Lifelong Marketer, Now More Than Ever
Marketing in its fullest and greatest form is more important now than ever before. As the market continually becomes saturated with innovative products and services, any new offerings must be placed in front of consumers thoughtfully to generate revenue and profit. Today, innovation alone will not sustain a company — it must be complemented with marketing.
The Power of Marketing
To thrive in a cluttered and competitive marketplace, I have learned the necessity to unleash the powerful potential of marketing. Marketing helps bridge the connection between the right customers and the right product or service. It conveys its value in customer-centric ways and overcomes barriers with deep customer insight and knowledge.
Marketing Misunderstandings
Unfortunately, marketing has been overlooked and undervalued by many and the way that marketing has come to be defined is to blame. These days, what most people consider marketing is simply just advertising and I am guilty of this assumption prior to studying marketing as well. I have learned that marketing is so much more than generating or maintaining awareness and repeat purchases.
The American Marketing Association’s definition of marketing recognizes the foundational role that marketing presents to a business by referring to it as “… the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” Therefore, marketing should be regarded less as what happens after a product or service launches and more as the preparation that takes place prior such as creating a new market or expanding an existing one, understanding how the product will fulfill consumer’s needs, desires, and lives, as well as building and maintaining a customer experience indefinitely.
Future Challenges for Marketers
As marketing continues to evolve and rapidly change to reflect the current times, I predict that marketers will continue to face obstacles and challenges that will need to be overcome in their day-to-day careers. With ever-increasing competition online, marketers need to find strategic methods to capture and hold their audience’s attention. The best way to do this is to prioritize customers and do everything you can to ensure that their needs, questions, and concerns are addressed in a professional and timely manner.
The popularity of online content indicates that there is an abundance of information easily accessible to consumers. As marketers, we must break through the clutter and have our voices heard, even if we don’t have something new to add. Focus on customers, have a deep look into the problems they face and offer a different perspective, a simpler explanation, or a fresh approach.
Perpetual Marketer
As we have seen this semester, marketing has continually proven itself to be a useful and valuable function within businesses. As companies continue to be driven by innovation in 2022 and beyond, I will embrace and value what we call marketing, forever.
