COMPONENTS OF MAKETING
DEFINITION OF MARKETING
Marketing refers to the activities undertaken by a company to promote the
buying or selling of a product or service.
Marketing activities means any activity of the license directed at or
incidental to the identification of and communication with domestic customers
supplied or to be supplied, it means direct publicity, advertising, marketing and
promotion of goods and services. Below are some components of marketing
activities
COMPONENTS OF MARKETING ACTIVITIES
1) WHOLESALING: This is the buying and handling of products and services
and their subsequent resale to institutional users and in some cases to final
consumers. Wholesaling is a significant aspect of marketing because of its impact
on the economy, it functions in the distribution channel and its relationship with
suppliers and customers, it is a marketing activity that has to do with selling goods
in bulk to retailers who will then sell them to the final consumers for consumption
and satisfaction.
2) TRANSPORTATION AND DISTRIBUTION: Transportation and distribution
happens to be one of the marketing activities, it is a process of making a product or
service available for the consumers or business user who needs it. This can be done
directly by the producer of service provider or using indirect channels with
distributors or intermediaries. Marketers distribute goods by transporting them to
retailers through various means like ships, cars, vans, aeroplane etc thereby making
it possible for retailers to get the goods at ease.
Distribution is fundamentally concerned with ensuring that products reach
targets customers in the most direct and cost efficient manner, but in the case of
services distribution is principally concerned with access.
3) MARKETING COMMUNICATION: Marketing communication refers to the
means adopted by the companies to convey message about the products and the
brands they sell, either directly or indirectly to the customers with the intention to
persuade them to purchase. In other words, the different medium that companies
adopt to exchange the information about their goods and services to the customers
is termed as marketing communication.
Marketing communication includes advertising, direct marketing, branding,
packaging, your online presence, printed materials, sponsorships, tradeshow
appearances and more. The marketer uses the tools of marketing communication to
create the brand awareness among the potential customers which means some
image of the brand gets created in their minds that help them to make the purchase
decision. Marketing communication offers solutions to the following questions

Why shall the product be used ?

How can the product be used?

Who can use the product?

Where can the product be used?

When can the product be used?
In sum total the goal of marketing communication is promotion of products
4) MARKET RESEARCH: Market research is the process of determining the
viability of a new service or product through research conducted directly with
potential customers, it allows a company to discover the target market and get
opinions and other feedback from consumers about their interest in the product or
service. Market research has to do with the systematic collection and interpretation
of data through the use of analytical methods and approches that promotes the
development of insight to support decision making. It is basically any planned
activity that results in the gathering of information about markets competitors and
customers.
Marketers goes out and interacts with people to find out what they need and also
discover new ways of producing goods or re-branding them and also tries to find
solutions to the problems.
5) PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Product development typically refers to all the
stages involved in bringing a product from concept or idea, through market release
and beyond. In other words, product development incorporates a products entire
journey including:
- Identifying a market need
- conceptualizing and designing the products
- building the product roadmap
- developing a minimum viable product (MVP)
- releasing the MVP to users
- iterating based on user feedback
Products development helps companies diversify target customer ranges and
expand into new market segments. Whether a company is developing new products
or making improvements on classic designs, the product marketing strategy helps
new customers gain interest
N/B: Product development does not mean product management, when you
understand products development this way, you can see that it is not synonymous
with product management. Although many people mistakenly use the terms
interchangeably indeed product development does not refer to a single role at all.
You should instead view it as more of a broad process or method for bringing
products to market which involves many teams across company including : product
management, marketing, development (or manufacturing), design, testing or QA
and shipping or distribution .
6) RETAILING: Retailing has to do with selling finished goods in small
quantities to consumers or end-users, usually from a fixed location. It is a
distribution process in which all the activities involved in selling the merchandise
directly to the final consumer (ie the one who intends to use the product) are
included. It encompasses sale of goods and services from a point of purchase to the
end user, who is going to use that product.
7) WAREHOUSING: warehousing is the process of proper storage and handling
of goods and cargo using scientific methods in the warehouse and making them
available easily and smoothly when needed. It is the holding and preservation of
goods until they are dispatched to the consumers.
There is need for storing the goods so as to make them available to buyers as
and when required. Some amount of goods is stored at every stage in the marketing
process, proper and adequate arrangements to retail the goods in perfect condition
are essential for success in marketing. Storage enables a firm to carry on
production in anticipation of demand in future. Warehousing takes responsibility
for the safe custody of goods until it reaches the retailers which after then dispatch
them to the final consumers.