7 Functions of Marketing & Why You Need Them All
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7 Functions of Marketing & Why You Need Them All

The intention behind marketing your product is mainly to increase sales. Marketing your product the right way is crucial to sales and a careful and clever approach; if not done correctly, it not only dissipates the efforts that have been put into the product but also causes a significant setback for the company.

Whether you're a newbie in the market or have been there for a long time, learning and reviewing the core functions of marketing will help you in the long run. Going through all seven core functions of marketing will not only help you set the product upright and reach the target audience. The way it is said that a man who does not plan finds troubles at the door when he goes.

Whether you're ready to launch your product for the first time or plan to scale up your business with the right strategies, we have you covered.

What Exactly Are The Seven Functions Of Marketing 

1. Promotion

Promotion always comes first whenever a brand wants to launch a product; no doubt, promoting the product rightfully makes the path smooth and hassle-free for the brand. If done duly, it gives a sense of relief. It is one of the essential marketing functions.

Create awareness

Consider your product, which is needed by many but unknown to many. Using the right strategies to create awareness can help your product find a place in the market. You can always reach out to agencies to develop plans for you. 

Introduce to potential customers.

Promotion, as simple as it sounds, requires you to conduct thorough research on the population you are targeting, the gender, the age range, the socioeconomic class, and the area you are targetting for your first ever store. 

Informal endorsement

What’s better than being one of the brands that has already launched a product and has customers who rely on it? Take advantage of existing customers, who can play a crucial role in informally endorsing a product. This can be done by priorly sending them a message or an email.

Promotional prices

Have you ever bought a product because it was at a promotional price? This technique works well with many, allowing them to try a product at a promotional price before paying the total cost.

Using the uniqueness of the product

TirTir, a Japanese makeup brand, fits well with this example. TirTir launched a foundation with a huge shade range. Being one of the Korean brands where the audience has a limited shade range, mainly on the light side, the brand stands out by targeting the population globally and using this as a marketing strategy.

2. Selling

Selling a product that is usually related to the sales representative requires work before it gets into the hands of the sales representative, and that's where brands go wrong. 

Speeding up the sales

Before the product goes on the shelf, you must convince customers to buy it, speeding up sales. You can write content such as blogs on the official website. 

Reduces the risk

Working beforehand on selling puts you on the safe side; it reduces the risk of staying on the shelf for long and engages the audience. Polls and question/answers tool on Instagram comes in handy here. 

Setting up a discount code for a selected population

This marketing function plays a fantastic role in selling the product as it concentrates on a particular population that might be interested in your product. KFC’s student book, which gave discounted prices on selected items, grew its sales; however, promoting this option to the audience is essential.

3. Product Management

Consider product management as paving a roadmap for your product. 

The 'whys' of your product

You must know the why of your product to your audience. Why the audience buys the product you are targeting needs to be precise. 

Competitors analysis

One way to stand out is to find your competitors' loopholes. Analysing your competitors can help you boost your product in the market, from marketing to manufacturing and selling. 

Evolving the product

It is crucial to evolve your product according to customers' demands. A brand that sticks to the same packaging, manufacturing, and material often gets laid back. The evolution of iPhones can be judged through the lens of product management, who evolved their product, keeping in mind the demands of their customers, from the looks to the features. 

4. Pricing

Pricing is one of the marketing functions that can either propel you to the top of the brand's launch list or slow you down. 

Deciding the price

Pricing depends not only on profit, raw materials, or labour utilised. You have to balance the amount you have spent and the amount your customers are willing to pay. Considering multiple things, is it a luxury or a non-luxury item? Is it a limited edition, or will it stay on the shelf for long?

Reputation of the brand and playing monopoly

If you are an existing brand with a reputation, this gives you a margin to decide the pricing. Many brands, such as Hermes, a luxury brand, play monopoly and have been in the market for a long time. Birkin, a product by The Hermes, appreciates its value and is used as an investment, setting the pricing and playing the monopoly.

5. Marketing Management

One of the marketing functions usually involves data collection from the customers and use for future strategies. With customer data, it is easier for brands to excel in their game in the market. Hence, one of the essential things. 

Feedback loops

Creating feedback loops with existing customers serves as a means of building trust for the brand. It also helps you identify your own mistakes and devise better strategies. A survey form, some informal feedback, a checklist, or social media can help make the feedback loop easier between the two. 

Getting the demographics 

This particular form of data can help you as a brand to become easily available to your customers once you figure out in what areas your customers are concentrated. Remember to have the customers who buy your product provide you with their contact numbers and postal codes!

6. Financing

Of all the marketing functions, financing is one of the last but not least. It is the capital required to carry out business activities, such as buying and investing, reserving for future launches, opening stores, and smoothly managing the discount seasons.

Communication with other departments 

Contacting the other departments, especially sales and promotions, is necessary to emphasize the product management function. The financing department needs to be aware of all plans for selling and promotion because their input has weightage. 

Exploring the markets for funds

The financing department should always be up to exploring the market for funds and bringing in the capital most efficiently. There are two types of financing: debt financing, where the brand has to pay back the amount, often with an interest rate, and equity financing, where the brand does not have to pay back; however, the funder becomes the brand's stakeholder. 

Aligning with the values 

Sackcloth & Ashes not only promotes using eco-friendly materials for their blankets but also donates a certain amount of blankets to the homeless shelter, making it a brand that gets many functions due to aligning its values with the customers; hence, people are becoming more interested in funding such brands and products. 

7. Distribution

Distribution is moving the product from the warehouse to the customers' place.

You need to find the best fit according to the product, whether it is a digital product, a luxury product, relating to drugstores, a new brand, or existing for a very long time. Some ways to market include

a. Traditional stores are the oldest and most common option and have been the most preferred option. However, with the changes in the market dynamics, they aren’t always preferable now. 

b. Selling directly to retailers is one of the best options if you’re just starting out. 

c. Through wholesalers is a fantastic option if your product can be sold in bulk. 

d. Collaborating with big stores/well-established names can help you get a push in the market. If our aim is not to have a store, you can warm through big names like target/Sephora. 

Sowears, a dress brand that started online and is distributed through courier services, recently opened its first-ever store in one of the leading malls.

How The Marketing Functions Can Scale Up Your Business

what is the aim of launching a product in the market for a brand? It is usually to make better sales than the last product, stay long in the market, and get new customers on board who are loyal customers to the brand. The seven functions explained above help to achieve just that. Following through with the functions enables you as a brand to go smoothly, and, boom, your sales.

Conclusion

Going through all seven marketing strategies before putting your product on the shelves helps boost your sales and create customers who stick with the brand for the long term. It also helps with the brand name’s reputation. 

To get professional help, you can contact an agency that specialises in marketing your product for you before getting in the market to help with the marketing functions. 

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