Marketing in 4 Weeks

The Complete Guide to Success: Teach Yourself

Eric Davies, Nick Smith, Brian Salter

• Publisher: Teach Yourself
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781473605299
• eBook ISBN: 9781473605305
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Business

Marketing In 4 Weeks is a comprehensive guide to contemporary marketing and PR, giving you everything you need to know in one place. Made up of four bestselling books in one, this book delivers a complete course in modern marketing. From strategy, mobile and ecommerce to social media, SEO and PR you'll discover all the tools, techniques and strategies you need to get your marketing right.This book introduces you to the main themes and ideas of marketing, digital marketing and PR, giving you a knowledge and understanding of the key concepts, together with practical and thought-provoking exercises. Whether you choose to work through it like a 4 week course or dip in and out, Marketing In 4 Weeks is your fastest route to success: Week 1: Marketing In A Week
Week 2: Digital Marketing In A Week
Week 3: Social Media Marketing In A Week
Week 4: Public Relations In A Week ABOUT THE SERIES
In A Week books are for managers, leaders, and business executives who want to succeed at work. From negotiating and content marketing to finance and social media, the In A Week series covers the business topics that really matter and that will help you make a difference today. Written in straightforward English, each book is structured as a seven-day course so that with just a little work each day, you will quickly master the subject. In a fast-changing world, this series enables readers not just to get up to speed, but to get ahead.

WEEK 1

Marketing In A Week

Introduction

Marketing is about the relationship between an organization and its marketplace, and in particular its customers and potential customers. Customers are the lifeblood of a business; without customers a business has no future. In order to succeed and make a profit, a business must therefore aim to identify and satisfy the needs of its customers. The purpose of marketing is to help the business achieve these aims. This week you will learn about the nature and techniques of successful marketing and how it can improve business performance.

On Sunday we will consider the definition of marketing, what it is and what it is not, and the relationship between marketing and business performance. On Monday we will study the customer, their motives, values and attitudes and buyer behaviour (in customer and business-to-business markets). On Tuesday we focus on marketing information and marketing research and look at the techniques and processes used to obtain information to reduce risk in marketing decision making. Wednesday’s chapter describes marketing as a strategic activity and looks at the marketing decision process, as well as some of the most famous strategic techniques including the Boston Box, the Ansoff Box and Michael Porter’s Three Generic Strategies.

We spend the rest of the week looking in detail at the marketing mix – product, price, place and promotion, also known as the 4 Ps. On Thursday we consider first the product element, which covers tangible and intangible benefits, brands, the product life cycle, new product development and product strategy decisions. We also look at price, which includes customers’ perceptions of value, our cost structure and competitors’ prices and value offerings. On Friday we focus on place – specifically the channels of distribution that are used to make the product or service available to the customer. Finally, on Saturday we review promotion, the fourth P of the marketing mix, which includes the communications process and the seven key decision areas of the promotional strategy.

Today’s business world is highly competitive and changing fast, and marketing, as a body of knowledge and best practice, must respond to these changes. However, there is one fundamental fact about marketing that remains constant: it is that, to become successful and remain successful, an organization must be better at meeting customers’ needs than the competition.

Today we will set out to define marketing and to dispel some of the common misunderstandings regarding the meaning and nature of marketing. We will look at established UK and American definitions of marketing and some current European thinking about the definition of marketing for the 21st century. We will also summarize the history of marketing and how this business philosophy developed in response to increased competition.

We will consider the relationship between marketing and business performance and some of the key evidence to support the view that a ‘customer/marketing orientation’ can have a positive effect on profitability and performance.

We will also touch on the issue of competition and the need to consider the relationship between our customers/potential customers and our competitors in any discussion of our approach to marketing our business. We will return to this theme in more detail later in the week.

Finally today we will look at marketing and the business as a whole, and identify some of the key behaviours of businesses that have effectively (and profitably) made the customer/marketing orientation the basis of their operations.

Defining marketing

In essence, marketing is a relatively simple concept but at its root lies a fundamental approach to directing a business. Its simplicity can lead to the real meaning of marketing being misunderstood or misconstrued – and this can lull us into a false sense of security. And, if we don’t understand what marketing is, we had better hope that our competitors don’t know ...

Table of contents

• Cover 
• About the Authors
• Title
• Contents 
• Week 1: Marketing In A Week
• Week 2: Digital Marketing In A Week
• Week 3: Social Media Marketing In A Week
• Week 4: Public Relations In A Week
• Surviving in tough times
• Answers
• Copyright