What Is Marketing Management? An Introduction

What is marketing management?

Marketing management is the process of overseeing the promotional activities for your business.

It involves tasks such as:

Researching the market, competitors and target audience
Setting a high-level marketing strategy based on company objectives
Managing the marketing budget
Creating and launching marketing campaigns and advertisements
Building a marketing calendar
Identifying impactful marketing tools and channels
Designing marketing materials
Monitoring and analyzing marketing metrics
Evaluating and refining the marketing strategy
Building and maintaining vendor relationships
Managing marketing team, including freelancers and contractors

For small businesses, marketing management might be a one-person job; it may even fall to the business owner in a start-up. In larger companies, the marketing manager is typically supported by a team.

Your company can use marketing management techniques to identify opportunities for growth and get the brand in front of the target market. This process can coordinate advertising and marketing efforts across platforms to promote your products or services, maintain a strong brand identity and capture potential customers.

Analysis is a key aspect of marketing management. It involves reflecting on the impact of past marketing campaigns and customer outreach efforts and using customer feedback and sales trends to adjust your company’s overall marketing plan. The goal is to build stronger customer relationships and improve brand visibility among potential buyers.

Why is marketing management important to business?

Effective marketing management can drive business success by building brand awareness, getting products in front of customers, strengthening your company’s reputation and increasing sales. It also helps differentiate your company from competitors and supports your customer retention strategy.

Your marketing manager can play a key role in the company’s growth. They help identify new audience segments and devise ways to connect with those audiences, increase engagement and build a company reputation. They may also analyze customer interactions and buying patterns to identify new ways to pique customers’ interest in your products or services.

Elements of marketing management

Marketing management tends to evolve as your business grows but generally involves essential elements.

1. Goal setting

A core part of marketing management is setting achievable goals based on company priorities, including sales goals, budgeting expectations and brand development plans. Effective goal-setting also requires an understanding of customers’ buying behavior.

Defined goals are the foundation of a successful marketing strategy. They should inform every decision, from selecting the right channels to designing campaigns.

2. Coordination

Marketing requires collaboration between company leaders, creative teams and front-facing staff. A strong marketing management plan aligns company messaging across marketing channels. Consistent messaging at every touchpoint builds familiarity and brand recognition for customers.

To effectively coordinate marketing efforts, consider developing a central vision for the brand. Many companies use a brand book to define each aspect of branding, including colors, a logo, messaging, taglines, imagery, tone and voice. This guide helps unify your efforts.

3. Market research

Marketing management should generally be supported with thorough market research. When you understand customers, competitors and the state of the market, you can develop a marketing plan tailored to your unique audience.

Market research might involve:

Analyzing customer data to spot patterns in buying behavior, preferences and motivations
Understanding your target audience
Following market trends
Identifying potential market opportunities
Anticipating challenges or customer hesitations
Finding weaknesses in competitors’ products or marketing strategies
Spotting untapped audience segments

Detailed research makes it easier to choose strategies, campaigns, channels, images and copy that resonates with your audience.

4. Relationship building

An effective marketing management strategy attracts new customers; it may also encourage repeat purchases and word-of-mouth marketing. Engaging with buyers through digital content, social media and professional networking can help them feel invested in your company. Marketing management can also show customers your company values align with theirs, which can help create a stronger connection.

5. Idea generation

Great marketing is agile and adapts to changing market trends. Part of marketing management involves generating ideas that help the company stay relevant. In some cases, it requires rebranding your business to reach a new niche or adapt to shifts in the market.

Marketing managers can guide business development and growth. Because they’re immersed in customer behavior and preferences, they’re well-positioned to provide valuable ideas for new features, products and services.

Roles to hire for marketing management

A team of marketing professionals can help you build a larger customer base. A detailed marketing management description may make it easier to identify necessary roles. Below are some to consider.

Director of marketing

A director of marketing, or marketing director, oversees a business’ entire marketing department. They focus on long-term marketing plans and collaborate with company leaders to forecast demand. Small companies, especially those with a single product line or type of service, may not need a director of marketing.

Marketing manager

Marketing managers handle marketing activities for a specific product line or campaign. These professionals need an in-depth understanding of current marketing channels, audience demographics and trending marketing techniques. Marketing managers analyze data to adjust marketing efforts, allocate funds and brainstorm new promotions with their team.

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 or train customer service associates to respond to comments and posts using a consistent brand voice and editorial style. Social media managers communicate company policies and promotions to potential customers online and help customers learn about a company’s products and brand.

FAQs about marketing management

What are the five marketing concepts?

Five central marketing concepts are related to 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 fulfill a customer’s needs better than competitors.
Societal marketing: Customers are interested in businesses that benefit society.

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 describe the factors influencing a customer’s decision to do business with your company.

What is a marketing process?

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

What Is Marketing Management? An Introduction