Marketing? What is it? What is it for?

We commonly hear professionals and entrepreneurs asking what marketing is and its real importance for business. Even though it's a simple word and very used, it's truly a little difficult to explain it. Personally, I like the literal translation: marketing is the market in movement. In other words, it is all the variations in the market and how we take action towards them. I know it may not be very clear yet. In this article we are going to try to explain in a more simple way and reinforce its importance for the business, especially for a startup.

?

Marketing in our lives

To better understand what marketing is, let's think about the clothes we choose to go to a party or an event. First you think about the event, please, address, time, the temperature it might be, who will be in the place and what the occasion is. At that moment, you are analyzing the market, its variables and forecast. Then, you will think of a person or a group of people that you would typically like to impress for some reason. You wish to communicate an image for these people. This person or group is your target audience, and the reason is your goal. At that moment, you also think there will be other people in the event and you want to stand out among them.You are now analyzing your competitors and building strategies to “beat” them. Subsequently, you will think of your options and strategies, in other words, of the clothes you wish to buy and where to buy. At that moment, you will also take into account how far the store is and the price of the clothes.It represents understanding your strengths and your budget. When you finish all the steps, you go to the event, however, it's not over yet. you will verify whether you were assertive in your choice. If so, you will repeat what you did, but keeping an eye on possible changes in other people's clothes. In case you don't believe the choice was assertive, you will think of a new strategy. At that moment, you applied the actions and strategy in the market and will follow up the results, making adjustments if appropriate.

?

Marketing in business

Having the example above in mind, would it be worthwhile to have a good piece of clothing in the closet? Would this piece of clothing in the closet achieve the suggested goal of impressing a group or of “selling” an image? Of course not. Therefore, marketing is important to make your product or service reach your objectives in a market that is constantly moving. Just as in this example of the party, we need marketing and the sector to sell our products or services.

?

If you are a business person or an entrepreneur, always think of having a commercial person or department that embraces marketing and sales. Your success may depend on that, because people must know your business so as to sell more and improve your product or service.