Why Marketing Is Important

Many people wonder why marketing is important. As a recent college graduate, I often get questioned on what I want to do with my life having studied Communications and Marketing.  I've heard many responses: That's just being with people right?, What can you do with that? or my favorite, "That's what all the football players study right"?

To the surprise of all of my parents' friends, family members, and other graduates that may not understand the importance of marketing, I can back up my choice within just a few minutes of conversation.  Why?  Because any business, whether B2B or B2C, is dependent and profitable through it's sales.  This means one thing: You are not in control of your business, the consumer is.

You can have a fantastic product that sells itself.  You can have an average product, but be the popular item on the market.  You can have a great product with little success.  It all rest on the views of the consumers.  If you know that the consumer is in control of how well you do, then you will start looking at how to appeal more to them, hence marketing.  The amount of profitability of your business is connected to brand awareness, word of mouth, and marketing strategy.

Brand:


Everyone knows the following logos:

Putting one of these logos on anything gives the consumer an expectation for the product.  You expect a great product in a Starbucks cup.  You know that a product with a Nike check will have good quality and durability. Creating a brand is creating a promise to a consumer.  It shows them that they will benefit from using that product.  Making a brand lets people know that they are getting, making it more than just a product.

Word of Mouth Marketing:

Everyone knows about the phases of products and the massive buzz that can drive the success of a product.  Everyone loves the food at Chick-fil-a and their word of mouth marketing never stops.  They are always consistent with new menu items, Cow Appreciate Day, spectacular service, and creative advertisements.  Other items, such as Beanie Babies, Pokemon, Silly Bandz, and Guitar Hero, all become popular items for a small timeframe, and the phase out.  Having successful word of mouth marketing will make products go viral.  It shows that people are excited about your product and want to talk about it.  They willingly spread information, doing free marketing for your company.

Blog Post: 4 Tips to Successful Word of Mouth Marketing

Marketing Strategy:


How do you appeal to a group?  How do you market your product successfully?  While creativity and marketing plans can vary, most marketing strategies all start off the same.  To run a successful marketing campaign, you must put a lot of time into learning about who you are talking to.  You must know your audience, looking at those that you are currently reaching with your product and those that you want to reach.  Then, you must know your product.  Know what you offer and what makes your content stand out above the rest.  Finally, you must know your competition.  Studying what your competition is doing, good or bad, will help you learn from what they have already done.  It will also give you an idea of how you can stand out.