Basics -- and Misunderstandings -- About Marketing

Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

What is Marketing?

Before you learn more about marketing in the many links later on below topic, you should first understand what marketing is, because the topic is so often misunderstood. Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and are getting appropriate value in return.

How Marketing is So Misunderstood

Far too often, organizations try to develop a product to meet customers’ needs without ever really verifying what the customers wanted in the first place. Instead, those organizations make a strenuous effort to “sell” the product through rigorous, ongoing advertising, promotions and publicity -- through "outbound" marketing. These organizations may have built a beautiful ladder – but it may be entirely on the wrong roof! Far too often, that lesson comes from painful experience.
Experienced organizations have learned that it is not their opinion that matters most regarding whether their product is needed or not. The opinion that matters most is that of the customers. These organizations have learned that they might not know what they don't know about their customers. That precious knowledge about the customers comes from "inbound" marketing -- through market research to clarify customers' needs and what they are willing to do to get those needs met. If the inbound marketing is done well, the outbound marketing is particularly easy -- and effective.

Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out:

1. What specific groups of potential customers/clients (markets) might have which specific needs (nonprofits often already have a very clear community need in mind when starting out with a new program -- however, the emerging practice of nonprofit business development, or earned income development, often starts by researching a broad group of clients to identify new opportunities for programs)
2. How those needs might be met for each group (or target market), which suggests how a product might be designed to meet the need (nonprofits might think in terms of outcomes, or changes, to accomplish among the groups of clients in order to meet the needs)
3. How each of the target markets might choose to access the product, etc. (its "packaging")
4. How much the customers/clients might be willing pay and how (pricing analysis)
5. Who the competitors are (competitor analysis)
6. How to design and describe the product such that customers/clients will buy from the organization, rather than from its competitors (its unique value proposition)
7. How the product should be identified -- its personality -- to be most identifiable (its naming and branding)

Outbound Marketing Includes:

1. Advertising and promotions (focused on the product)
2. Sales
3. Public and media relations (focused on the entire organization)
4. Customer service
5. Customer satisfaction

Creative Sales

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TIGA HAL YANG HARUS DI PERHATIKAN SALES MARKETING

Beberapa hari yang lalu saya mengikuti “KIA Sales Gathering”, acara rutin yang selalu diadakan manajemen Kia Mobil Indonesia untuk menunjang dan mensupport pasukan salesnya mulai dari level yang paling bawah sampai level manajerial. Ada beberapa hal yang menarik yang perlu saya catat yang berhubungan dengan kia secara khusus dan berhubungan dengan marketing secara umum yang disampaikan oleh Direktur marketing PT KIA Mobil Indonesia, Hartanto Sukmono.
Pertama, Tiga hal yang harus dipahami seorang sales yang disingkat dengan 3 C yaitu Customer, Competitor dan Company. Ada baiknya tiga hal untuk dibahas dalam posting-posting selanjutnya dengan kategori tersendiri. Bagaimana mencari dan memahami kebutuhan customer prospek di tahun 2011. Produk apa saja dari kompetitor dan saingan kita pada tahun 2011. Apa saja pencapaian dan perkembangan company pada tahun lalu, dan mau apa serta bagaimana ke depannya untuk mengulang sukses 2010 dengan menggandakannya 2 kali lipat.
Kedua, meningkatnya penjualan mobil kia secara khusus pada tahun 2010 sehingga “dapat menduduki 10 besar jajaran dominasi merek Jepang. Ini prestasi tersendiri karena baru Kia yang bisa melakukannya,” ujar Hartanto Sukmono.  Penjualan KIA di tahun 2010  tembus pada angka 6.500 unit, naik hampir 100% dari penjualan tahun 2009, melampaui persentase pencapaian penjualan mobil nasional di Indonesia yang mencapai hampir 75% .
Selanjutnya, Apa kabar 2011? “KIA 12.000 Yes“. Inilah tema sentral yang dicanangkan manajemen KIA Mobil Indonesia dalam target pencapaiannya di tahun 2011. Inilah optimesme pasukan sales Kia Mobil Indonesia yang didukung oleh perbaikan sistem Remunerasi Gaji, Point Insentive dan kesejahteraan. “KIA adalah tempat yang tepat untuk berkarir”. Beliau meyakinkan

Creative Sales

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