Marketing

Introduction to Marketing
Marketing always starts with a product or service. Its foundation is a good product or service.
Your brand is your reputation; which comes from the strength of your products or services over time. A strong brand gives customers confidence – and leads to higher prices and higher demand, hence, high profit margins for the seller.
Concepts of Marketing.
Market.
This is an area or place where commercial dealings are conducted. It is an interaction or exchange between buyers and sellers. The buyer has a need or want, and the seller has the product or service to satisfy that need or want.
It is usually a group of people who share similar needs and wants.
The market is a fictitious place, existing everywhere and nowhere. It represents all of the millions of buying and selling decisions that take place every day at every level of society and in every area of private and public enterprise.
The sum total of all these decisions determines the prices of virtually everything that is not government controlled in a society.
Marketing
Marketing means human activity that takes place in relation to markets.
It is a process by which people obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products or services with others.
Marketing is a people function. It is about understanding what people want, and giving them a product at a price they are willing to pay, and the seller in turn, is able to make a profit.
It is about targeting – choosing which customers to buy the product, and positioning – designing a product or service that has benefits that customers want.
Take note of:

• Understanding customers’ needs and wants from a product or service.
• Identifying and targeting the right customers.
• The unique benefit and value of a product or service that the competition cannot provide.
• Promoting the products and services within the market place.

Sales managers, sales representatives, advertising and promotion managers, marketing researchers, customer service managers, and product and marketing managers carry out marketing work in the customer market. 
The marketing Mix
Individuals who are planning to launch a business no matter how big or small should learn about marketing.
The marketing mix is one of the most commonly used strategies. It is composed of four variables referred to as the 4 Ps of marketing.
Product:
A product is a tangible good or intangible service that a seller provides for sale to a target market. The design, quality, packaging, customer service should be considered.
When starting a business, one needs to know what they are going to sell. Research and market study are key aspects to be taken into consideration before figuring out a product or service.
Price:
After understanding the product or service, one then sets a price for it.
This is the amount of money that customers have to pay to purchase products or services.
*   Key factors:

• When pricing, one should take into account discounts, cash and credit purchases, sales.

Price setting: do not forget ethic practices in pricing (neither set your price too high or too low). Low prices lose potential customers who are wary of bargain prices, while high prices may not attract customers who are on a budget.
Promotion:
With the price set, it is time to promote the product.
Promotion is all about communicating the values and benefits of your products or services to your customers.
This is carried out through:

• Direct marketing (selling products or services directly to the public through a variety of ways: email, websites, telephone, online adverts, fliers),
• Sales promotions (wide variety of promotional tools designed to stimulate earlier and stronger market response: samples, coupons, price-offs, bonuses),
• Advertising (direct persuasive, non-personal form of communication conducted through paid media under clear sponsorship),
• Public Relations (selling a brand through positively managing the communication channels between a company and the public),
• Personal selling (using a sales force to sell the product or service after meeting face-to-face with the customer).

Place:
The saying goes that: the right product, at the right price, at the right place and at the right time.
Place is in regard to location, distribution and ways of delivering the product to the customer. That is; location of business, distributors, point of sales, and logistics.

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About Matovu George William

Born on the 25th November. Am a freelance website designer,Mobile App programmer and Technology blogger with clientlists and portfolios focused on arts, music, film and community work. Dedicated advocates of Clean, accessible design and have a sharp attention to detail. Since November 2007, i have a strong management and communication skills. I Keep aware of current web and print technologies and trends. Am a diligent Internet researcher. I also have a passion for typography, having designed a number of my own fonts. Panoramic photography is an activity that has always been a hobby, but which we are now bringing into my professional work.