Why Marketing is Critical to the Success of Any Business.
Have you ever heard of a guy by the name of Duan Yongping? Maybe yes, maybe not. What of the BBK group from China? Certainly not for a large number of us. But if I asked if anyone knows Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, or Realme; almost all of us will raise our hands.
What you didn’t know is that those brands are products of a Chinese company called BBK group owned largely by Duan Yongping. The company in the recent past has risen to beat such giants as Apple and Samsung to be the leading phone manufacturer in the world in terms of volume.
Historically, some of us would look at that and marvel at the drastic changes that made socialist China rise to such a gigantic position for what could be termed as an underdog of the last century. And you can’t miss to point out strategy and strategic positioning as key components.
However, that is on a macro scale. For the BBK group, their success and rise to the top are purely attributed to one factor; marketing. Such important is marketing to this company, such that 80% of their strategy is taken up by this single component.
In their 10 steps to success, the BBK group has listed a good product as the number one key determinant. Then from no’s 2-9, it repeatedly lists marketing. Finally, number 10 is taken up by integrity and generosity which on the periphery are aspects of value marketing.
So, why is marketing that important? First, it enables sales. Marketing is the aspect of making known your product or service to potential buyers and consumers. Even if one has the best product and the market niche lies unaware of it, it means nothing to him/her or the business.
As such, marketing ensures that the people are informed of what you have to offer. It is through marketing that one can share the benefits of the products they are offering and what they can do to the potential clients. In a nutshell, it offers consumer education and creates awareness that such a product or service exists.
Marketing also levels the ground for every player. On very rare occasions, like in the case of a monopoly, where the ground is often unlevelled can one not have the freedom to put in their best foot forward and enter the race of getting market for their product.
In other words, you have a product or a service, the free market welcomes you to try and sell it to the customer, and the best player wins. Sometimes or most of the time, the products could be used for the same purpose, yet you will need an extra effort to convince the customer on why yours is the best. And that is marketing.
Marketing also sustains the presence of the company in the market. It is almost the same as a relationship or marriage. One party has to keep assuring the other of their commitment and love. The same applies to a seller customer relationship.
The customer needs assurance that they will find the product the next time they need it. The seller will continue maintaining their presence as an insurance that they still exist should the customer need the product the future.
This also brings the aspect of customer engagement to the picture. In the process of marketing, the seller continues to get feedback on their products from the customer. They also continue to gauge their success by measuring the number of engagements that result in actual purchases.
It is through such feedback and monitoring that a business can strategize for its growth. They can know what to continue doing best and what to change as a way of winning more customers and gaining more markets.
Marketing is very important for that matter. It is to a business, what oxygen is to life. The day you stop marketing your business is the day you stop living.
