Introduction to Marketing

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- [Sarah] To paraphrase the definition from the American Marketing Association, "Marketing encompasses everything you do to communicate with, determine, and meet the needs of an identified consumer group." Ideally, this begins before you even have a product ready to sell.

Why?

Because you need to determine if there are enough customers who you can reach that want to and will purchase from you.

Marketing success requires that you have a strategy.

A marketing strategy is your plan for the actions you will take to meet people's needs, communicate this with them, how you will allocate budgetary funds to those activities, and how you will evaluate your actions.

Your marketing strategy serves as a link between your business goals and sales.

Your marketing strategy results from the integration of information that you gather through market research and decisions you make regarding your marketing mix.

How will you discover what consumers want and need?

How will they learn what products or services you offer?

Why will consumers purchase from you?

How will you price your products?

Where can consumers purchase, and how will you get those products to those outlets?

These questions are at the heart of marketing and the answers to these questions make up what's commonly referred to as the four Ps, or your marketing mix.

To determine your marketing mix, though, you need information on which to base your decisions.

The process of gathering this information is market research.

In addition to researching consumers to determine who is most likely to purchase from you and their motivations, the why, you also need to research other businesses and develop an understanding of your industry's past, present, and future.

Who are your ideal customers?

Where do they live or work?

What are their needs or desires?

What is their purchasing behavior?

Why do they buy the products they do?

Not all consumers are the same and you will want to focus your efforts on those that you can communicate with and will be receptive to your products and marketing efforts.

This can be achieved by segmenting consumers on factors such as income, family status, location, values, and lifestyle, among many others.

One aspect to successful marketing is the ability to set your business and products apart from your competition, enabling your ability to communicate to consumers why they should purchase from you as opposed from other businesses.

In addition to determining how your specific product or service compares to the competition, look at other competitive aspects, such as price, location, accessibility, image, and reputation.

You'll also want to understand broader issues such as market share, growth pattern, resource availability, and target consumer groups for your competitors.

What specific industry are you in?

For instance, if you have an agritourism business, would you categorize it as direct sales, education, or outdoor recreation?

What is the viability of the industry short-term and long-term?

Will it support the addition of your business?

How your industry has evolved over time, its current position and forecast for the future can provide valuable context in determining your marketing strategy.

Following market research, you can circle back to the four Ps, product, price, placement, and promotion.

Let's take a look at each of the Ps individually.

What is the customer purchasing?

The term product refers to a physical product, such as a cheese subscription box, a side of beef, apples, or a jar of salsa, aservice such as custom forage harvesting, landscaping, or an experience, such as a corn maze, cooking class, or wine tasting.

This P also covers visible and non-visible characteristics and aspects of your product, such as breed of animal, crop variety, product form, packaging, label design, or colors.

Use your market research to determine and develop the products you'll offer.

Where does the customer purchase your product?

This may be at your on-farm market, a local restaurant, through your e-commerce site or elsewhere.

Issues associated with distribution will also impact your placement decision.

As you consider physical market outlet placement, take into account aspects such as market environment, consumer experience, location, aesthetics, and customer service.

What is the customer paying?

How you determine price is a function of the costs to produce or provide your product, and the pricing strategies you employ.

Make sure to understand how your target customers would respond to different pricing strategies and price changes.

How do consumers learn about your products?

How will you communicate, interact, and engage with consumers?

Promotion extends beyond advertisements to include signs, brochures and flyers, samples, charity donations, event participation or sponsorships, speaking engagements, social media presence and activity, press releases, word of mouth, or coupons and discounts.

Successful promotion centers not only on the how, but the when and where as well.

Timing and location of promotional activities contribute to their success or failure.

You may have heard about five, six or even seven Ps.

These extra Ps include people, process, and physical evidence.

For new businesses, I encourage you to focus on the four Ps that remain the primary elements, as it can be reasoned that people are key factors to the first four.

As you gain experience and grow your business, you may decide to develop a more complex marketing mix that includes a concentration on one or more of these additional Ps.

With your market research influencing your marketing mix decisions, you will have developed your business's marketing strategy.

A key component of your business plan.

Ensure that your marketing plan moves you towards accomplishing and attaining your business goals and that you have or can get the resources needed.

Marketing doesn't have to be complex.

Focus on these keys, understand your target consumer, know your break-evens, set goals.

What do you want to achieve for your business through your marketing?

Increased revenue stream?

Greater market share?

Improved position in the marketplace?

Know your strengths and weaknesses and market to your strengths.