M marketing what. What is marketing and what is it for? Example “What can I do...?”

It's hard to believe, but until recently, most businesses did not have marketing departments. In the United States and other Western countries, marketing departments have grown out of divisions of sales departments. In many Russian companies, the positions “head of the marketing and advertising department” are still found, that is, the fashionable word was simply introduced into the name of a long-existing unit.

Marketing departments are developing so rapidly that they often become larger in staff and/or costs than sales departments, the main breadwinners of the company.

Having encountered marketing for the first time and begun to apply it in professional activities, it is then difficult to imagine how it was possible to do without it before. For example, a company wants to create a new product. A study is conducted that answers the question: “does the buyer need this product?” Next, you need to find out the real and potential market share of this product, the price situation, the number and characteristics of competitors. Finally a positive decision was made. Now the question arises about the appearance of the product, its name, packaging, type of packaging, etc. and so on. For each item, a market research of potential buyers is conducted. The next stage is product advertising. We came up with an advertising move and studied its perception by the buyer. We released the product on the market - we studied the opinion of wholesalers, the reaction of buyers, the distribution of the product on the market, etc., etc., etc. To exaggerate, before making any decision, it is necessary to conduct a study that will show the current state of the market, prospects for its development and give recommendations on how to act to achieve your goals.

Today in Russia there are not only marketing departments at enterprises, but also independent research companies that offer their services for market research. For many managers, the question is still relevant: what is better: to have their own marketing department or periodically order research from third-party organizations.

The main arguments given by supporters of carrying out research only by their own employees

The main arguments given by supporters of conducting research only in specialized marketing companies

The same arguments are used by opposing sides with equal success.

A small survey conducted by N.V. Dolgopolova, head of the marketing department of the State Unitary Enterprise “State Laser Center “Raduga”” among fellow marketers of “problem” state unitary enterprises, showed that the proposal to attract external consultants is most often perceived by management as a manifestation of the incompetence of their own specialists. A priori, it is believed that in-house specialists should conduct any research faster, cheaper and of better quality than external ones. As a result, it is a common practice to create your own analytical reports based on incomplete or unreliable information, but consistent with corporate ideas.

In December 2001, a discussion was held on the functions of the marketing department in the enterprise. In the table we present the opinions of real experts - heads of marketing departments of enterprises and employees of marketing companies (34 specialists from Moscow, Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan, St. Petersburg, Kyiv took part in the discussion).

There were no objections to the fact that every modern enterprise should have at least one marketing specialist on staff. The main controversy was caused by the question of whether enterprise specialists should conduct the entire volume of research themselves, or their role is only to control the activities of external performers. And the entire complex of research work - from collecting primary data to analysis - should be outsourced to specialized marketing agencies. As usual, there is no clear recipe.

When making a decision, you need to remember the central role of the marketing department in the enterprise and the entire range of issues that its employees deal with. The marketing department develops a strategy for the production and sales of products, prepares information for management about the market situation for decision-making, coordinates the actions of all other departments (production, sales, finance, etc.), and provides support to the sales department in promoting products.

Most enterprise marketers admitted that they spend no more than 15–20% of their working time directly on market research; the rest is taken up by other tasks, including sales and advertising. This means that the agency will complete the research at least 5 times faster than an in-house specialist! And this is a very important indicator for any market where the situation is changing rapidly.

There are three main criteria for determining how to organize marketing research - on your own or with the help of research companies: the ratio of work and human resources, the ratio of costs and results and the competence of the research companies.

Here is an approximate, far from complete, list of work required to conduct research: development of a research program; identifying sources of information and acquiring statistics; recruiting interviewers, training them and developing questionnaires; operational management of information collection: the need to constantly communicate with a large number of counterparties; processing of received data; writing an analytical report; preparation and presentation of the report.

It is very difficult for a person who also has other responsibilities to complete the above amount of work at the proper level of quality and within the given time frame. Thus, it is necessary to hire a special person to conduct the research, and, most likely, relieve him of other duties during this time. If such a person can be found and occupied while the research is completed, then the issue of workload is not a determining factor for the company in deciding whether to do the research itself or outsource it to other companies.

Regarding the cost-benefit ratio. Let's say we are conducting research for an architecture and construction company. Getting one client for such a company can recoup all the research costs. On the other hand, this one client will probably come to this company anyway. Well, what if he doesn’t come and current clients leave? Can a research company guarantee results? The answer is no, you may already be doing everything right. Can you guarantee yourself that you are doing everything right?

In almost all investment projects, money should not be spared on research. Typically, investments in equipment, real estate, hiring people, etc. much more than the cost of marketing research. At the same time, even if you have a person who can conduct marketing research, do not be lazy, go to several research companies, maybe they will seem more competent to you. The cost of incompetence may be too high.

Of course, employees in a company know the specifics of their activities much better (at least, that is what is commonly believed). But do you really think that it is absolutely impossible for an outsider to understand it at a level that would allow him to pose questions correctly? In addition, the customer approves the research program, which includes a list of results and methods by which these results will be obtained.

There are organizational issues that a research company will most likely be able to resolve better: more efficient and convenient work with interviewers, well-functioning control of work, a convenient questionnaire, a convenient and strict structure for presenting data in the final analytical report, etc. This is due to the availability of ready-made forms that make the work faster and better. And this is only because the research company regularly “makes headway” and improves its work. There is another important point that determines competence: a marketer in a research company works with statistics from different markets. This develops an outlook that is difficult to acquire while working in one company; and this allows you to look at things very soberly from the outside (which is one of the main arguments in favor of conducting research “with the wrong hands”).

For marketing research, two principles must apply: 1) the cost of information should not exceed the benefits received from its use, 2) the quality of information must correspond to the purpose and objectives of the research.

Results

Every company should have its own marketer, but only a few very large companies can afford to maintain a department to handle the full range of work, including research. The main function of the marketing department of a medium-sized company is setting research goals and objectives, implementing the enterprise's marketing strategy, collecting and processing current information. The main function of a small firm marketer is setting research goals and objectives and implementing the enterprise’s marketing strategy.

The size of the marketing department very much depends on the size and scope of the enterprise itself. The larger the range of products you have, the more competitors, the greater the role advertising plays, the larger the internal marketing department should be. It makes sense for every company to use the services of external analysts. Any investment project requires the joint work of internal and external analysts.

Four main coordinates are laid down in the popular theory of marketing: product, price, distribution, promotion (product, price, place, promotion). In English, all four words begin with the letter P. This is where the name of this concept came from - 4pi marketing, or 4p marketing mix. One of the parents of the 4pi concept is Theodore Levitt. He is the author of the article "Marketing Myopia", which was published in 1960.

Principles of formation

The 4p theory, based on the analysis of four parameters of a company’s activity, is able to identify weaknesses and direct the company’s marketing policy in the right direction. The main components of the 4p concept:
Product – a range of services or goods, their characteristics, properties, design.
Promotion – sales promotion, advertising campaigns, company PR.
Distribution – employee evaluation, distribution channels, location.
Price – cost, discounts, markdowns, markups.

Below are the features and characteristics of each “coordinate” of 4pi marketing technology.

Product

The product range must be balanced. It is important to understand whether the company’s products are really needed by consumers, whether they fully satisfy their needs. The first “pi” of the marketing concept – product – will help solve these problems.

Functionality, warranty, design, brand, reliability - indicators that need to be analyzed. Support and related services are also important. Conventionally, goods are divided into several types:
generate income now;
there will be profit tomorrow;
improvements are needed;
in developing;
income was in the past;
unsuccessful products;
critical facts.

Companies seeking stable sales must choose a product policy that cuts off the last three types.

Price

The price of a promoted product consists of three parts: production costs, planned profit, and psychological factors. In this case, you should consider the company's pricing policy or the chosen pricing strategy. There are several options: the company settles on average market prices, chooses the premium segment, makes it cheaper than leading suppliers, or sets the lowest cost. The last path is the road to nowhere. It is necessary to choose a middle ground: the company must make a profit, the consumer must be interested and profitable in purchasing the product.

The company can afford to change the cost, but only taking into account the elasticity of demand. If price fluctuations do not lead to major changes, then demand is inelastic. Analyzing this indicator is simple: you need to conduct a survey among buyers in advance about how many services or goods they are willing to purchase at different cost levels.

Place

A competent product sales policy is the basis for successful promotion and delivery of goods/services to consumers. Buyers should be able to receive the company's product in a convenient place at a convenient time. The organization is obliged to take care of providing additional data and after-sales service.

Selecting optimal sales channels will help reduce sales organization costs. By answering the following questions, a company can do this. Will trade be conducted through intermediaries or independently? How many channels need to be used simultaneously? Having made the right decision about the location of distribution of goods/services, the enterprise will receive the key to further success. Even changing the shelf location of a product in a supermarket can induce consumers to buy and change their attitude towards the products offered.

Promotion

Using the fourth “coordinate” of the 4P marketing tool – promotion – can tell the story, push sales, demonstrate a product or service to potential buyers. Using a variety of ways to convey information, the company will solve the main problem - creating a consumer desire to buy products.

There are many promotion methods: special offers, tastings, promotions, sales and others. The main result is a satisfied client and income received by the organization.

The golden mean is the choice of professionals

All components of the 4p marketing mix are of great importance for the effective operation of any company. The effective use of this technology can establish a balance in the product range, a promotion system, product sales, and help establish optimal prices. By making a product or service desirable to customers, the company will receive maximum benefit, prosperity, recognition, and profit. A holistic picture of the business is the end result that comes from using this well-known marketing technology.

According to the definition of the American scientist F. Kotler marketing- a type of human activity aimed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange.

The original idea underlying marketing is the idea meeting human needs and requirements(physical needs and needs for food, clothing, warmth, safety, social needs and requirements, the need for knowledge and self-expression, etc.). People's needs are limitless, but the resources to satisfy them are limited. So a person will choose those goods that give him the greatest satisfaction within his capabilities.

Demand is a need backed by purchasing power.

It is not difficult to list the demand of a particular society at a particular point in time. However, demand is not a reliable indicator because it changes. Changes in choice are influenced by both price changes and income levels. A person chooses a product whose combination of properties provides him with the greatest satisfaction for a given price, taking into account his specific needs and resources. Human needs, wants and demands are satisfied by products. Under

goods in a broad sense, can be understood as anything that can satisfy a need or need and is offered to the market for the purpose of attracting attention, acquisition, use or consumption.

Exchange is the act of receiving a desired object from someone and offering something in return.

Market

in marketing it is understood as a set of existing and potential consumers of a product (sales market).

A key aspect of marketing is mindset. He suggests that when making marketing decisions, a manager should look at everything through the eyes of the consumer. Therefore, these solutions must be those that the consumer needs and wants.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as follows:
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the concept, pricing, promotion and sale of ideas, goods and services through exchanges that satisfy the goals of individuals and organizations.
There are four components to this definition:
1) management action (foresight, goal setting and planning, meeting demand);
2) a set of controlled elements of marketing activities (product (intention), price, distribution (sales) and promotion);

3) objects with the help of which demand is satisfied and goals are achieved (goods, services, ideas, organizations, people, territories);

4) method of satisfying demand (exchange).
Thus, the previous definition can be briefly expressed as follows: “Marketing is the management of satisfying demand through trade.”
– achieving maximum customer satisfaction;
– providing the widest possible choice;
– maximum improvement in quality of life.

From the point of view of enterprise management, the following marketing goals can be distinguished:
– increase in income;
– growth in sales volumes;
– increase in market share;
– creation and improvement of the image, fame of the enterprise and its products.

Marketing management refers to the analysis, planning, implementation and control of activities designed to establish and maintain exchanges with target customers in order to achieve certain enterprise goals.

The following tasks of marketing activities in an enterprise can be distinguished:
1. Research, analysis and assessment of the needs of actual and potential consumers of the company's products in areas of interest to the company.
2. Marketing support for the development of new products and services of the company.
3. Analysis, assessment and forecasting of the state and development of markets in which the enterprise operates or will operate, including research into the activities of competitors.
4. Participation in the formation of the strategy and tactics of the enterprise’s market behavior.
5. Formation of the enterprise’s assortment policy.
6. Development of the enterprise's pricing policy.
7. Development of a policy for the distribution of goods of the enterprise.
8. Marketing communications.
9. Service.

3. Marketing information system

A marketing information system is a set of personnel, equipment, procedures and methods designed to collect, process, analyze and distribute timely and reliable information necessary for preparing and making marketing decisions.

The conceptual model of the marketing information system is presented in Fig. 1.

Internal reporting subsystem is the basis of MIS. It reflects information about orders, sales, prices, inventories, receivables and payables, etc. Analysis of internal information allows the marketing manager to identify promising opportunities and pressing problems of the enterprise.

Rice. 1. Marketing information system

While the internal reporting subsystem contains and provides data on what has already happened, marketing surveillance system subsystem provides information about the current market situation. Marketing observation is defined as a constant activity to collect current information about changes in the external marketing environment, necessary for both the development and adjustment of marketing plans.

Marketing research in contrast to marketing observation, they involve preparing and conducting various surveys and analyzing the data obtained on a specific marketing task facing the enterprise.

MIS also includes marketing solutions support subsystem, which is an interconnected set of data systems, tools and techniques with which an enterprise analyzes and interprets internal and external information.

In this article, we will explain what marketing is in simple words, and what the difference is between marketing and sales. We will also look at how to properly organize marketing so that it works for the benefit of the business, and not against it.

And let's start with the main question - what is the difference between marketing and sales?

What is marketing in the simplest terms?

Recently I noticed that many entrepreneurs do not understand what marketing actually is (even if they have been in business for a very long time).

They often confuse marketing with “sales.” As a result, they work ineffectively with both. They force sales people to do marketing, and vice versa - they hire a marketing director and try to force him to increase sales volumes.

Business textbooks are largely to blame for this situation, which for some reason consider it their duty to write “marketing and sales” on every second book - as if they are exactly the same thing. And it’s difficult for residents of the post-Soviet space to understand the difference between two such subtle entities.

If we talk specifically about marketing, then often our entrepreneurs’ understanding of this section of business is limited to “marketing research” - collecting focus groups, organizing calls to the target audience with stupid questions (such as “will you buy our product or not”).

In fact, the difference between marketing and sales is the same as between opera and operetta. I will try to explain this difference using a simple example.

Do you want apples or potatoes?

Imagine this situation. You have a red apple and you want to make money by selling it. To do this, you approach people on the street and offer them to buy your apple. At first, these people cannot understand why they need your apple. And you start telling them how healthy this fruit is. There is a lot of iron and other healthy substances. In addition, this apple is very tasty, sweet and juicy.

Thus, you try in every possible way to convince passersby you come across to buy your apple. This is sales.

Now let's imagine a different situation. You still walk the streets and pester people, but this time you don’t have an apple. You approach passersby and ask them a simple question - what would they like to buy? Maybe they want apples? Or maybe bananas? Or maybe even potatoes? Based on their answers, you choose what exactly you need to offer these people.

That is, you will no longer need to convince them that your product is necessary and useful. They will want to buy it themselves, and all you have to do is supply it in the right quantity. This is what marketing is.

I think now you understand the difference. And the question arises - what is more important for business - marketing or sales?

What is more important - marketing or sales?

There are two answers to this question. The first is a quick one, that marketing and sales are like the chicken and the egg. And it is impossible to say what is more and what is less important. But there is another, longer answer. It will help you determine which area you need to pay more attention to in your specific situation.

Why do sales people and marketers hate each other?

If we return to the “classical” organization of the work of sales and marketing departments in Russian businesses, then these two departments often turn into a swan, a crayfish and a pike. Each of them pulls business in their own direction.

Traditionally, sales people hate marketers, and vice versa. Both of them can be understood. Imagine yourself in the place of a sales manager. You need to call customers every day and offer them your company's products. And every day you get rejected.

They tell you: “We don’t need this” or “it’s too expensive” or “we’re not satisfied with the conditions.” But you cannot offer them another product, or reduce the price, or change the terms of delivery - because you are limited by the conditions that marketers have set for you.

And you think - why do we offer people something they don’t need? The marketers got it wrong. Or another thought: “If our product were cheaper, then it would be much easier to sell it. And these greedy marketers and directors still can’t get enough!”

By the way, it could easily turn out that there are no “marketers” in the company at all. And then all the anger of salespeople is directed at the one who formally performs the functions of the marketing director - the owner or manager of the business. After all, it is he who makes the decision - what to sell, at what price and to whom? So he is a marketer.

And this attitude, of course, is not good for business.

Circular scheme of marketing and sales

Let me draw a little diagram to make it clearer how marketing and sales interact (or how they should theoretically interact). But first, a little explanation of the diagram.

Working with our potential and actual clients goes in circles.

Circle #1 - the largest circle is people who are simply about us know. Either they heard the name of our company somewhere, or saw an advertisement where we offer certain products.

This is the largest part of our audience.

Circle #2 -(smaller circle) are those who not only know about us, but also trust us. They heard from friends that our products are of high quality. Someone recommended us to them, or they read our materials about the product, and they themselves came to the conclusion that we are experts in the market and can be trusted.

Next comes an even narrower one Circle #3- these are people who have already paid us something. Moreover, it is not always about money. If a person left us his email in the subscription, or his phone number, or subscribed to our public page on a social network, he also became part of a narrower circle. But in the classical sense, yes, this circle is already connected with money and primary sales.

Here we are already dealing with the so-called “core” of our target audience. That is, these are people who are already very loyal to us, and we have the opportunity to touch them again and again.

The smallest Circle #4 - this is the "kernel core". That is, these are people who not only bought something from us once, but made repeated purchases. Thus, they became our regular customers. This is what it looks like on the diagram.

So marketing handles the first two circles and sales handles the other two. The money of any business is always in the “core” (in those circles where people paid us the first and subsequent times). And the larger this core, the more money your business and you personally will have.

But the size of the core directly depends on the size of the outer circles (that is, on the reach of the potential audience).

When sales are useless

If we compare business with military operations, then I would call sales people soldiers, and marketers generals (pardon me, if you are a sales person). It is marketers who are (ideally should be) involved in strategic planning, expanding market coverage, and creating the ideal offer for the target audience.

Accordingly, in my opinion, marketing is more important than sales. But they also have more responsibility. And the sellers who make complaints to marketers can be understood. Of course, salespeople will never be happy because they will always have to deal with rejections and dissatisfied customers (no matter what perfect offer the marketing geniuses above come up with).

And if you are running a business, then if I were you, I would spend about 80% of my time on marketing tasks:

• Creating content to attract new audiences;
• Working closely with existing clients to improve your commercial offer;
• Social marketing to increase brand awareness;
• And so on…

I even wrote a separate article in which I explain (opens in a new tab). I recommend reading it.

When marketing fails

Despite all of the above, marketers should listen very carefully to the opinions of salespeople. You can build as many beautiful marketing strategies and theories as you like, but only sales can give a true answer to the question whether people will buy a product from you or not.

Just as generals are completely helpless without their soldiers, marketers are helpless without their salespeople (pardon me, if you are a marketer). It would be a big mistake to believe that you just need to create a name for yourself through content marketing, and people will rush to you to buy all your products and services.

Proper marketing can only facilitate the subsequent stage of sales, but cannot replace it. For example, I described in detail what the universal sales formula consists of and what role content plays in it. Read it and a lot will become clearer to you.

If you are a sales marketer...

It often happens that one person performs the functions of both a salesperson and a marketer. That is, he first comes up with what he will sell and to whom, and how he will attract these people, and then he actually catches these people and begins to persuade them to buy his product.

And here two situations may arise, each of which is bad in its own way.

All business people can be divided into two large groups. We will conditionally call the first “Saviors”, and the second - “Terminators”. The first are confident that you need to “work well, and people will come to you.” They also believe that “a good product doesn’t need advertising,” and they like to boast that they don’t do any promotion at all, and that clients “come from somewhere themselves, probably everyone enthusiastically recommends me to each other.”

The latter approach the business issue more practically. They sell like jackhammers, sparing neither women nor children, and completely regardless of whether their product is needed by those to whom they sell it. They are not at all picky about their money. Their main task is to buy it now, and then at least the grass won’t grow.

Accordingly, the former sit without money for a very long time, and often “die” in poverty, never waiting for their word of mouth to reach a sufficient number of clients. And the latter earn money at first, but quickly remain without money in the future, when bad rumors begin to spread about them due to the fact that they sold people something they don’t need.

Extreme cases are rare, and most people simply have some bias in one direction or another (personally, I have a clear bias towards “rescue”). But it is still incredibly difficult for one person to organically combine a savior-marketer and a terminator-seller.

This is why marketing and sales should ideally be handled by different people. And people need to be selected correctly. Otherwise, the marketer will suffer by gently inviting people to buy something from him (so gently that most will not even understand that they were offered to buy something). And the sales person will burn out doing something that, in his opinion, does not promote the business at all and does not lead to money.

As a result, I would like to advise you not to try to choose what is more important - marketing or sales, but to do both, but in the right order and with the help of the right people.

Don't forget to download my book. There I show you the fastest way from zero to the first million on the Internet (a summary from personal experience over 10 years =)

See you later!

Yours Dmitry Novoselov

)
Merchandising
Digital Marketing In-game
Drip marketing ( English)
Word of mouth
Face of the brand ( English) Tastings ( English)

Definitions

There are many definitions of marketing in the literature:

Most researchers agree that marketing is a process. It begins with research into the target market segment for which the company intends to operate. Marketers determine potential demand and its size (capacity of the market segment), that is, they identify buyers whose needs are not sufficiently satisfied or who have an implicit interest in certain goods or services. The market is segmented and those parts of it are selected that the company can best serve. Plans are being developed for creating and bringing products to consumers, as well as a “marketing mix” strategy. marketing mix) influencing demand through the product, price, distribution channels and methods of product promotion. They are creating a marketing audit system that will allow assessing the results of ongoing activities and the degree of their impact on consumers.

Marketing Principles

In marketing, it is customary to adhere to the following five basic principles:

1. the production and sale of goods must meet the needs of customers, the market situation and the capabilities of the company;
2. full satisfaction of customer needs and compliance with modern technical and artistic levels;
3. presence on the market at the time of the most effectively possible sale of products;
4. constant updating of manufactured or sold products;
5. unity of strategy and tactics to quickly respond to changing demand.

Functions, concepts and goals of marketing

Typically, the content of marketing is identified with sales and its promotion, advertising. However, in fact, sales is one of the functions of marketing and often not the most essential. If a company has done a good job in areas of marketing such as identifying consumer needs, developing suitable products and pricing them accordingly, establishing a distribution system and effective incentives, then such products will no longer have sales problems, unless the company operates in a highly competitive market . According to the classics of management theory, ideally, the goal of marketing is as follows:

"One of the leading management theorists, Peter Drucker, puts it this way: “The purpose of marketing is to make sales efforts unnecessary. His goal is to know and understand the client so well that the product or service will exactly suit the latter and sell itself.”.

- “Fundamentals of Marketing”, Philip Kotler.

None of this means that sales and promotion efforts are no longer important. These functions become part of a larger “marketing mix”, that is, a set of marketing tools that must be harmoniously linked with each other to achieve maximum impact on the market. In general, marketing is a human activity that is somehow related to the market.

Marketing functions form the following concepts: need, requirements, demand, product, exchange, transaction and market.

The original idea underlying marketing is the idea of ​​human needs.

Need- a feeling of lack of something. People's needs are diverse and complex, but in general their number is finite, unlike needs. Here are the basic physiological needs for food, clothing, warmth and safety; and social needs for spiritual intimacy, influence and affection; personal needs for knowledge and self-expression. Most of these needs are determined by the basic components of human nature. If a need is not satisfied, a person feels unsatisfied and strives either to find an object that can satisfy the need or to try to drown it out.

The second basic idea of ​​marketing is the idea of ​​human needs.

It is not difficult to list the demands of a particular society at a particular point in time, while the society could plan production volumes for the next year based on the totality of the requests of the previous year. This is approximately what happened with production planning in the USSR. However, requests are an unstable indicator. People get bored with the things that are current and they look for variety for variety's sake. In the 90s, down jackets came into fashion, for which people abandoned previously used clothing, then they also abandoned down jackets.

A change in choice may also be the result of a change in prices or income levels. A person usually chooses a product whose combination of properties provides him with the greatest satisfaction for a given price, taking into account his specific needs and resources.

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