The Importance and Roles of Marketing

2.1 Introduction

In this module we look at why marketing is so important and the role it will play in your business. By doing so, it will make it easier for you to begin to formulate your own marketing strategy and plan, which hopefully will generate the kind of results you are looking for.

2.2 The Key Reasons Why Marketing is so Important

To begin with, we look at the key
reasons why marketing is so important; as this can really make or break your
entire business. Businesses used to rely solely on local newspapers and word of
mouth to get their name out there and to generate trade. For most companies
this was more than adequate and afforded sufficient turnover to make their
efforts worthwhile. However, due to an increasing population, more competition
and advancement in technology, such as the Internet, this is no longer the
case. There are now numerous companies that will appear to be doing the same
thing as you, which means that there is even more of a need to ensure your
name, is not only out there for people to see, but that they are also aware of
what it is you offer. Therefore, the main reasons why marketing is so important
are as follows. It means that you are being noticed.

If nobody knows that you exist, then how are they going to find you and then spend money with you?

This is an absolute basic concept of business. Those companies that open their doors and expect people to just come to them without them doing anything to attract customers form the percentage of companies that fail within the first year of trading. To be a success in business you have to be noticed by your customers and marketing is the tool tomake that possible.

It allows you to tell people what you do.

Apart from alerting people to the fact that you exist, marketing also allows you to inform people what it is that you do and what you can offer them. This will make it more likely that they use your services or buy your products and consequently your turnover will increase. It boosts your profits.

Even though, in general, it will cost you money to market your business (although we will cover some free and inexpensive ways in which to do so later on) it is generally accepted that marketing will ultimately increase profit. To what extent is not easy to determine in advance as there are many variables that need to be taken into consideration before you are able to ascertain this. In other words, marketing can have a positive impact on more or less your entire business, but does so in various ways; which is an important point to keep in mind when formulating your marketing plan. Being aware of the impact that a particular strategy will have on your business means that you are less likely to make a mistake that could ultimately prove to be costly in the long run.

2.3 Where Marketing Can Help Your Business

After looking at the main reasons why and how marketing is so important, we need now to look at the ways in which it can specifically help your business as this also covers its main roles. An obvious area in which marketing is going to help your business is turnover; if you are able to draw in more customers due to your marketing exploits, this will result in them spending more money on your services or products. This is something that any business desires as it will then kick- start other aspects of your business and remove some of the stress, especially if you are just starting out.

Marketing will make a difference by enabling the following:

*Increasing the visibility of your business.

*Increasing excitement about what you offer or do.

*Increasing profit margins and turnover.

*Increasing the likelihood of the success of your business.

However, even though it can definitely help you in these areas, it does not absolve you from your own particular role in your business. You must be able to deliver on both products and services, to ensure that the customers that you secure thanks to your marketing become repeat customers who do not move to a competitor after their initial encounter with your company.

FACT

There are now more than 50 million small businesses using Facebook Pages to connect with their customers

Source: Facebook

2.4 The Impact of Not Using Marketing to Your Advantage

So far, we have looked at the benefits of using marketing for your business, but, at the same time, we must also stress the negative impact should you decide that this is not something in which you want to invest too much time in.

However, by not becoming involved in correctly marketing your business you are potentially putting your entire business at risk - as listed below:

Your competitors are doing it.

Realise that your competitors are
heavily involved in marketing in order to take customers away from your own
business and lead them directly to their businesses. You must therefore adopt
the exact same strategy or people will bypass what you are offering and go
elsewhere and, as a result, your business will struggle. This is a stark
reminder that the business world is tough and that people have to do whatever
they can to make a real difference and to lead people to their business and get
them to spend money. This is not personal but more akin to a battle for
survival, and this applies no matter what the size of your business or your
turnover.

People are unaware of what is going on.

Marketing is not just ensuring that people are made aware of your business presence, but it is also used to alert potential customers of changes to your services or products that may have a direct impact on the way people then view your business. Think of it this way: if you have a sale on, or perhaps a new product, and you do not market or promote that product, nobody is going to be aware of the changes to your business, nor what it offers. At this point, there is every chance that the new product or service could effectively fail as a viable proposition - but it is not the product that is to blame, it is your marketing that is the issue.

You are going to struggle as a business.

No business will be able to survive without even minimal amounts of marketing. You need to view this entire process as being 'the pumping heart of the business' with you being responsible for ensuring that 'the heart continues to beat' so that your business does not fail. If you feel that marketing is not for you - then think again. Every business, no matter its size, has to take steps to sell itself to its potential customers or face failure.

2.5 Where to Begin with Marketing

So, if we consider all of the above points, it leads us to the question:

Where do you begin with marketing?

The simple fact is that marketing is something that you really must do for your business to succeed. It is a good first step but the entire subject of marketing can be overwhelming for many business owners, which can prove problematic.

MODULE SUMMARY

In order to help with the situation, we will next look at the fundamentals of marketing to provide the absolute basics of what you need to do, in order to generate a successful and viable marketing plan. It may sound simple but the best starting point is to come to terms with these fundamentals and then begin to look at your market, customers and what drives them to spend money with you. It is only by taking this approach that you can hope to build a successful marketing plan that will allow you to make a difference to your business.

We will now move on to the fundamentals of marketing in the next module.