, whether favorable or not. These are the review that others present of your product or service and can include news releases. These are only a few terms that are good to learn.
These are only a few terms that are good to learn. The health and well being of a business, your business, is truly determined by the amount of diligent study that you do and the application of the principles that you learn through study. To best know your product or service or customers or competitors, you must develop a sincere determination to be as diligent as possible.
Remember these principles in Solomon's Proverbs to help you develop a growing and successful business.
Proverbs 10:4 (NASB) "Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich."
Proverbs 12:24 (NLT) "Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and become a slave."
Proverbs 13:4 (The Amplified Bible) "The appetite of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the appetite of the diligent is abundantly supplied."
Proverbs 21:5 (The Amplified Bible) "The thoughts of the [steadily] diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone who is impatient and hasty hastens only to want."
Write this last Proverb over and over until it is embedded into your memory. It will be a blessing.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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