Is marketing important for your business?

Marketing is a crucial step in the growth process of your business, as well as increasing revenue. In reality, it is the most necessary component ensuring the success of your business.

But we may wonder why marketing is such a core function of your business?

The way marketing works and is defined changed over the last decade since the business environment has also changed drastically.

While there once used to be major organizational differences between the sales & marketing departments, they are often the same today. Marketing is no longer “working with the sales team". In the current business environment Marketing is Sales. It is no longer just a channel to persuade potential consumers or convince people to choose one brand over another. It is the critical factor for growing a business & generating sales. It is the research, analysis, promotions, engagement, selling, and distribution of your products or services.

Reasons Why Marketing is Important

“Marketing Sells - Competitive Advantage - Business Expansion – sales funnel – Efficiency - Brand Image - Customer Satisfaction”

Let us explore the reasons in detail as to why marketing is essential for your business.

Marketing Sells:

No matter how great you think your product or service may be, you still need to inform customers about it and influence their thought processes. Marketing helps to create revenues for your company.

It does not necessarily mean that you can automatically generate sales by placing your logo on an internet banner or including an advertisement in your local newspaper or magazine. It takes thorough research to understand WHO is your audience & the best channels to reach them. It is essential to understand the psychology of your audience; how they think, to successfully market to them.

Competitive Advantage:

You need to understand your target audience through market research and craft a meaningful message and brand which conveys your USPs vis-a-vis your competitors. One way to get ahead of your competition is to increase the m

arketing budget then you can put your brand ahead of everyone else, right in front of potential customers. But even if the budget is small, it’s important to constantly test your messaging and monitor which channels work best to reach your audience to make your cost-of-acquisition lower than other competitors in your industry. There are many factors in gaining a competitive edge, but they all boil down to marketing. With proper analysis, research, budget, testing, and understanding of your marketing efforts, you will be able to effectively and efficiently outsmart your competition.

Business Efficiency - Sales Funnel:

You can create different assets, resources, and forms of communication for each step along the sales funnel to lead a potential customer towards a purchase. A consumer consumes content served through your marketing campaign, maybe via an article on your website, as a next step she may be exposed to an ad on social media that may lead her to join your mailing list and finally convert to your brand through a tactical offer.

Once you have each step mapped out - it’s time to get analytical. A sales funnel charts a customer journey through multiple steps that transforms an interest to lead and finally to a paying consumer.

Organically not many people progress through the funnel. It takes marketing effort with the right message to make sure that an interested search gets converted into a confirmed sale. The marketer plays an important role in increasing the efficiency of the sales funnel so that you get the most ROAS (return on ad spend).

Customer Satis

faction:

Marketing plays a significant role in customer satisfaction. One of the most important factors in marketing is managing expectations. A realistic marketing campaign will promise a product or a service that is closer to the delivery, failing which may result in poor Customer Satisfaction scores.

Brand Image:

Branding is almost the exclusive purview of marketing. Creating a positive brand image precedes promoting a product or a service. A branding exercise via PR or advertisements and now through the use of social influencers help to create a conducive atmosphere to do business with the brand.

These sum up the important aspects of marketing. Remember marketing is a discipline that everyone can claim knowledge of, but it takes a lifetime of experience to master.