5 reasons why marketing is the backbone of a successful business
Those who aren’t adequately familiar with the startup or business ecosystem often believe that entrepreneurs are just people who don’t want to work on scheduled hours or intend to earn quick money. However, Contrary to popular belief, leading a successful business requires great exertion, sacrifice and effort.
Every year the business ecosystem is getting more challenging with more and more new companies entering the market. But recently, it seems the market has gotten infinitely more competitive. Most businesses today are contesting against 29 counterparts to attract customers. This stat might seem exhilarating if you are on the other side of the table, but for company owners, the current market landscape is nothing short of a battlefield in which their only weapon of choice is marketing.
At first glance, marketing might come across as something every business must have to stay in customers’ recall, but actually, it plays a much more significant role. As the leader of a fast-emerging or well-established company, knowing what your customers want is imperative. You should also know whether the customers trust the product and services or are they satisfied with it or not. Answers of the aforementioned questions lie in the incredible feat of marketing–the backbone of any successful business.
What is marketing?
By definition, marketing is a way to create and maintain demand, relevance, reputation, competition and engagement. Without appropriate marketing or no marketing, your business will likely be at a considerable disadvantage in terms of sales and profit making. The ultimate goal of marketing is to assist a business’s growth trajectory. This includes reaching the maximum audience and ensuring the highest ROI, among other things. Marketing mainly focuses on boosting sales, increasing customer engagement and growing brand awareness. It can be conducted by leveraging both traditional and new-age digital means.
5 key reasons why marketing is essential for businesses today:
- Because it helps create a bond between customers and brands
For businesses, the most vital thing is to create healthy, trustworthy and loyal relationships with customers. In this context, marketing research and comprehensive analysis help companies take cognisance of relevant demographics, psychographics and consumer behaviour, making it easier for them to reach the right audience. These much-needed insights make certain that a business can meet the demands and expectations of its target market, thereby gaining an edge against competitors. In business, trust and loyalty are two-way streets. If a company is true to its customers and offers only best-in-class services, consumers will automatically reciprocate the feeling. And it is no secret that a loyal customer base can make or break a brand.
- Because it helps maintain an organization’s reputation
Your business’s success and life span are directly proportional to its image in the public domain. To put it simply, a brand’s reputation determines its equity. This is why a large chunk of marketing finances and energy is focused on building a positive brand image, which means advantageous brand equity for the business. The entire idea of a positive brand image means a positive growth trajectory is simple. If your company has a pragmatic reputation, your customers will automatically feel proud to be associated with you. In contrast, even if your products and services are excellent, chances are that most consumers won’t prefer to associate with a brand that has negative connotations. Marketers often leverage effective communication and CSR strategies to ensure a business continues to be in the good books of the public eye.
- Because it helps expand word about products and services
Marketing is a brilliant communication tool. It effortlessly informs and updates customers about existing and upcoming products and services. It also makes it easier for customers to know the real value of a company’s offerings, their usage, advantages and disadvantages, additional information and even comparative analysis. All the information combined assists a customer make informed purchasing decisions while simultaneously absorbing the vision and mission of the brand. In addition, if you want to spread the word of discounts and rewards or some new brand event, then marketing is your single most crucial grenade.
- Because it helps in finding potential customers or leads
One of the biggest benefits of marketing is finding leads. While retaining customers is crucial, gaining and finding new customers is equally important, if not more. A business cannot rely solely on old customers to thrive in today’s competitive world. This is why companies leverage marketing tools to attract new customers. Traditionally, marketers used to conduct cold calls to reach more customers. However, this approach is now frowned upon and considered intrusive in nature. In contrast, modern marketing approaches with advanced software focus on organic ways to engage and connect with potential customers. These marketing techniques are infinitely more reliable, effective and trustworthy with zero creepiness or meddling.
- Because it helps increase sales and, therefore ROI
A good marketer has many tools to promote a company’s products and services. If they use these tools correctly, it is highly probable that the brand’s products are already on the radar of target customers. Therefore, the chances of it getting sold are in the positive arc. While the ultimate sale is still dependent on several factors. For instance, a customer might want to try the product or service before paying. However, the role of marketing is to attract customers’ attention. Once the customer is interested in your product, it is the operations department’s responsibility to ensure that only top-tier quality offerings are being served. Naturally, as the number of leads converting into sales increases, so will the ROI, and the business will be well on its way to a grand success.
Wrapping Up
Marketing is no longer just a ‘good-to-have’ component. It has reached the ‘must have’ stage. Marketing is the most crucial arrow in the quiver of businesses planning to succeed in today’s fast-paced and cutthroat world. Know this, even if you aren’t actively marketing your products and services, all your competitors are, and it puts you in a difficult position. The only way to gain a competitive edge today is to pursue aggressive marketing. By aggressive, we don’t mean sleazy or negative, but more comprehensive, bold and detail-oriented marketing. Conduct thorough research on your target market and audience and find the best way to impress them. As long as your marketing techniques and high-quality products and services are fantastic, there’s no way your company won’t create an unprecedented benchmark in the existing industry.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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