Marketing is the connection between the material requirements of a society and the economic patterns of response, satisfying the needs through building a solid long-term relationship and various exchange processes. This organizational function involves a set of processes, such as managing customer relationships, communicating and delivering value to customers in a manner that benefits the organization.
Modern marketing orientation evolved from earlier marketing concepts developed in the 50s, under which organization chose to operate their business: the marketing concept, the product concept, the production concept, the holistic marketing concept and the selling concept. These marketing ideas emphasize the effort to achieve the organization’s goals and meet the needs of the customers, guiding the managers of today.
Relationship marketing
The marketing concepts were taken even further in the 90’s, focusing on satisfying and developing a solid relationship with the customer, who is considered a valuable partner. The organization no longer centers on creating transactions; instead, it adapts its goods and services to the unique needs of the clients, using more individualized and targeted means to communicate with them. Moreover, the growth of the mobile platform and internet contributed to the evolution of relationship marketing. The tools for managing relationships go beyond the simple customer service data and include strategies such as application, PR, and social media development. Companies like General Motors, United Airlines, and Marriott have successfully implemented these marketing concepts.
Marketing management
Because marketing is the concern of every executive in an organization, the managers must understand the marketing concepts in order to make profitable decisions. The capability of the management determines the long-term success of any company. The person responsible for marketing management and the control, planning and implementation of the marketing ideas is the chief marketing executive. Every time a sale is lost or made, the executive’s abilities and skills are proved in the marketplace. Customer relationship management (CRM) is designed for controlling the interactions between the customers and company and it involves using certain technology to organize customer services, technical support, and sales.
Business marketing
Business marketing applies to both organizations and individuals such as institutions, commercial businesses and governments, assisting the sales process of other companies that use the products to support their operations or as components in services they offer. The industrial marketing is also known as business-to-business marketing or B2B marketing. Although the marketing concepts are similar to the Business-to-Consumer, or B2C marketing, B2B is different because it includes the need to align divisional brands, product brands and corporate brands.
Societal marketing
The societal marketing concepts aim to make good market decisions by taking into consideration the company’s requirements, interests and consumer’s wants. The principles of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility are the cornerstone of societal marketing. The organization’s goal is to determine the interests and wants of a target market and to meet those needs by delivering a products more efficiently than the competitors, thus preserving the welfare of the society. A good example is the natural beauty brand The Body Shop that uses only natural ingredients for its products, owns a charity, supports human rights, community trade and militates against animal testing.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing is one of the latest modern techniques. Since the internet has a huge impact on everyone and every business this new way of marketing is one of the best and sought after. There are plenty of companies that offer this kind of services and a lot of information on the internet.