What is marketing management?

Marketing management refers to the strategies, tools and analyses used in promoting a business. Businesses use marketing management techniques to identify opportunities for growth and connect effectively with new target markets. It coordinates advertising efforts across platforms to promote a brand’s image and capture as many potential customers as possible.

Marketing management also involves reflecting on the impact of past marketing campaigns and customer outreach efforts, using customer feedback and sales trends to adjust a company’s overall marketing plan. It seeks to streamline the way a business builds relationships with customers and connects their products and services with people who could benefit from them.

Why is marketing management important to business?

Good marketing management drives business success by finding the best ways to reach out to customers and grow sales. Businesses need strong marketing strategies to stay competitive within their industry, find new customers and retain current clients.

Marketing management helps new businesses find a niche or expand into multiple segments based on past experience selling to different audiences. Advertising and customer engagement connect with those audiences to build a company reputation. As your marketing strategy develops, you can analyze customer interactions and buying patterns to learn more about your ideal customer and how to pique their interest in your products or services.

Elements of marketing management

Goal-setting

The basis of marketing management is setting achievable goals and creating a timeline to meet benchmarks towards success. Managing marketing at your business involves understanding the different factors that influence customers in your ideal market to make a purchase, then making goals based on targeting those factors. When setting goals to facilitate marketing management, include sales goals, budgeting expectations and brand development plans.

Coordination

Carrying out marketing campaigns requires collaboration between company leaders, creative teams and front-facing staff. A strong marketing management plan aligns company messaging across different marketing channels such as digital marketing, social media marketing and print advertising. To effectively coordinate marketing efforts, business owners develop a central vision for their brand to guide how marketing materials look and how brand ambassadors interact with their audience.

Market research

Marketing management is based on thorough market research. Gather customer data and assess economic patterns to see trends in what consumers want to buy and why they make those purchases. Market research identifies areas where your business could succeed and highlights potential challenges that your business needs to address. Use market research to develop a marketing plan centered on the consumer experience.

Relationship-building

Effective marketing management strategy brings in new customers and builds sustained relationships with old customers to encourage repeat purchases and word-of-mouth marketing. When the public is aware of your product, engaging with them through digital content, social media and professional networking can make them feel invested in your company. Marketing management guides a company’s values to align with consumers, providing shared goals to strengthen their relationship with a base of dedicated customers.

Idea generation

Great marketing is agile and can adapt to changing market trends. Ongoing market research and analysis helps businesses generate ideas to stay relevant to their audience or re-brand their business to reach a new niche. Once you understand why your company appeals to consumers, you can focus on creating new products and services that build on that appeal.

Roles to hire for marketing management

To grow your customer base, hire a team of marketing professionals that can oversee and implement marketing management strategies. Roles to consider include:

Marketing manager

Marketing managers are in charge of how a company promotes products and services to the public. They are usually in charge of a specific product line or campaign. They have an in-depth understanding of what marketing channels reach different demographics and maintain knowledge of trending marketing techniques. Marketing managers analyze data to adjust marketing efforts, allocate funds and brainstorm new promotions with their team.

Read more:How to Hire a Marketing Manager

Director of marketing

A director of marketingor marketing director oversees a business’s entire marketing department. They focus on long-term marketing plans and collaborate with company leaders to forecast demand and create a marketing strategy to continue growing that demand. Small companies may not need a director of marketing, especially if they have a single product line or type of service. As a business expands into different markets, it may benefit from having a director of marketing to organize each initiative.

Social media manager

Social media managers interact with customers and target an audience using social media advertisements and content creation. They might manage social media pages themselves or train customer service associates to respond to comments and posts using a consistent brand voice and editorialstyle. Social media managers communicate company policies and promotions to potential customers online and help customers learn more about a company’s products and brand.

Related:7 Marketing Interview Questions and Answers

Frequently asked questions about marketing management

What are the five marketing concepts?

There are five central marketing concepts that relate to the different parts of a consumer’s interaction with your company. These concepts and their main ideas are:

• Production:Consumers want to buy products that are cheap and easy to access.
• Product:Customers want high-quality, innovative goods and services.
• Selling:Businesses need to actively promote products to make sales.
• Marketing:A company’s success depends on its ability to fill a customer’s needs better than competitors.
• Societal marketing:Customers are interested in businesses that have a benefit to society as a whole.

What are the seven principles of marketing?

The seven principles of marketing, also known as the extended marketing mix, or the seven P’s, are: product, price, place, promotion, people, processes and physical evidence. They refer to the different aspects that influence people to do business with your company.

What is a marketing process?

A marketing process refers to the steps a company takes to determine their company’s value to consumers, find sales opportunities and tailor company outreach to a certain audience.