An Introduction to Marketing Management

Marketing management involves making potential consumers aware of a company’s products and services. It involves formulating plans and creating a company’s brand name and identity. Developing and implementing a company’s business plan depends heavily on marketing management.

The concept of marketing management is all about planning, creating and implementing various marketing strategies to achieve greater organisational objectives. This manual briefly explains marketing management so that one can get an idea of the concept, its importance, functions and so on. 

What is marketing management?

Marketing management is a concept that refers to all the analysis tools, strategies and business plans used to promote a brand or the name of the business and the products or services it provides. It helps track a business’s growth and find opportunities to capture the market. It aims to create a huge customer base by coordinating advertisement campaigns on various marketing platforms.

Marketing management also entails looking at the results of previous marketing campaigns and consumer outreach initiatives to improve a brand’s overall marketing strategy. It aims to streamline the business process and form better relationships with consumers. It works two ways: increasing the business’s productivity and satisfying customers.

Objectives of marketing management

The main objectives of marketing management are to build a large customer base and maximise profits. However, there are other objectives as well that are enumerated as follows:

  • The prime goal of marketing is to attract more buyers to invest in the products or avail of the company’s services.
  • Marketing keeps in mind the taste and demands of the customers as they launch products according to consumer preferences.
  • Increasing the company’s profitability to ensure the long-term survival of the company by the marketing team.
  • Marketing also aims to enhance the standard of living of the target audience. It is done by conducting thorough market research and implementing new techniques.
  • Managing the marketing mix is another key objective of marketing management. It is the 4 P’s product, price, promotion and place.

Features of marketing management

Understanding the features of marketing management is important to understand its functionality. The following are the features of marketing management:

  • It is a managerial process that includes planning, organising, directing decision-making, controlling and forecasting.
  • All marketing activities are consumer-centric, as the brand provides what the consumers want. 
  • It involves performing research analysis to understand the needs and demands of customers. 
  • Marketing considers the planning and development of the brand’s products and services. 
  • It includes the promotional and communication activities the brand performs to reach out to new and potential customers.
  • Marketing also includes management and controlling activities to streamline the process.

Functions of marketing management

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The main functionality of marketing management is to integrate sellers and buyers. It organises and integrates all the elements of marketing to effectively operate the system and build a consumer pool. The other functions of marketing management are:

  • Assessing market opportunities: It helps to determine and assess the marketing opportunities for a business’s growth. The marketing world is dynamic; hence marketing teams must develop targeted programmes in sync with current demand.
  • Planning and organising market activities: Planning is a part of the managerial process that enhances marketing strategies. It formulates policies about price, product, distribution channels etc.
  • Regulating and motivating employees: Companies must have appropriate motivation policies in place. Modern ways of motivational strategies are implemented to improve employee efficiency, which in turn attracts more customers.
  • Evaluation and control of marketing initiatives: Evaluating and keeping track of marketing efforts is very important when running a business venture. It helps marketing professionals to ascertain which strategies are working and which need to be changed.

Steps of marketing management

The marketing process involves the following steps:

  • Setting marketing goals: The most important step is understanding what one wants from a marketing campaign. It helps the team to understand and find proper market opportunities.
  • Analysing marketing opportunities: Evaluating the boons and banes of the various marketing areas and the marketing campaigns based on their strengths and weaknesses.
  • Choosing the target audience: After scanning through market opportunities, the marketer selects the target audience best suited for its product and services.
  • Designing marketing campaigns: Businesses must prepare well-defined marketing strategies per the target audience’s preferences. It comprises basic marketing decisions like marketing mix, product pricing, product distribution etc.
  • Planning marketing programmes: The company needs proper marketing programmes to achieve organisational objectives effectively. These programmes include important decision-making related to numerous marketing parameters that will convert potential customers into actual buyers.
  • Organising, implementing and controlling the marketing initiative: Planning is abstract, but the actual test is when the plan is executed. This concluding step in the marketing process applies corrective measures in case of any diversion.

Conclusion

Marketing is an ever-growing field that is witnessing constant change. With businesses vying for online presence, marketing has gained paramount importance. Building a career in marketing now would be the best decision.

To have a career in marketing management, sign up for the IIM Lucknow Global Senior Leadership Programme by Imarticus. This programme will help you grasp all the leadership areas, including financial accounting, analytics, operations, etc. This one-stop course will help you master marketing skills and establish yourself in a highly competitive world.

7 Most Creative Marketing Management Ideas

The term ‘Marketing Management’ refers to conceptualising, pricing, promoting and disseminating ideas, products, and services to generate exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational goals. By exploiting its approaches, businesses can find chances for expansion. Moreover, it can help organisations reach out to new target audiences successfully. 

Furthermore, in order to boost a brand’s image and attract as many potential customers as possible, marketing management combines advertising activities across channels. Along with that, it also entails the results of prior marketing initiatives and outreach to customers too. This helps to improve a company’s overall marketing strategy. This is done by analysing customer feedback and sales trends. It aims to simplify how a company develops relationships with clients and links its goods and services to those who might find them useful. 

As a result of all its upsides, marketing managers are in demand nowadays. So, having an MBA at the right moment can guarantee that you have great chances of a career in marketing management because most employers seek to expand and enhance their firms. 

Thus, by discussing all of that, you get to know how marketing management can have a tangible effect on the revenue and outlook of your business. Learn about the best tips and use them to your advantage.

Firstly, Let Us Know — What is the Job Role of a Marketing Manager?

As a marketing manager, the company will demand from you some creative ideas to make a strategy and implement it. You should be able to function under pressure with incredible management abilities, a problem-solving mindset, business acumen and goal-oriented behaviour. No need to panic!

Various courses assist interested candidates in acquiring all the necessary skills. For example, a person pursuing an MBA in Fintech can learn how to examine Fintech business developments, develop independent learning skills, find solutions to complex problems and many other practical skills.

Creative Marketing Management Ideas  

Depending on how a business wants to reach and interact with its target audience, marketing management can be done in various ways. Here are some typical marketing management techniques.

Paid Advertisement

Ads that target particular audiences are purchased through paid advertising. This includes social media advertising, paid search advertising and native website advertising.

As a marketing manager, you can determine the target audience for the advertisement by location, age, interests, search phrases and other demographics. Moreover, you can then place it on a particular platform, such as Facebook.

Cause Marketing

In cause marketing, a for-profit company and a non-profit organisation usually collaborate on projects that promote social or charitable causes. The two companies work together on marketing campaigns.

When you use this marketing tactic, you promote a company’s concern for other issues, its reputation, and its ties with the local community. Think of a car dealership collaborating with a neighbourhood animal shelter. Both parties can highlight the adoptable pets on their social media platforms, and the dealership will host adoption events. Thus, it can be seen as an example of cause marketing.

Relationship Marketing

Another idea of marketing management is relative management. It mainly focuses on building strong bonds with current consumers. This marketing approach encourages customer retention, lifetime value, and customer happiness.

As a marketing manager, you can leverage this type of creative marketing by developing loyalty programs, providing customer-only discounts and delivering top-notch customer service in every interaction. Customers who are happy with a company are more likely to recommend it to their friends and family. Thus, generating and returning business for the firm.

Hidden Marketing or Undercover Marketing Idea

The technique of product introduction hits naturally and casually to customers. Mostly, customers are unaware of what is being advertised. For instance, celebrities or some social media stars post snapshots of products. Indirectly, they promote the product.

Marketing via Word-of-mouth

Word-of-mouth marketing occurs when clients naturally spread their appreciation for a business’s goods or services. This is a cost-free marketing tactic for companies as they don’t have to pay contented clients to promote them. However, the marketing manager still needs to ensure the company’s items are of high quality, its customer service is exceptional, and it goes above and beyond what customers expect.

Digital or Internet Marketing

As it sounds, digital marketing means marketing via online channels. All marketing techniques, excluding word-of-mouth advertising, can be included in digital advertising.

A marketing manager could promote a business, interact with potential and present customers, and increase business sales by utilising paid, cause, relationship, and undercover marketing on digital media.

International Marketing Management

The marketing idea is quite similar to the traditional one. However, what differentiates it from traditional marketing is that to reach every customer, you need to create a marketing strategy or plan that is cross-border compatible.

To sum up, it can be challenging to determine which marketing opportunities will benefit your business and which will be a dead end. Marketing management is an integral part of a company to get fruitful results. For instance, a marketing manager with an MBA in Fintech utilises his creativity to develop a strategy that best fits customer service and enhances the company’s reputation.