Many of you might already know I have been diligently plodding through some fascinating business courses in my ‘spare-time’. The topic of the semester for me is Marketing. As I begin this adventure we learn the basics, “the marketing process”. They remind me of building with Lego blocks as they discuss the 5 steps to know and understand.
We had a lively discussion in class last week about what we thought marketing was all about. It will be interesting to see how it compares to the thoughts we will have in our last class. Will we all be marketing genius’ by then? Probably not. I am looking forward to learning enough to grasp a brief analysis when I see marketing in the world around me and how I respond to it, or how I see others respond. I also hope to gain enough practical understanding to apply the basics…surely I can find a test market to practice with.
The most important first concept that I am learning, is that to succeed, being customer focused is the key to successful marketing. It is imperative to discover the needs, wants and demands of the customer and then offer them value, irresistible value, in your product or service. These are the big blocks at the bottom of the plan….or is it reverse, does it start with a single block being the customer and then build upwards and outwards like a pyramid or like Maslow’s Hierarchy? Either view leads to, or should lead to, the same desired outcome. That is to build profitable relationships which lead to profitable returns for the company and equally content and satisfied customers.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this course will be lots of fun (and a lot of work). I hope you will stick around to hear how the journey progresses. If you are a marketing professional or guru and you have words of wisdom to share or even just a tidbit of insight, I welcome your comments and feedback. Even if you aren’t in the marketing profession, I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time…
Kimberley xx
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