What is marketing?

Marketing refers to a process or activities that a company undertakes to promote

the buying or selling of a product or services. Marketing involves researching,
promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services to consumers and other
businesses. It provides the people with a clear understanding of what business or
company do and how the product or service works. Through marketing, the customers
get to know about the value of the products, their usage and additional info that might
be helpful to them. Marketing is not only much broader than selling; it is not a
specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business
seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view.
Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the
enterprise. Without marketing, you can’t sell your product, this is why businesses invest
in marketing strategy.

Importance of Marketing
1. Customer satisfaction
o Customer Satisfaction is the outcome of the Correlation between Product
Performance [PP] and Customer Expectations [CE]
 When PP matches with CE, the customer will be SATISFIED
 When PP below than CE, the customer will be DISSATISFIED
 When PP exceeds CE, the customer will be DELIGHTED
 When PP exceeds very much than CE, the customer will be ASTONISHED

2. Corporate image
o Marketing helps a firm to develop and ENHANCE ITS CORPORATE
IMAGE.
o With the help of effective marketing a firm ACHIEVES HIGHER
PERFORMANCE.
o Such as – Increase in Sales, Profit and Market Shares
 Therefore, Corporate Image improves in the minds of Customers, Dealers,
Employees, Shareholders and other Stakeholders.

3. Competitive advantage
Effective marketing helps to face competition in the market.
Professional Marketers are PROACTIVE in decision making
They come up with:
 Innovative designs or models
  Creative promotion schemes
 Effective customer relationship techniques, etc.
4. Expansion of business
Effective marketing improves the performance of the firms, which facilitates the
expansion of the firm.
Helps a firm to expand business from local to national, national to international
market.
For business expansion, the firm may undertake various activities such as:
 Market Penetration
 Market Development
 Product Development
5. Brand loyalty
Effective Marketing enables the firm to develop brand loyalty
Brand loyalty refers to:
 Repeat Purchases by Satisfied / Delighted Customers
 Recommendations by existing customers to friends, neighbors & others
6. Organizational objectives
Marketing helps the firm to achieve marketing objectives. Some Objectives are as
given below:
 Increase in Profits
 Increase in Market Shares
 Increase in Sales
 Developed Brand Equity
 Enhanced Brand Loyalty
 Improved Brand Image
 Improved Corporate Image

7. Optimum utilization of resources

Due to proper marketing, the company get higher demand for goods and services.
Increased in demand leads to higher production and distribution.
The Company can make optimum use of following resources:
 Capital Resources, such as working capital funds, and fixed capital funds
 Manpower Resources, such as managerial and non-managerial employees
 Physical Resources, such as Machinery, Equipment’s, Tools etc.

8. Efficiency
Marketing brings higher profits. A part of profits is spent on various activities such
as:
  Research and Development
 Technology Upgradation
 Training and Development, etc.
All the above activities improve efficiency of the organization.
Marketing is a fundamental economic function that aids in the selling of products and
services and, eventually, generates revenue.
 Lies in determining the needs and wants of consumers and providing those
needs and wants with the right products and services to optimize customer
satisfaction.

Some of the importance and Significance of Marketing are as follow:

1. Creation of Demand - Human wants, such as those for food, clothes, shelter,
safety and security, a sense of belonging and affection, and education, are innate
and were not invented by marketers. Human requirements called wants are
impacted by personality, culture, and society.
2. Providing Information - Giving customers information is a crucial task that
marketing accomplishes. The information may be about the introduction of a new
product, product innovation and development, the introduction of a new brand,
and details about the attributes, qualities, components, and costs of the product.
People become aware of the product's availability thanks to this information.
Additionally, the marketer offers details about the product's benefits and usage
instructions. The consumer's knowledge is increased as a result.
3. Balancing Demand and Supply - Before launching a product or service, a
marketer does in-depth market research to better understand the needs, wants,
and demands of the consumers. The marketing process guarantees that buyers
will have access to high-quality items in a wide range of varieties at the
appropriate times and places. By providing products and services in response to
customer demands, the marketer achieves supply-demand equilibrium.
4. Improvement in Lifestyle - By providing consumers with cutting-edge products,
marketing assists in resurrecting their unmet requirements. To satisfy the various
needs of consumers, marketing offers a wide range of products and services.
People's standards of living are raised via an ongoing process of product
innovation and development that incorporates technical advancements.
5. Achieving Higher Sales - Selling products is a difficult task in today's fiercely
competitive business world. Marketing engages in a number of operations that
increase sales volume. To really effect the sale of goods and services, the
marketer must first carry out thorough market research to understand the needs
 and wants of consumers. After that, the marketer must launch an intensive
advertising and promotion campaign.
6. Building Reputation - Delivering client satisfaction is the goal of marketing
initiatives, which aids in the company's development of a positive reputation. A
strong reputation is built via the use of efficient marketing strategies that increase
public awareness of the business and its offerings.
7. Marketing Helps in distribution of Goods - Marketing facilitates the transfer
and flow of items from the maker to the final consumer of goods and services.
The marketing process creates a connection between the manufacturer of goods
and services and the final consumer of those goods. Marketing aids in the
transfer of ownership from the seller to the buyer.
8. Delivering Satisfaction - Delivering customer satisfaction is a crucial marketing
duty. By offering the proper products and services at a fair price, at the suitable
time, and in the desired location, a marketer ensures consumer happiness. The
degree to which product performance meets consumer expectations determines
customer satisfaction.
Customers are satisfied when a product performs as expected. Customers are
happy when a product's performance meets or surpasses their expectations; they
are unhappy when a product's performance falls short of those expectations.
9. Providing Livelihood - A variety of tasks are involved in marketing, including
buying, selling, warehousing, transportation, grading, handling finances, taking
calculated risks, etc. Many persons participating in various marketing roles have
work chances from these activities, which raises their income levels. Marketing
hence aids in generating revenue.
10. Survival and Growth of Business - The firm's goals of making money through
the sale of goods and services are helped by marketing. This guarantees the
firm's survival, stability, and expansion.
11. Creation of Utility - Delivering the relevant product to clients at the proper time
and location is how marketing produces time and place usefulness. The
distribution of products to their final users includes the storage, shipping, and
marketing activities.
Storage and storage facilities produce temporal utility to make items, particularly
seasonal goods, easily, promptly, and continuously available. Distribution of
commodities through a suitable channel, such as a wholesaler, merchant, or
agent, guarantees their simple accessibility, hence enhancing the usability of a
location.
12. Helps in Selection of Product - Marketing helps customers choose a product
from the many possibilities available. Customers can compare many brands and
product kinds using the product-related information provided through marketing
and advertising to choose the one that best matches their needs. The sales staff
also aids customers in choosing their purchases.
How does good marketing influence new consumers?
Good marketing means understanding your customers and what they need or
want. Marketing efforts are successful in part because they elicit a response from
consumers before you offer them anything, then offer that in the best possible way.  
Even if a company offers the best goods and services, it is still important for people to
be aware of it. Good marketing can influence the buying behavior of new consumers
wherein it would create a pattern of associations that obtain an emotional connection or
response in the target market, ultimately influencing the consumer's purchasing
decisions, often in an unconscious way. Good marketing creates connections with
potential consumers wherein through creating connections, the business would be able
to influence them to buy and stay loyal to the company.
Good marketing influences the customer if the business has active tactics that
create brand recognition to attract and influence a person's decision making. 
Developing a brand image can have an impact on the purchasing decision of individuals
and build  trust to a service or product. If a business has good marketing and
consumers become aware of this, they will surely be intrigued and will look to what you
can offer to determine if the product is actually relevant for them. They can influence
others to also purchase from you. If you can provide good marketing for your business,
existing customers will talk more about your business. They will discuss it with their
peers and families, and they are likely to purchase it.