What is Marketing? – Definition, Forms, and More

What is Marketing?

Marketing is the alignment of a company to the needs of the market. Accordingly, all business measures and decisions should aim to meet customer expectations.

The task of it is to recognize the needs of the market, as well as changes, for example, the increasing or decreasing demand for a product.

The goal is to ensure increased sales figures. It provides that more is sold by identifying potential customers and the market, making the product known, and improving its image.

CRM – Marketing and Customer Relationship Management

1. It is not only necessary that you focus on your (potential) customers during the initial target group analysis.
2. You should also always take the focus on the individual customer into account when implementing specific measures.
3. CRM software (Customer Relationship Management) helps to maintain customer relationships so that this works even with large numbers of customers.
4. Customer data recorded and maintained in a CRM system and thus provides the basis for being able to carry out CRM marketing that is appropriate for the target group.
5. You can read about how CRM and it work together and how it optimize through well-maintained customer relationship management on our page “Optimize Marketing with CRM”.

What are the Different forms of marketing?

In the meantime, it is getting bigger – because of the increasing digitization, there are more and more opportunities. Below are a few examples of the different types of marketing.

Classic marketing

• It was the most common form of advertising before the Internet, and digital options were available: This includes flyer write for us and posters, but also television and radio advertising.

Direct marketing

• Another classic form of it existed before digitization. Back then, mailing, phone calls, or faxes used, nowadays emails or personalized advertisements on the Internet are the means to an end.
• Because the goal of direct marketing is to address the customer directly and thus retain them, the sale of a product is of secondary importance, and instead, it is about customer loyalty.

Content marketing

• It is a marketing measure that primarily intends to provide the target group with relevant and valuable information and not just to contain advertising information.
• Entertaining content can also use it in content. Classic examples of it are blog posts, white papers, e-books, tutorials, but also games or infographics.
• The content used, for example, in newsletters, in social media management, or PR texts.
• While the advertising content in content marketing takes a back seat, the goal of the measures is, of course, still to encourage (new) customers to make the most profitable action possible.

online marketing

• It has now become a significant part of advertising – but the possibilities are also diverse.
• Whether emails, social media, affiliate, augmented reality, or influencer marketing and banner printing service – the opportunities are very assorted.
• And there are always new opportunities due to the mechanization of everyday life. Therefore, with online studies, some courses specialize in this area.

Event marketing

• It is becoming increasingly important in times of social media – the more massive and more unusual the event.
• And also, the better for the reach and reputation of the company or brand. whether a press conference, sports event, or the launch of a new cosmetics or fashion line, celebrated with a special occasion and invited stars, starlets, and influencers.
• Accordingly, there are also specialized courses in it. You can find out more about this in our article on event studies.

Cross-media marketing (multichannel)

• It has also become much more significant as a result of digitization. As new paths have opened up via the Internet.
• And also, it will undoubtedly add due to the advancing technology.
• But even before digitization, this form of it known as multichannel.
• No matter what the name is, the main thing is to put your advertising message on different channels, which can be both online and offline, and to connect them.

Performance marketing

• Since the emergence and constant development of online, other forms of it have emerged, such as performance marketing.
• In contrast to print campaigns, the success or failure of online campaigns can be measured much better.
• Ongoing online measures checked by means of performance.
• Possible channels that can be tracked by performance are email marketing, affiliate programs, or search engine advertising.