Without being a novelty, marketing has also undergone a major transformation in recent years, surpassing the stage of a simple sales act – as it was considered by many. Between the old marketing thinking and the modern, current one, there are many major differences, such as:
- Sales and product orientation vs. Market and customer orientation
- Mass marketing vs. Targeting selected market segments or individuals
- Focus on products and sales vs. Focus on satisfaction and customer value
- Making sales to customers vs. Creating relationships with customers
- Attracting new customers vs. Retaining old customers
- Increasing market share vs. Increasing share of customer’s budget purchases
- Serving any customer vs. Serving profitable customers,
- Communication through mass media vs. Direct connection with customers
- Offering standardized products vs. Offering customized products.
- On one’s own vs. Entering partnerships with other companies
- Local marketing vs. Local and global marketing
- Markets as physical places of commerce vs. Markets as e-commerce spaces.
Starting from these notable differences between traditional, outdated marketing and the new type of marketing, general orientation themes have been outlined in the new conditions, marked by the development of e-commerce and the web in general:
1. Directed marketing – giving up selling to everyone, trying to be the best company serving well-defined target markets.
2. Customer relationship marketing – creating profitable long-term relationships with customers instead of excessive and almost exclusive attention to obtaining sales and closing transactions, regardless of the field. Whenever possible, it is preferable to maintain long-term and close collaboration relationships with profitable customers, and those who exclusively seek discounts or are not profitable should, as much as possible, be excluded.
3. Customization – individualization, adaptation to each order and each customer. Although sometimes this may generate additional costs, overall the final customer will be more satisfied, purchasing all products and services from a single supplier, without the need for additional searches. This adaptability proves extremely necessary and beneficial especially in the case of services or goods that can be accompanied by one or more adjacent and complementary services.
4. Share of customer purchases – focus should no longer be on concentrating to gain market share, but on creating and consolidating a share of the customer’s purchases. In other words, trying to get the customer to buy more from us, more diversified and more often.
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5. Customer databases – replacing the sales database with a much broader database, with as well-documented and varied data about the customer as possible, including personal data, preferences, demographic characteristics, and profitability of each customer. This information can be used both to maintain relationships and to predict the future evolution of the audience’s needs and preferences.
6. Integrated marketing communications - combining several tools to offer customers a consistent brand image. Contact through the sales agent or email alone is not enough; a plan must be made and a communication strategy detailed. This may include: sales agents, periodic newsletters, continuous interaction through social networks, information, meetings, presentations, launches, periodic and occasional phone calls, etc.
These are some of the elements that a company, whether just starting out or in full development, must take into account and apply. The online part should never be omitted, no matter how small the business is, but especially if it is just starting.
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To be continued… in the next article!
