While marketing is not as popular today than it was even five years ago, that does not mean it is going away. On the contrary, it has become more integral to business success. Technology makes it easier than ever for companies to spread their brand message, connect with others, and promote their products and services.

With the rise in popularity of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, people are becoming aware of how important marketing can be. More and more businesses seem to realize this now instead of ignoring it.

Father of modern day marketing is none other than Edward Bernays. He promoted marketing using persuasive, influencey tactics.

He coined the term “public relations” and influenced many professionals in the field by promoting it. He also created what we know today as advertising!

This article will talk about some of his accomplishments and why he matter still impacts us today.

Steps in marketing

One of the main theories about how to market is the theory called marketing mix.[1] The term “marketing” refers to all of the actions business-owners take to get their products or services known, within their community, and among potential customers. This includes things like advertising, telling others who your company is, creating an online presence, offering promotional discounts, establishing relationships with other companies, etc.

The concept of the marketing mix was first proposed by Ernest Dichter,[2][3] founder of what would later be renamed as mass psychology. He suggested that there are three parts to successful marketing: product, price, and promotion.

Product – referring to the thing you sell

– referring to the thing you sell Price - referring to what you will accept for it

– referring to what you will accept for it Promotion – ways to get people to know and use your product

Today, marketers often combine these three components into one area they call the marketing mix. However, Dichter’s original idea has stuck around and been adapted to fit most industries. In fact, his model is so influential that even those who no longer refer to themselves as marketers implement part of this model in some way every day.

Why is the marketing mix important?

Under the old name of marketing management, the concept of the marketing mix was integral in helping businesses understand why certain strategies worked and didn’t work.

Create a marketing plan

A few years ago, having a business sign up for an online shopping service like Shopify was pretty popular. Now, it’s almost obligatory for most small businesses to have their own ecommerce site.

In fact, there are even tools that will create one for you!

But what if you don’t know where to start? Or what kind of products or services your customers want? Or how much money you should spend on advertising?

That’s why more and more people are turning to the field of market-ing management.

With market-ing management, those with no experience can develop effective strategies to grow their business.

It focuses not only on knowing which products and services work, but also how to implement them.

Marketing strategies

A marketing strategy is defined as “the plan for achieving your organization’s overall business goals through the use of various communication tools and techniques.”1

Typically, marketers develop several different tactics to put together into one big picture. These individual tactics are referred to as components or elements of the market-ing strategy. For example, a tactic such as advertising in the newspaper might be called an element.

The term component comes from the field of science, where scientists describe how parts of something work. In this case, the part being described is the advertisement. By understanding the individual pieces of an advertisement, you will know what qualities made it successful and how to apply that information to your own advertisements.

There are three major categories within which most marketing strategies fall. They are categorized according to the product or service being marketed, the target audience, and the mode of delivery.

With regards to the first factor, some examples include promoting wellness products, educating people on how to do things, or motivating individuals to perform certain tasks. All of these factors can relate back to the second factor: the targeted audience.

By knowing who your audience is, you can emphasize more important concepts to them and promote the sale of their products. The third factor relates to the way in which the advertisement is delivered. This includes whether it is printed, broadcasted, or done via online means like YouTube videos.

Marketing processes

A lot of people refer to marketing as advertising, but that is only part of what marketers do. Advertisements are one important tool in marketing, but you can’t advertise your product without first defining who it is for and what they might need it for.

That is why there is another term often used along with advertisements - marketing messages or ads. Messages may be verbal, written, visual, or all three depending on the medium.

A few more terms include market research which looks at potential customers’ needs and wants, promotional strategies which focus on how to get people to know about your products or services, and sales promotions which are usually timed events such as an anniversary sale or a seasonal item.

Overall, these different parts work together to create a perception of value among consumers which helps promote buying habits.

Skills needed

Being a successful marketer means being familiar with lots of different skills. You will need to be proficient in marketing strategies, advertising, communication, business, psychology, and more.

Many people focus only on content marketing or social media campaigns, but staying focused on those areas is limiting your potential as a professional marketer.

General marketing knowledge is becoming less important than it was years ago when most marketers were performing well. What matters now are how you apply these tools to achieve specific goals and what types of messages you use for various brands and projects.

As technology continues to advance at an incredible speed, there’s always something new to learn. An easy way to do this is by listening to audio courses via YouTube or other sites. There are many free resources available online if you are willing to look.

Getting practical experience through part-time jobs or internships is another great way to develop your talent pool.

Social media

With the explosion of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, it is virtually impossible to not have an account!

With all these different accounts that you can create, there are many ways to use social media to promote your business. You can advertise for your company by posting pictures or statements about what products and services you offer, link them to online stores so people can purchase them, or do sponsored posts where you pay to boost your followers’ attention to yours.

The number one way to increase engagement with your profile is to interact with other users- commenting on their posts, liking theirs, sharing things they posted, and responding to messages!

This is called ‘liking’ or ‘sharing’ a post.

Understanding your audience

As we mentioned earlier, marketing is an integral part of business. Companies that thrive do so by figuring out how to reach their audiences in ways that appeal to them.

The best marketers understand who their audience is before they start spending money advertising or promoting products. They also know what types of messages will be most effective with this audience.

Marketers are not only aware of the things that influence buying decisions, but they use these insights to create strategies to motivate people to buy.

They focus on creating products that meet needs of the market, and promote using channels and media that speak to different demographics and individuals within those groups.

Father of marketing management Walter Isaacson coined the term “marketer” in his book The Innovator's Project, published in 2008. He described it as someone who uses creativity and analytical thinking to develop efficient communication strategies to ensure that a company gets the maximum amount of sales.

Isaacson said that while some people call themselves marketers, most don't really have the skills needed to succeed in the field. Only about one third of all professionals self-identify as marketers, he noted.

He went onto say that many of these professionals lack fundamental tools to help customers find solutions to their problems. This makes it hard for them to effectively communicate value to potential buyers.

This situation can easily contribute to negative perceptions of marketers, making it harder to recruit new employees and contributing to the low popularity of the profession.

Distribute your product

One of the most important things to know about marketing is that it’s not just for businesses, it’s for anyone!

Marketing isn’t only for companies with big budgets. It doesn’t have to be flashy either. In fact, some of the greatest marketers in history didn’t have much going on other than creating a message and sharing it everywhere they could.

A business can’t expect to reap the benefits of marketing unless they actively do something to spread their brand, but spreading your brand through personal channels will get you nowhere.

That’s why it’s so important to develop your own style as an ambassador for your company. Find ways to add value to the community by producing content people love to read and watch, hosting events, etc.

And don’t forget social media! Create profiles for yourself and the brands you represent, comment and share interesting material, reply to comments and messages, and promote the products or services your department represents.