A business's marketing concept is the roadmap to bring its marketing messages across to current and potential customers. It guides all the role players to create cohesive and convincing marketing campaigns dedicated to meeting and exceeding customers' expectations and the company's business and marketing goals. Are you part of the 44% of businesses that don't know its return on investment for its marketing efforts?(Discover how Ampry can optimize conversions for any marketing concept.)
The "right" principle
The "right" principle is closely linked to the definition of marketing. This is the process of providing the right people with the right products or services at the right time and place by using the right promotional techniques and the right customer service people linked to your products or services. According to the "right" principle, your marketing strategy should discover what potential buyers need/want and then satisfy them by offering products that meet those needs/wants.
The difference between marketing and sales
Sales and marketing are often grouped together as one thing and may even be used interchangeably. However, they are two distinct parts of a company's strategy. Sales involve the actual selling or the moment when the transaction or exchange occurs. On the other hand, marketing involves communicating the value of a particular product or service to potential buyers to get to the point where the consumer becomes a paying customer. Marketing, therefore, has to do with the process that leads to a sale.
The marketing concept
Not all marketing strategies make use of the "right" principle. Mainly, 5 marketing concepts guide organizations or businesses in their marketing efforts:
- Production Concept
- Product Concept
- Selling Concept
- Marketing Concept
- Societal Marketing Concept
1. The production concept
The production concept holds that consumers would prefer inexpensive and widely available products. Companies that focus on this concept typically have high production efficiency and low costs and can achieve mass distribution of their products or services. Products or services offered by companies that focus on the production concept are easy to find and reasonably affordable. These products' accessibility and affordable prices make them appealing to a large target market.
2. The product concept
The product concept holds that consumers prefer products or services that offer innovative features, higher quality, and better performance. Companies that follow the product concept offer enhanced products while improving them over time.
3. The selling concept
The selling concept mainly focuses on moving a customer along to the transaction as quickly as possible. Companies that primarily use the selling concept are not necessarily concerned with meeting a customer's needs or even selling the best quality products. This concept values aggressive marketing to convince customers to purchase a product they may not need. In these cases, the company needs to insistently promote their products or services to sell them because consumers are unlikely to buy these products or services if not for these marketing efforts.
4. The marketing concept
The marketing concept is based on the "right" principle. It uses data collected from a target group of current or potential customers. This data deals explicitly with the needs and wants of the customers your business wants to attract. By using this data, companies can design, develop, and implement marketing strategies that will illustrate to customers how their products or services may meet or exceed their needs or wants while still accomplishing the goals of the organization (increasing its revenue).The company employs the marketing concept when it establishes its customers' needs and then meets those customer needs by producing products or services that can address them.
5. The societal concept
The societal marketing concept is still relatively new. This concept expands on the marketing concept mentioned above while focusing on the welfare or well-being of individual customers and the larger society. Marketers who use this marketing concept usually believe that their marketing campaigns should be done with integrity. They focus on selling products or services that will benefit their consumers instead of creating the illusion of a need.The societal concept often reflects management philosophies and company values that emphasize social responsibility.
A marketing mix
Whichever marketing concept you choose will likely consist of various marketing strategies or activities. This is often referred to as your marketing mix. You can look at your marketing mix as the different channels you use to deliver your marketing messages.
Digital advertising
Digital advertising is not the same as digital marketing, including any advertising you do online. More specifically, digital advertising refers to digital ads that are similar to traditional print or television ads that would be published in newspapers or magazines or seen on TV. These digital ads include display ads that show up on websites, in paid search results (often via Google AdWords), or ads that play before videos on YouTube.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing strategically places your marketing messages on various social media platforms. This could include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Social media marketing involves more than just posting great content at the right times. It also includes engaging with your followers to help them move along the customer journey towards eventually purchasing your product or service.It is not uncommon for a company to employ an individual or team who solely focuses on designing, developing, and publishing engaging social media content. These individuals are also responsible for responding to customers' posts or comments and fostering an approachable online presence and consistently interacts with your brand's followers.
Email newsletters
Email newsletters are emails that are regularly sent to your subscribers. These emails could include anything from updates about the company, products, or services to helpful tips or special offers. An Email newsletter is slightly different from an email marketing campaign which usually focuses on a particular product or service with the primary goal of selling that product or service.Subscribers need to opt in to receive your email newsletters. This ensures that you stay legally compliant. It also means that the people receiving your email newsletters are interested in your company, your products, or your services.
Print advertising
Print advertising encompasses any form of a marketing strategy that involves printed content. This could include printed flyers and brochures, or even newsletters. It also includes print ads in newspapers or magazines.
Radio advertising
Radio advertising includes any marketing done over commercial radio stations. You could produce a radio ad to be played in between songs. Alternatively, the radio announcer could read your marketing content while live on air. Another way to advertise via the radio is to sponsor certain segments of a specific radio program like the news, weather, or traffic updates.
Television or video advertising
Television advertising refers to commercials broadcasted on television channels in-between shows. Video advertising could refer to any video marketing content. This content can be displayed in various areas like on social media platforms, for example.Your business's marketing concept will likely use a diverse and unique marketing mix. However, the main thing to remember and focus on is creating and keeping a consistent brand voice across your marketing channels and messages.More than that, it is vital to capitalize on your current target audience and encourage them to come back for repeat purchases. At the same time, you need to focus on reaching new audiences and converting potential customers into paying customers. Find out how Ampry can help you make the most of your marketing concept and schedule a free strategy call!