What is Marketing in Business? Definition and Types

Marketing is defined by experts in a lot of ways. If you are in any business activity, be it in a job or business,  marketing is one subject in which you must have some knowledge. Understanding the definition of marketing in business is crucial for companies or individuals looking to build a brand so that consumers will buy their product repeatedly.

Generally, people confuse sales with marketing. Though they work together, there are fundamental differences between the two. Let us first get clarity in this regard.

Sales are primary activities related to selling a product that is in stock. A sales team is supposed to sell the inventory manufactured by the company to end customers. It can be sold directly to customers, retailers, distributors, business houses, etc. The sales team works and needs to perform on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis if the products are not sold on an immediate basis, the company won’t survive.

What is the Definition of Marketing?

Marketing, on the other hand, is focused on the taste and trends of the market at present and more into the future. The marketing department of an organization mainly focuses on understanding the marketplace in particular.

Read: Types of Market: How Market Plays An Important Role?

They take inputs and build a marketing strategy by segmenting the market from the perspective of the customers and provide inputs to other departments like production, and sales to take necessary steps to satisfy the demand of customers.

To understand more, let us see how experts define marketing.

Definition of Marketing

Marketing has evolved dramatically in recent years. Let us check what marketing pundits define the subject of marketing.

1. Dr. Philip Kotler defines marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures, and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which segments the company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services.”
2. Duddy and Revzan define marketing as “the economic process using which goods and services are exchanged and their values determined in terms of money prices.”
3.  The Institute of Marketing  of the United Kingdom defines marketing as “the management function which organizes and directs all those business activities involved in assessing and converting consumer purchasing power into effective demand for a specific product or service and in moving the product or service to the final consumer or user to achieve the profit target or other objectives set by a company.”
4. The American Marketing Association of the United States defines marketing as ” Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
5. The definition of marketing as per Dictionary.com is, “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.”

Types of Marketing in Business

Modern Marketing processes started in the 1950s. The advent of print media, television, and the Internet has added to the traditional methods of marketing. Nowadays to run a marketing campaign, one needs to cover a much wider spectrum mainly because of the entry of television and the Internet entering into most households.

Hence the subject of marketing types becomes critically important while setting up a marketing campaign. We have categorized marketing types broadly into two verticals – Traditional and Internet.

a) Traditional Marketing

If you are selling a consumer product, traditional marketing methods still play a major role even in modern-day marketing. The most popular ways of this type of marketing are print ads, TV ads, signage, billboards, direct mail, flyers and brochures, word-of-mouth campaigns, telemarketing, marketing through direct salespeople, events, fair marketing, etc.

b) Internet Marketing

In present days, nobody who is serious about promoting a business can ignore internet marketing. There are several ways of marketing a product on the internet. It includes social media marketing, search engine optimization of content in websites to rank higher in search engines, blog marketing, video marketing, YouTube promotion, search engine marketing, etc.

What is Marketing Mix?

Understanding marketing will be incomplete if the marketing mix is not taken into account. For a successful marketing campaign developing an effective marketing strategy encompassing the 4Ps of marketing is essential. In the year 1960,  E Jerome McCarthy developed the concept of the 4 Ps within the marketing mix. He proposed Product, Price, Place, and Promotion are the four most important pillars of the marketing mix. Let us explore in brief the 4Ps below.

a) Product

Before launching a product, the very first step is to get feedback regarding the demand for the product. You or your marketing team will gather information through market research. It is necessary to adequately address a number of issues.  The questions need to be addressed includes the types of products that are in demand, the competitors, the target market, market segmentation requirements, the communication strategy, and a host of other issues.

b) Price

Fixing a proper price for a product is a critical issue. Marketers are supposed to provide valuable inputs in competitors’ pricing of similar products. The price for a new product can’t be too low or too high for customers to buy. One needs to analyze the buying trends of that industry and finalize pricing.

Suggested Read: Understanding Consumer Behaviour: How It is Used In Marketing

c) Place

Finding the proper target customers and reaching them is another important decision to be taken in formulating a marketing mix. Creating a proper Business selling model is to be done. Whether to go for a brick-and-mortar retail store, or online e-commerce store, or a combination of them both is to be decided on the feedback received from the marketing team.

d) Promotion

To reach the prospective targetted customers, building a promotional plan is a must. Nowadays, most product promotion strategies address a combination of both traditional and online marketing campaigns. Right from distribution strategy to advertising plan, promotion plays a key role in any marketing mix.

Understanding the concept of marketing is essential for any business activity. In the present day, it is practically impossible to ignore the subject of marketing. Hope this article has provided you with the basic concept of marketing which will hopefully help you in making your venture more profitable.