Principles of Marketing

There are many types and styles of marketing so the first thing one might consider in reviewing principles of marketing are the 4 P's of Marketing. Price, Place, Product, and Promotion. These are marketing pre-conditions that determine how marketing is done as a boat generally is not marketed the same way(s) as a candy bar. From this point several other important principles can follow. These principles can be divided into two categories internal and external product/service benefits and consumer awareness.

Internal and External Product/Service Benefits:

By internal and external, we are talking about benefits to the business or person providing the product or service and the recipient of said product/service. Two important marketing principles that pertain to these locus' of benefit include 1) Customer lifetime value and 2) Brand Equity.

-Customer life time value is the past, present and future value of existing and potential clients via extension of the idea that a present customer's value also includes future cash flow from that customer. The reason Customer lifetime value is important is because it represents a qualitative and quantitative estimate as to how much an individual client is worth in relation to a business. What's more, it reinforces the notion customers are for life and not just a one time purchase.

-Brand equity is also important as this is often what a consumer uses to value a product and/or service in their mind. A company's brand equity consists of the potential use, benefit and satisfaction gained by a client after purchasing a product and/or service. For example, how is a product different and better from a similar product (product differentiation), how good is the quality in relation to the price, how convenient is the product or service. The better a perceived brand equity is, the more likely a client is going to want what you have to offer.

Neither Customer lifetime value or brand equity are worth much if the product or service isn't actually marketed. This is why research and advertising budgets are so important to a company's success. A few of the key principles of getting your business noticed are Target marketing, Primary Research, Secondary research and Persuasion.

-Targeted marketing is the localization of marketing efforts to specific groups of people who are believed to be more likely to purchase and/or respond favorably to a company's marketing efforts.

-Primary Research is what assists a company in targeting a market accurately. While not all marketing is based on this type of research it is important as it provides first hand evidence of patterns in consumer behavior and preferences. Primary research is direct research with a population sample via surveys, interviews, and/or product testing. The data gathered from this type of research is later analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively and then decision are made pertaining to an advertising campaign, product release or continuation.

-Secondary Research is anything derived from 2nd party's such as prior research studies, sales and demographic information, magazine subscription lists and previous consumer behavior polls or studies. This type of research is also relevant and can be combined with primary research for potentially more effective conclusions.

-Persuasion can be described as the effectiveness of an advertising message, campaign, or promotion in selling a business and its services. There are many techniques used in delivering advertising messages and these techniques are used through various mediums of communication such as radio, television, billboards etc and also through corporate policies and enacting of those policies via customer service, product differentiation, and brand equity. Ideally, the more consistently a business conveys their well planned messages to existing and potential clients the greater the chance of persuading them a specific product or service is really intended for them and not someone else.

There are many ways to perceive marketing and consequently many more marketing principles to support those methods. Marketing is a competitive and ever evolving practice as the market is very discerning and quickly learns a marketing technique. What's more holding the interest of a market in a very sensational marketing environment takes innovation, consistency, effectiveness and presentation. Marketing is an art that's sum of parts is not complete without hands on practice and experience. While the principles of marketing have value, it is the productive application of those principles that yield results.

Source(s):

http://www.netmba.com/marketing/mix/
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/ateQuestionNResponse/0,289625,sid11_cid571472_tax285178,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_equity
http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/1310-1.html