Imagine throwing a great party but not inviting anyone. Would you ever consider that? Of course not! Running a business without marketing your product or service is the same thing. You may have the most incredible product or service on the planet. If no one knows about it, or about your company, you won’t have customers and you don’t have a business. The ability to attract and retain a large base of satisfied customers is essential to a successful business (Small Business Association [SBA], 2017).
Marketing emphasizes the customers and their value to the overall success of the business. It has two guiding principles (SBA, 2017):
- All company policies and activities should be directed toward satisfying customer needs.
- Profitable sales volume is more important than maximum sales volume.
Thus, an effective marketing strategy is one of the most important documents you will create. This strategy helps you communicate what customers receive from your company (versus telling them what you do), and it helps secure customers for the future. Marketing strategies cost money, and money is always limited (especially for new companies), so an effective marketing strategy must be carefully and thoughtfully designed and measured (Abrams, 2010; Le Marinel, 2017).
Marketing—done correctly—works! However, marketing is not the same as advertising. While advertising may be part of marketing, marketing is much more. Marketing strategies are comprehensive and define (Abrams, 2010; Le Marinel, 2017):
- How your company will make customers aware of your product or service;
- The name of your business, products, and services;
- What message you are trying to convey to customers about your product, service, or company;
- The design and presentation of your products and services;
- The prices you will charge;
- Specific methods your company will use to deliver and reinforce your message;
- How you secure actual sales; and
- How you measure the results of your marketing efforts.
In addition, marketing and sales are closely related but they are not the same.