Why Marketing Is So Crucial For Firms

Why Do Firms Need Marketing?

Marketing is for firms what breath is for humans. Generally speaking, the 3 main reasons why entrepreneurs say the reason their company faced heavy losses is because it was either undercapitalized, employed the wrong people or the market conditions were bad. However, I would like to add a fourth point here which is poor marketing. Not only does effective and good marketing help a company sell its product thereby generating revenue, it also helps build indirect customer and business relationships and helps the company gain widespread fame and an increased customer base. 

Types of Marketing:

1. Print Advertisements

2. Word of Mouth

3. Radio and Television Advertisements

4. Social Media Advertisements

5. Cause Marketing - Marketing that involves messages about social causes and activist messages

6. Relationship Marketing - Marketing campaigns that stress customer satisfaction more than sales transactions.

The Advent of Digital Media Marketing

Prior to the birth of the Internet and World Wide Web, companies mainly marketed their products through both radio, television ads and print ads on newspapers and flyers. However, the rise in the popularity of the internet and social media opened up a new medium for firms to market their products. In the year 2000, there were just 413 million internet users which by 2019, had gone up to a whopping 4.13 billion users worldwide. Moreover, the increased popularity of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram meant that more and more companies started advertising there. With the help of search engine optimization and by tracking user activity, companies are able to gain much bigger reach than print ads.

Marketing Firms

While an advertisement or a slogan is generally attributed to the company, the company usually always consults with a marketing firm as to how to plan a marketing campaign. A marketing firm is a company that assists a business by designing, planning and collaborating marketing strategies that will help the business generate more revenue. Depending on how effective the marketing proves to be, the business might push for further collaborations with the marketing firm. This is why both businesses and marketing firms depend on each other for increased revenue. Notable examples of marketing firms include: McKinsey & Company, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers to name a few. 

2 Examples of Firms That Have Been Extremely Successful Through Marketing

I will be giving examples of 2 companies who have earned a lot of revenue through their effective marketing:

1. Nike - Nike is probably one of the few companies that have created the most impact with their marketing strategies. Not only are their products endorsed by famous athletes for exquisitively crafted television and social media advertisements, they strongly support their athletes even if they are embroiled in controversies(eg. Tiger Woods, Colin Kaepernick).  This gives the public an image that they are a steadfast and trustworthy company. Furthermore, their 'Just Do It.' trademark is arguably the most famous brand slogan ever created. This catchphrase has been so successful because it is a very simple one and is recognizable by people. This is why Nike's marketing strategies are so successful.

2. Apple - Just like Nike, Apple is another company that has used various marketing strategies very well to its benefit. Apple has produced unique and iconic advertisements such as the '1984' television commercial and the 'Think Different' commercial which first featured its iconic trademark of the same name. Apple were, and to some extent still are, one of the best at hyping and delivering a new product release. This was especially true when the late Steve Jobs was the CEO of Apple. Jobs's keynote speeches were so fantastic and riveting that people would buy the product even if it was double the price of similar other products in the market. This is one of the reasons why I consider Jobs as one of the greatest marketing geniuses ever to have lived and I would highly recommend you to check his revolutionary 2007 iPhone keynote address.

Summary

To conclude, marketing is one of the most important weapons that a firm needs to have in order to have a high revenue growth. The need and space for marketing is only going to increase in the coming years as digital platforms such as social media are acquiring lots of new users on a daily basis. Companies also partner with marketing firms to plan better strategies. Two examples of companies that have used innovative marketing strategies to bolster their sales and make them recognizable all around the world are Nike and Apple. I hope I have been able to explain these concepts in an understandable manner😀

P.S If you understand Hindi and would like to know more about digital marketing, please check the following link. The video explains the fundamentals of digital marketing and growth strategies in much more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vFntfhUbbA&list=PL9uK6jbdzfVfjNsG6KOJo1uq8kJg4tHaT&index=8