Marketing is integral to bringing a product or service to life & nurturing it through its lifecycle.
Each product or service which is conceptualized addresses a customer need or demand – some expressed some latent.
As the number of players in a segment increase, each one aims to up their game against other providers in the market to separate their offerings from the rest – this is what we call the Unique Selling Propositions or USP’s of the offering.
What good would it do for companies to bring to market all the wonderful products and offerings and not tell the customers about it – both existing & potential??
Marketing is about communicating the features, benefits and value proposition of the product or service to the consumer.
Communication tools in the marketing artillery have grown multi-fold thanks to the explosion of media available to reach out & communicate with the audience. For marketing to fuel growth, one needs to understand these tools and employ them fitfully for best results.
Let us take a look at the role Marketing plays in a product/service lifecycle.
It informs & educates
Announcing the product in the market. Educating people of its features and unique propositions and the need it addresses for the consumer, how it adds value to their lives.
This involves using media to announce the product, getting opinion-makers to talk about it, highlighting the benefits it brings to the table, audience fitment and why and who could benefit from it.
Email Marketing to inform and educate & to meet in-market customers online via SEO/ Display Marketing or Offline via In-store visibility.
It engages
It is one thing to provide an excellent in-person experience or an intuitive smooth online purchasing experience but a different ball game to engage and involve the customer in the product offering. Marketing allows you to do that, making the connect, with the product and the brand that lasts beyond the purchase. If done well, it will keep the engagement alive until they need your products or services again.
Customers today are fickle, options are plenty hence, to nurture loyalty, building relationships with people who have engaged with your business is a must.
Social media marketing provides the answer. 91% of people who follow a brand on social media go to the business website or app. And a whopping 89% purchase from that brand*, further validating the importance of marketing.
Building a brand
Reputation is critical for the success of a business. It really can be the deciding factor in whether or not a customer contacts you or one of your rivals. Marketing through information dissemination and managing user-generated has a significant impact on building the company reputation.
Marketing can help you create credibility, develop trust, and generate goodwill toward your firm through a well-designed media and influencer engagement while fielding and effectively managing any negative sentiment that comes up.
It sells
Its basic logic: if no one is aware of your products or services, you cannot sell them. While opening up shop in your area may bring in some foot traffic, marketing broadens your reach and brings attention to what you are selling, allowing interested people to discover and purchase it.
Emails promoting new releases, social media posts, and online business listings, display advertising, SEM that help consumers discover you, are just a few of the many ways marketing can help generate revenue.
Marketing is a critical component for the success of a company. For it to fuel growth, the key lies in crafting the right marketing strategy for your business.
Knowing what tools to employ at each stage of your business for maximum returns, is what will help give the required boost to the business while maximizing the return on spends.
Today an online presence is as critical as an offline one. A website is the first foundational stone to kick off your marketing communication.
With so much jostling for attention these days, the need to stand out and be visible in the right context is the key. In this world of information deluge, USP’s have a short life, as competition is quick to catch up – so be the early innovators ensure you highlight them well to become integral to your brand and make innovation a way of life both, in product development & communication.
This article is authored by Nandita Sood, Founder, KERTUS
