The Importance of Marketing

It is often said that marketing is one of the most important functions a business can engage in. But why? It might seem more logical to some that more, well, businesslike functions would be far more important than marketing – accounting, sales and manufacturing, for example. And of course, all those things are important – but if there was no marketing happening, would there be a need to manufacture, sell or do accounting?

Marketing is vital to not only raising awareness of a business, but to interacting with customers, getting feedback on their needs, creating demand for products, demonstrating benefits over the competition, and much more. Without marketing, there wouldn’t be much need for many other functions.

Let’s take a closer look at what marketing does and why it is so vital to business.

Marketing builds relationships

One of the goals of a marketing strategy should be to create meaningful, ongoing communication with customers that develops a relationship in which they grow to trust your business and develop a sense of loyalty to your company. Marketing does this by engaging customers through several paths – in-person communications is one way, but another increasingly common way is through digital marketing. Just as many personal and family relationships are online these days, so are brand relationships. A marketing strategy that engages customers, encourages them to participate and interact on social media pages, and creates a sense of belonging will drive customer loyalty, even in the face of competition from other brands.

Marketing educates

Creating brand awareness is one thing, but if a customer knows a brand name but not what that brand does, it’s a little like a parrot that can talk, but doesn’t know the meaning behind the words. Advertising gets a brand name out there in the public consciousness; marketing informs the public what’s behind that brand. It lets customers – both existing and potential – know what a product or service is used for, why it’s valuable, and how it can make a difference in their lives. A good integrated marketing campaign combines brand awareness with brand education, communicating a brand’s value proposition in a compelling manner.

Marketing drives revenue

Businesses, of course, aren’t creating marketing campaigns strictly for educational or relationship-building purposes. The ultimate goal of most activities is to drive more business and more revenues. But you can’t just throw a product out into the marketplace and expect it to make money. That’s why you spend time on an integrated marketing strategy and money on a marketing agency to help you create and execute it – it’s an investment. Business is complicated, and especially with the advent of the internet, social media, and the omnichannel marketing opportunities those platforms present, a good marketing strategy that involves the customer throughout the buying journey is essential. Today’s customer journey offers so many touchpoints and so many ways to use marketing to improve that journey – from drawing the customer in to staying in touch with them throughout the buying process, to following up and keeping them primed to make future purchases, marketing is absolutely necessary to drive sales.

Marketing keeps business in business

Marketing should be a proactive endeavor. Sure, some businesses may take the reactive approach, interacting with customers when they haven’t made a purchase in a while or when they unsubscribe to a mailing list – but those businesses are going to find themselves in trouble sooner or later. It takes less money and effort to keep an existing customer than to acquire a new one, and ongoing marketing efforts are the way to do that. Automated marketing solutions make it simple to reach out to existing customers through email periodically, and marketing campaigns via social media that use fresh, fun content to engage with followers will go a long way toward making sure a brand or company stays top of mind.

As we said at the start of this article, marketing is one of the most important functions a business can engage in, and if your company doesn’t have some effective marketing strategies in place, it’s a good time to start.

MACLYN is a full-service marketing agency working with companies in Des Moines, Naperville, Chicago and surrounding areas to meet their marketing goals. We’ll act as your personal marketing partner, getting to know your business, brand and style to help determine the right marketing mix for the markets you serve. When it comes to marketing, there are a lot of options out there – let us work with you to personalize your approach and help you achieve your goals.