Unit 1 - Introduction to Marketing

1.1 Marketing - Concept, Importance, Functions, Evolution of marketing concept, marketing

v/s selling
1.2 Strategic marketing- meaning, traditional marketing v/s strategic marketing
1.3 Marketing Research- concept, process
1.4 Marketing Information System- concept, components, role of Big data in marketing
1.5 Consumer Behaviour- concept, factors influencing consumer behaviour, consumer buying
decision process.
1.6 Market segmentation- concept, bases, advantages, requisites of effective market
segmentation
1.7 Market targeting- concept, patterns of target market selection
1.8 Marketing challenges in the 21st century
1.9 CRM- concept, techniques
1.10 Case studies

Market
The term "market" refers to the gathering place of buyers and sellers to conduct transactions
involving the exchange of goods and services.
The term "market" comes from the Latin word "Marcatus," which means "to trade."

Marketing
Marketing is defined as "a human activity aimed at satisfying needs and desires through an
exchange process."
Marketing concept is a key to determining the needs, desires of target markets, delivering
the desired satisfactions more efficiently and effectively by competitors is critical to
achieving organizational goals.

Definition of Marketing Management

According to Philip Kotler, "Marketing Management is the analysis, planning,
implementation and control of programmes designed to bring about desired exchanges with
target audiences for the purpose of personal and of mutual gain. It relies heavily on the
adoption and coordination of product, price, promotion and place for achieving
responses."

Marketing management is a business process, to manage marketing activities in profit

seeking and non-profit organizations at different levels of management. Marketing
management decisions are based on strong knowledge of marketing functions and clear
understanding and application of supervisory and managerial techniques.

Marketing management is the customer-centric execution of marketing tools to promote a

business. Marketing managers use tools and strategies to analyze an approach to satisfy the
organization’s objectives and boost customer satisfaction. It is a crucial function for the
organization’s growth as their extensive planning and strategizing manifests in this execution
process.
Marketing management handles costs, schedules, resources, and activities in promoting
the brand image, product, or service. Additionally, professionals analyze past campaigns
to ensure data points from past projects help them curate a better customer experience and
more significant gains for the organization.

Understanding that a marketing management project is more than just marketing, as one
often misunderstands it. The management of resources, strategies, and brand image are
factors that managers strive to analyze, plan, and execute.

In essence, marketing management is an extended version of marketing that focuses on

execution.

Nature of Marketing Management

1. It Combines the Fields of Marketing and Management
As the name implies, marketing management combines the fields of marketing and
management.
Marketing consists of discovering consumer needs and wants, creating the goods and
services that meet those needs and wants; and pricing, promoting, and delivering those goods
and services. Doing so requires attention to six major areas - markets, products, prices, places,
promotion, and people.
Management is getting things done through other people. Managers engage in five key
activities - planning, organising, staffing, directing, and controlling.
Marketing management implies the integration of these concepts.
2. Marketing Management is a Business Process
Marketing management is a business process, to manage marketing activities in profit
seeking and non-profit organizations at different levels of management, i.e. supervisory,
middle-management, and executive levels.
Marketing management decisions are based on strong knowledge of marketing functions and
clear understanding and application of supervisory and managerial techniques. Marketing
managers and product managers are there to execute the processes of marketing
management. We, as customers, see the results of such process in the form of products,
prices, advertisements, promotions, etc.

3. Marketing Management is both Science and Art

“Marketing management is art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping
and growing customers through creating, delivering and communicating superior customer
value.” (Kotler, 2006).
Marketing management is a science because it follows general principles that guides the
marketing managers in decision making. The Art of Marketing management consists in
tackling every situation in an creative and effective manner.
Marketing Management is thus a science as well as an art.

Scope of marketing management

1. Setting Marketing Goals:
The prime task of marketing manager is to set marketing goals and objectives.
Clearly and precisely defined objective can help marketing manager to direct marketing
efforts effectively. The goals and objective (whether strategic and operating, or short-term
and long term) must be suitably communicated with the employees concern. As far as
possible, objectives should be expressed in the quantifiable terms.

2. Selecting Target Market:

Segmenting the total market and selecting the target market is a fundamental task of
marketing management. Modern marketing practice is based on the target market, and
not on the total market. Marketing manager cannot satisfy the needs and wants of entire
market. He must concentrate his efforts only on well-defined specific groups of
customers, known as the target market. All the marketing functions are directed to cater needs
and wants of the target market only. Based on company’s overall capacity, the target
market should be selected.

3. Formulating Suitable Marketing Organizational structure:

To implement marketing plan, a suitable organization structure is essential. On the basis of
analysis of type of products, type of market, geographical concentration of market, and many
other relevant factors, appropriate organization must be designed. Various alternative
structures are available, such as product organization, geographic organization,
functional organization, matrix organization, etc. Based upon requirements, the
appropriate structure should be prepared and modified as per needs.

4. Maintaining Healthy Relations with other Departments:

Marketing department needs cooperation from other departments of organization,
including financial department, personnel department, and production department, to
satisfy customers effectively. Their support is considered to be important to satisfy
consumers. Thus, for integrated efforts, marketing manager should try to establish good
relations with them. Likewise, within marketing department, he must establish coordination
among various personnel.

5. Establishing and Maintaining Profitable Relations with Outside Parties:

Alike internal support, the external relations are also extremely necessary. Marketer, in
order to carry out marketing activities effectively, must establish and maintain healthy
relations with various parties, such as suppliers, service providers, government agencies,
dealers, consultants, and so forth. Without their support, marketing manager cannot carry
out functions successfully. Due to important role of external relations, contemporary
marketing practices can be said as relationship marketing.

6. Marketing Research Activities:

Marketing research is one of the important functions of modern marketing. Marketing
research involves systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on any
problem related to marketing. It provides the manager with valuable information on which
marketing decisions can be taken. Marketing research is essential to know adequately about
consumers and market situation. It is a basic function to satisfy consumers. Marketing efforts
are based on the marketing research information.

7. Sales Management:
Sales management is one of the important functions of marketing management. Sales
management concerns with planning, implementation, and controlling selling efforts. It
performs all the activities directly related to execution of sales.
Sales department carry out selling functions. Sales department formulates sales policies,
ensures adequate quantity of products, maintains sales records, formulates structures
for sales department, manages sales force (salesmen), and controls selling efforts.

8. Exercising Effective Control on Marketing Activities:

Control is essential to ensure that activities are performed as per plan. Control involves
establishing standards, measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance
with standards, and taking corrective actions, if needed.
Control keeps the entire marketing department alert, active, and regular. Marketing manager
should set up an effective controlling system to monitor marketing efforts.
Marketing Management is a social and managerial process by which individuals or firms
obtain what they need or want through creating, offering, exchanging products of value with
each other.
Importance of Marketing Management
Every single thing about marketing management screams development and improvement.
Each step in the entire process is beneficial to your business. In this competitive world,
your marketing management is extremely important because it will help you float to the
top. Here’s how:

1. Introduces New Products

In marketing management, you start by identifying your target market and analyzing your
market. This helps you understand the needs of your consumers, based on which you can
introduce or launch new products with an effective marketing campaign.
In addition to that, you can study customer interactions and buying patterns to learn more
about your ideal customer and how to pique their interest in your products or services. As a
result, it helps you create brand awareness and increase visibility for your business.

2. Boost Sales
Good marketing management helps you match your capabilities and resources with the
needs of the consumers. With this, you can plan and implement a successful marketing
strategy and then reach out to customers.
It will enable you to find new customers and retain the current ones. This will boost your
sales and increase revenue. Not just that, with strategic planning and implementation, good
marketing management also helps reduce costs and expenses.

3. Builds Reputation
Marketing management ensures that your company’s reputation remains unharmed
because, without it, your business will struggle to handle PR blunders or remain updated with
the latest trends.
Good marketing management can help identify the best opportunities to pursue and
threats to steer clear from. It will help you expand to different audiences based on past
experience through advertising and customer engagement. This will help improve the
reputation of the company.

4. Aid in Business Decisions

Having proper marketing management means that you will have an excellent marketing
team that has insights into consumer behaviour, buying patterns, and the latest
marketing trends. This helps you make better decisions in the short run and the long run.

5. Helps Compete with Big Companies

If you are a small business in a competitive industry, then good marketing management is all
you need to level up to bigger competitor companies.
This is because it analyzes market behaviours and competitor trends and helps your
business focus on areas that are being underutilized by other companies or doing
something unique and fresh. As a result, your business can stand out and emerge as a solid
competitor in your industry, or even surpass them in certain cases.
In addition to all this (and more), good marketing management will guarantee an increase in
revenue and expansion of your business.
The Process of Marketing Management
1. Conduct Market Research
The first step in the marketing management process is conducting market research and
market analysis.
You can do this by gathering consumer data, doing surveys, conducting interviews,
assessing the economic patterns, etc.
You can also collect your current consumer data and previous marketing campaigns’ KPIs. If
you want, you can even rely on the traditional SWOT analysis of identifying your company’s
internal strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, threats, etc.
Based on all the research, you can get a full understanding of your target customer, their
needs and pain points, the trends in consumer buying patterns, and how to offer a
product or service to meet the market demands.
It also helps you identify areas where your business could succeed, highlights potential
challenges that your business needs to address, and forecast the future potential.

2. Set Marketing Objectives

No process can ever continue without setting objectives and goals because they set the very
foundation of your entire marketing journey. That’s why the marketing management
process also involves setting achievable marketing objectives or goals and creating a
benchmark to measure success.
You set your marketing objectives based on different factors that influence customers in
your target market such as market demand, buying patterns, social, political,
environmental factors, etc. Try to include sales goals, budgeting expectations, brand
development plans, etc. while creating your goals.
Setting these marketing objectives and goals provide you with a clear path to follow, and
also acts as a roadmap for your marketing plans and strategies. In the end, it also helps you
compare and measure your achievements and results.

3. Develop a Marketing Strategy

Now that the market research is done and the marketing objectives are set, the next logical
step in a marketing management process is to develop a marketing strategy.
The decisions made in the strategy focus on which markets to target and how to position
your products for existing and new customers in relation to your competitors.
A marketing strategy usually consists of:
 Segmentation – Where you segment or divide the market to identify a similar set of
customers who are likely to respond to your marketing program.
 Targeting – Where the segments are further divided so that you can focus on a very
specific target to produce new products and services.
 Positioning – Where your brand’s image is perceived in terms of quality or price or
value and is positioned in the minds of the target market.
 Marketing mix – Utilizing the elements of the marketing mix – product, price, place
(distribution), and promotion to deliver customer satisfaction and achieve organizational
goals.
In addition to this, competitor’s strategies, environmental changes, financials, and
production should also be analyzed to form a marketing strategy.
A well-developed marketing strategy clearly defines responsibilities, ensures the smooth
functioning of the marketing process, makes profits, and helps achieves organizational
objectives.

4. Make a Marketing Plan

Once a marketing strategy is developed, the next marketing management process is to make
a written marketing plan. This is to analyze where the company is and where it wants to
reach in a given period of time.
With a plan on paper, you can refer to it anytime and analyze whether your marketing
management process is on the right path or not, and also keep track of your company’s
progress.
To make a marketing plan, you have to first focus on the business environment analysis
and your company’s internal analysis. Then, you have to form a strategic plan that
outlines the pros and cons of your marketing strategy.
After this, you move on to the financials where you forecast sales and expenses and plan
the budget for your marketing strategy. Then you plan your implementation process by
focusing on product and pricing strategies. Finally, follow-up is done to ensure that your
marketing strategy is on track.

5. Implement Marketing Program

The next step is one of the most important steps in the marketing management process –
Implementation. You can say that it is putting your marketing strategies and plans into action
and executing them in a way that you achieve all your marketing objectives and goals.
Start your implementation process by identifying how and when you will launch your planned
strategy. You can do this by persuading customers about your products or services through
various methods like advertising, sales promotion, public relations, etc. Then you
can allocate your resources such as cash and staffing to market your product, organize
people to execute your tasks, and manage all the minor details for each goal.
It is important that you follow your plan meticulously and share an understanding within
the organization of your marketing vision.

6. Monitor
The final stage of the marketing management process is to monitor and track the progress
of your campaigns. This step requires you to regularly measure and evaluate the results of
your planning and strategize to make sure that everything is on track.
It includes looking at your revenue, sales, customer satisfaction and feedback, the
number of website visitors, etc.
This helps answer many questions like:
 Did your planning and strategy work?
 Do your goals and results match?
 What changes have to be made?

Monitoring is not just about introspection, it is also about keeping tabs on the actions of your
competitors and making a comparison to get a better insight into where you are standing
in the industry.

Good marketing management also makes use of various organizational control systems,
such as sales forecasts, sales force management systems, CRM tools, etc. to track the
various aspects within your company to see if the marketing objectives set are being achieved.

Functions of Marketing Management

Various functions of Marketing Management required to satisfy consumer wants are
described below:

Marketing Research
Marketing Research is the careful study of the product's design, markets, and other activities.
It aims to provide management with factual information as a basis for marketing decisions
and actions. In the following areas, marketing management helps management to develop
policies: products, markets, marketing policies, and sales methods.

Product Planning Development

It is the act of supervising the search for products, screening development, and
commercialising new products, refitting existing lines, and closing down the unprofitable
business. Businesses must satisfy consumers’ wants and needs for their long-lasting existence,
assured by offering products and services that meet consumer requirements. Therefore,
product planning is a very important function.

Standardisation and Grading

Standardisation is the process of setting up standards and producing products in adherence
to those standards and also includes the process by which this conformity is assured.
Therefore, it confirms the uniformity of the product's size, shape, design, colour, and
physical properties. Grading is the process of storing goods in several grades or classes.

Product Pricing
One of the crucial decisions is the product's pricing, as it affects all the parties involved in
production, distribution, and consumption. The price of the product affects the volume of
production and the amount of profit of a product. A marketing manager has to make
decisions on pricing very crucially.

Packaging
Packaging a product is also an important marketing function. A package helps to contain,
protect, and identify a product. It is an important sales tool. Good and attractive packaging
helps in increasing sales of a product. Therefore, the marketing manager has to decide on the
type and material of packing, its shape, size, design, and colour.
Advertising and Sales Promotion
Advertising is an activity of advertisement of commercial products or services to
prospective customers. Advertising aims to promote the sale of products. The marketing
manager has to make several decisions relating to advertising, such as selecting a suitable
and economical medium, planning advertising programmes, preparing the advertising
budget etc.

Distribution Management
One of the important functions of marketing management is the distribution of products. It
involves the decision regarding the channel of distribution and its management. The
distribution of products involves a long series of middlemen between the producer and
consumer; the marketing manager has to ensure that it takes place well.

Evolution of the Marketing Concept

The Production Concept:

In order to understand the production concept, it’s important first to understand the history
of technology and mass production. Spurred on by the use of steam power, the Industrial
Revolution began in the United States by the middle of the 19th century. Although much of the
population was still employed in agriculture, the expansion of commerce and industry drew
millions of factory workers into cities and towns. Suddenly, an abundance of manufactured
goods was available to households at a rate never experienced before.
The production concept assumed that consumers were mostly interested in product
availability and price, not necessarily product features. As a result, companies
concentrated on high production, low costs, and mass distribution.
People were so hungry for mass-produced goods that companies didn’t have to do a lot of
sales or marketing. The production concept is thought to have lasted from just after the Civil
War (1861–1865) until the 1920-1930s.
The Product Concept
From the 1930s until the 1950s, the product concept dominated. With product availability a
thing of the past, consumers began to favor products that offered quality, performance,
and/or innovative features. As a result, companies concentrated on making superior
products and improving them over time. One of the problems with this type of thinking is that
marketers may fall in love with a product and may not realize what the market truly wants or
needs. Consider the manner in which railroad marketers overlooked the growing competition
from airlines, buses, and automobiles.
In his book Marketing Myopia, author Theodore Levitt writes, “The railroads did not stop
growing because the need for passenger and freight transportation declined. That grew. The
railroads are in trouble today not because that need was filled by others (cars, trucks,
airplanes and even telephones) but because it was not filled by the railroads themselves. They
let others take customers away from them because they assumed themselves to be in the
railroad business rather than in the transportation business.”

The Sales Concept

By the 1950s, mass production had become the norm rather than the exception.
Competition had increased over the years, and there was little unfulfilled demand in the
marketplace. Marketing evolved from simply producing products that customers wanted to
trying to persuade customers to buy through advertising and personal selling. The basic
premise of the sales concept was that consumers and businesses need to be “coaxed” into
buying, and the aim of companies was to sell what they made rather than make what
consumers wanted.

The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept was built on the premise that an organization will achieve its goals
when it satisfies the needs and wants of the consumer. As a result, firms began to focus on
customer needs before developing products, rather than developing products and then trying
to “sell” them to consumers. The marketing concept was also the start of relationship
marketing fostering long-term relationships with customers in order to ensure repeat sales
and achieve stable relationships and reduced costs.

The Societal Marketing Concept

In a nutshell, the societal marketing concept is simple. Companies make good marketing
decisions by considering not only consumers’ wants and needs but additionally the balance
between those wants and needs and the company’s capabilities and society’s long-term
interests. The concept emphasizes the social responsibilities that companies bear. This means
meeting consumers’ and businesses’ current needs while simultaneously being aware of the
environmental impact of marketing decisions on future generations’ ability to meet their
needs.
Marketing v/s Selling

Point Of
Marketing Selling
Difference

Marketing is the process of

delivering Goods And Services to Sales are the process of rounding
Definition
create value for the customer and up customers to increase sales.
make a profit.

View On It views the business as a customer- It views business as a goods-

Business satisfactory process. producing process.

Price Consumers determine the price. The Cost determines the price.

This concept is applicable to the This concept is useless in a Pure

Effectiveness
Pure Competition market. Competition market

This concept gives equal importance This concept gives importance to

Marketing Mix
to the Marketing Mix. Only Promotion.

Market This concept thinks about market This concept never thinks about
Segmentation segmentation deeply. the market concept.

This concept starts with Actual And This concept starts with Existing
Start
Potential Customers. Products.

Through Attractive Sales And

Profit Through Customer Satisfaction.
Promotion.

This concept emphasizes Customer This concept emphasizes

Emphasis
Needs. Products Or Services.

The scope of the marketing concept The scope of the selling concept is
Scope
is Wider. Narrow.

To satisfy the customer through To increase sales of Goods And

Objective
Goods And Services. Services.
 Strategic Marketing

Strategic Marketing
Strategic Marketing is the way a firm effectively differentiates itself from its competitors
by capitalising on its strengths (both current and potential) to provide consistently better
value to customers than its competitors.
“Strategic marketing focuses on understanding continuously changing markets to build a
competitive advantage; maximising opportunities to develop products and services that
deliver both customer value and high profit potential.”
In principle it’s that simple, but it means a lot more than getting creative with the marketing
mix. Strategic marketing has grown in popularity inside businesses over the last few years.

Simply put, the Role of Strategic Marketing is to decide:

 Which markets to compete in (where to compete).
 What the basis of the firm’s competitive advantage is going to be (how to compete), and
 When and how the firm will enter each market (when to compete)

The strategic marketing process involves conducting research and establishing long
term goals and objectives that will maximize the effectiveness and success of your overall
marketing strategy.

Example
Tesla
Tesla's evolution over the past few years is another great example. Tesla came in when people
thought electric cars were boring money-savers and then they completely changed the
industry. Thanks to strategic marketing management, Tesla is viewed as the world’s first
luxury electric vehicle manufacturer.
 Marketing Research

Marketing Research
Market research is a systematic process of obtaining, analyzing, and interpreting data for
actionable decision-making.

Marketing research is defined as any technique or a set of practices that companies use to
collect information to understand their target market better.
Organizations use this data to improve their products, enhance their UX, and offer a better
product to their customers. Marketing research is used to determine what the customers
want, and how they react to products or features of a product.

Reasons for Conducting Market Research

 Determine the feasibility of a new business or product
 Identify potential new markets
 Keep an eye on marketing trends
 Test the demand for new products

Marketing Research process

1. Define the Problem or Opportunity
The most important part of the marketing research process is defining the problem. In order
to do any research and collect data, you have to know what you are trying to learn from
the research.
In marketing research, defining the problem you need to solve will determine what
information you need and how you can get that information.
Develop questions that will allow you to define your problem (or opportunity), and
examine all potential causes so that the research can be whittled down to the information
you actually need to solve that problem or determine what action to take regarding an
opportunity. Consider as many variables and potential causes as possible.

2. Develop Your Marketing Research Plan

After you’ve examined all potential causes of the problem and have used those questions to
boil down exactly what you’re trying to solve, it’s time to build the research plan. Your
research plan can be overwhelming to create because it can include any method that will help
you answer the research problem or explore an opportunity identified in step one.

To help you develop the research plan, let’s review a few techniques for conducting research:
 Interview prospects and customers. Oftentimes, you get the best feedback by using
this tactic because you’re going straight to the source. This might take the form of a
focus group or one-on-one interviews. Use your defined research problem to help
select the right people to interview.
  Conduct a survey using some tools.
 Run user tests on your website or landing page(s). This is a cost-effective approach
that can provide a lot of insight and data on how your customers or potential customers
behave or respond to something, whether it’s new messaging or branding or a modified
product or service you are thinking about offering. Analytics tools, such as Google
Analytics or HubSpot analytics, to track results depending on what data you need to
collect.

3. Collect Relevant Data and Information

In marketing research, most of the data you collect will be quantitative (numbers or data)
versus qualitative, which is descriptive and observational. Ideally, you will gather a mix of
the data.
When collecting data, make sure it's valid and unbiased. Try asking both open-ended and
closed-ended questions (for instance, a multiple-choice question asking what income range
best describes you).

4. Analyze Data and Report Findings

Now that you’ve gathered all of the information you need, it’s time for the fun part: analyzing
the data. Although one piece of information or data might jump out at you, it’s important to
look for trends as opposed to specific pieces of information. As you're analyzing your data,
don't try to find patterns based on your assumptions prior to collecting the data.
Sometimes, it’s important to write up a summary of the study, including the process that
you followed, the results, conclusions, and what steps you recommend taking based on those
results. Sharing the charts and data you collected is pointless if it doesn’t lead to action.

5. Put Your Research into Action

Your research is complete. It's time to present your findings and take action. Start developing
your inbound marketing strategies and campaigns. Put your findings to the test and get
going! The biggest takeaway here is that, although this round of research is complete, it's not
over.
The problems, business environment, and trends are constantly changing, which means
that your research is never over. The trends you discovered through your research are
evolving. You should be analyzing your data on a regular basis to see where you can
improve. The more you know about your buyer persons, industry, and company, the more
successful your marketing efforts and company will be.
 Marketing Information System

The Marketing Information System refers to the systematic collection, analysis,

interpretation, storage and dissemination of the market information, from both the
internal and external sources, to the marketers on a regular, continuous basis.
The marketing information system distributes the relevant information to the marketers
who can make the efficient decisions related to the marketing operations viz. Pricing,
packaging, new product development, distribution, media, promotion, etc.

Components of Marketing Information System

1. Internal Records:
The Company can collect information through its internal records comprising of sales data,
customer database, product database, financial data, operations data, etc.

The detailed explanation of the internal sources of data is given below:

 The information can be collected from the documents such as invoices, transmit
copies, billing documents prepared by the firms once they receive the order for the
goods and services from the customers, dealers or the sales representatives.
 The current sales data should be maintained on a regular basis that serves as an aide to a
the Marketing Information System. The reports on current sales and the inventory
levels help the management to decide on its objectives, and the marketers can make use
of this information to design their future sales strategy.
 The Companies maintain several databases such as
*Customer Database- wherein the complete information about the customer’s name,
address, phone number, the frequency of purchase, financial position, etc. is saved.
 *Product Database- wherein the complete information about the product’s price,
features, variants, is stored.
*Salesperson database, wherein the complete information about the salesperson, his
name, address, phone number, sales target, etc. is saved.
 The companies store their data in the data warehouse from where the data can be
retrieved anytime the need arises. Once the data is stored, the statistical experts mine
it by applying several computer software and techniques to convert it into meaningful
information that gives facts and figures.

2. Marketing Intelligence System:

The marketing intelligence system provides the data about the happenings in the
market, i.e. data related to the marketing environment which is external to the
organization. It includes the information about the changing market trends, competitor’s
pricing strategy, change in the customer’s tastes and preferences, new products
launched in the market, promotion strategy of the competitor, etc.

In order to have an efficient marketing Information System, the companies should work
aggressively to improve the marketing intelligence system by taking the following steps:
 Providing the proper training and motivating the sales force to keep a check on the
market trends, i.e. the change in the tastes and preferences of customers and give
suggestions on the improvements, if any.
 Motivating the channel partners viz. Dealer, distributors, retailers who are in the actual
market to provide the relevant and necessary information about the customers and the
competitors.
 The companies can also improve their marketing intelligence system by getting more
and more information about the competitors. This can be done either by purchasing
the competitor’s product, attending the trade shows, reading the competitor’s published
articles in magazines, journals, financial reports.
 The companies can have an efficient marketing information system by involving the
loyal customers in the customer advisory panel who can share their experiences and
give advice to the new potential customers.
 The companies can make use of the government data to improve its marketing
Information system. The data can be related to the population trends, demographic
characteristics, agricultural production, etc. that help an organization to plan its
marketing operations accordingly.
 Also, the companies can purchase the information about the marketing
environment from the research companies who carry out the researches on all the
players in the market.
 The Marketing Intelligence system can be further improved by asking the customers
directly about their experience with the product or service via feedback forms that can
be filled online.
3. Marketing Research:
The Marketing Research is the systematic collection, organization, analysis and
interpretation of the primary or the secondary data to find out the solutions to the
marketing problems.
Several Companies conduct marketing research to analyze the marketing environment
comprising of changes in the customer’s tastes and preferences, competitor’s strategies,
the scope of new product launch, etc. by applying several statistical tools. In order to
conduct the market research, the data is to be collected that can be either primary data (the
first-hand data) or the secondary data (second-hand data, available in books, magazines,
research reports, journals, etc.)
The secondary data are publicly available, but the primary data is to be collected by the
researcher through certain methods such as questionnaires, personal interviews, surveys,
seminars, etc.
A marketing research contributes a lot in the marketing information system as it provides the
factual data that has been tested several times by the researchers.

4. Marketing Decision Support System:

It includes several software programs that can be used by the marketers to analyze the
data, collected so far, to take better marketing decisions. With the use of computers, the
marking managers can save the huge data in a tabular form and can apply statistical programs
to analyze the data and make the decisions in line with the findings.

Role of Big data in marketing

Big data is large and complex data sets that are collected by companies and governments.
The data that involve many types of information arriving in increasing volumes and with
the incredibly fast rates. Big data signifies colossal volumes of data are being generated from
assorted sources such as business processes, machines networks, and social media.

Big data plays a significant role in marketing by providing valuable insights and tools to
enhance decision-making, target audiences more effectively, and optimize marketing
strategies. Here are some key ways in which big data influences marketing:

1. Customer Understanding and Segmentation:

 Big data allows marketers to collect and analyze vast amounts of customer data
from various sources, including social media, websites, and transactions.
 Through advanced analytics, marketers can segment customers based on their
behavior, preferences, and demographics, enabling more targeted and
personalized marketing campaigns.
2. Personalization:
 With the insights gained from big data analytics, marketers can create highly
personalized and relevant content for their target audience.
  Personalization helps in delivering the right message to the right person at the
right time, increasing the effectiveness of marketing efforts.

3. Predictive Analytics:
 Big data enables the use of predictive analytics to forecast future trends and
customer behavior.
 Marketers can anticipate customer needs, identify potential leads, and optimize
marketing strategies to stay ahead of the competition.

4. Improved Customer Engagement:

 Analyzing big data helps in understanding customer engagement patterns across
different channels.
 Marketers can use this information to optimize the timing, content, and channel
of their marketing efforts, leading to increased customer engagement.

5. Marketing Attribution:
 Big data helps in tracking and attributing marketing efforts to specific outcomes,
providing insights into which channels and campaigns are most effective.
 This information allows marketers to allocate resources more efficiently and
optimize their marketing mix.

6. Social Media Analytics:

 Social media platforms generate massive amounts of data. Big data analytics can be
used to monitor social media conversations, sentiment, and trends.
 Marketers can leverage this information to understand public opinion, track brand
mentions, and adjust marketing strategies accordingly.

7. Real-Time Analytics:
 Big data enables real-time analytics, allowing marketers to respond quickly to
changing market conditions and customer behavior.
 Real-time insights help in adjusting marketing campaigns on the fly, optimizing
performance in dynamic environments.

8. Cost Optimization:
 By analyzing data related to marketing spending and performance, organizations
can identify areas where costs can be optimized without compromising
effectiveness.

9. Competitive Analysis:
 Marketers can use big data to analyze the strategies and performance of
competitors, gaining insights that can inform their own marketing tactics.
 Consumer Behaviour

Understanding consumer behavior is a key element of a marketing strategy. In fact, before

implementing a strategy, it is essential to fully understand the needs and expectations of
the consumers you want to influence. To do this, you need to understand how the consumer
will react and be influenced by your marketing strategies.
Consumer behavior is the study of consumers and the processes they use to choose, use
(consume), and dispose of products and services, including consumers’ emotional,
mental, and behavioural responses. Understanding consumer behavior is crucial for
businesses to create effective marketing strategies that can influence consumers’ decision-
making processes.
Consumer behavior incorporates ideas from several sciences including psychology, biology,
chemistry, and economics.
By understanding consumer behavior, businesses can tailor their marketing efforts to
target specific groups, improve brand loyalty, and identify emerging trends. This
knowledge can also help businesses stay ahead of their competition and adapt to changes in
consumer behavior.
In conclusion, understanding consumer behavior is vital to any successful marketing
strategy. By analyzing the factors that influence consumer behavior, businesses can develop
effective marketing campaigns that cater to the needs and wants of their target audience.

Importance of consumer behaviour

 Better marketing and communications
As living standards, trends, and technology keep changing, consumers’ choices
also keep varying. Understanding how these factors affect customers’ buying habits
helps organizations design their messaging accordingly. Thus, having insights into
consumers’ purchase behavior can help marketers in meeting their objectives.

 Improve customer retention

It is far more beneficial to retain an existing customer than to gain new customers.
It’s easier to sell new products and services to your existing customers than to find
new ones.
Entrepreneurs who are able to retain their customers and create strong
relationships manage to create strong new brand loyalty for their businesses.
Customer loyalty can prove to be a promoter of your business and spread positive
word of mouth. Satisfied customers share their happy experiences with their friends
and family.
So, retaining as many customers as possible should be the goal of entrepreneurs
interested in growing their companies.
  Increase customer loyalty
Understanding customer behavior helps in finding out ways to boost customer
loyalty, which in turn, will lead to higher sales and a strong brand. Analyzing trends
in sales can aid in offering discounts as well as suggesting the best products and
services to them.

 Better plan inventory

Researching customer attitudes helps companies plan inventory and stock raw
materials. In the case of a service-based business, the management team can better
plan their human resources. If businesses see a trend in demand for specific
products, they are likely to send more purchase orders to their suppliers. Consumer
behavior data can help them to balance demand and supply.

 Increase sales
A company always aims to satisfy specific market niches. Even if the company operates
in different sectors, it should target potential buyers in each segment. If you know
your customers well, you can have better conversations with a high probability of
closing the deal.
Instead of taking random shots and trying to sell to anyone, having knowledge about
your customers’ likes and dislikes helps in making smarter decisions. Such a
strategy has a higher chance of generating sales.

 Research competition
Studying consumer buying behavior helps in understanding the competitive
market. You can plan on how to position your products and services to offer
competitive advantages.
Find out answers to questions like:
o Is the customer already using a competitor brand?
o What drives a consumer to buy from your competitor?
o Are potential customers happy with the competitor brands?
o What are the gaps between your products and that of competitors?

Factors influence consumer behavior

Consumer behavior is influenced by many external factors and internal factors such as
situational, psychological, environmental, and marketing factors, personal factors, family, and
culture.

 Situational factors
They are temporary in nature and include physical factors such as a store’s location,
layout, colors, music, lighting, and even scent. Companies try to make these factors
as favorable as possible. Other situational factors include holidays, time, and moods
of the consumer.
 Personal factors
These factors include demographic factors such as age, gender, income, occupation,
etc. It also depends on one’s interests and opinions. To further understand consumers,
companies also look more closely at their lifestyles – their daily routine, leisure
activities, etc.

 Social factors
This factor also includes social class, level of education, religious and ethnic
background, sexual orientation, customer orientation, and people around you –
family, friends, or social network. Different cultures have varying customs and rituals
that influence how people live their lives and what products they purchase.
Generally, consumers in the same social class exhibit similar buying behavior. Most
market researchers believe a person’s family is one of the biggest determinants of
buying behavior.

 Psychological factor
A person’s ability to understand information, perception of needs, and mindset
influence consumer behavior. One’s reaction to a marketing campaign will depend on
one’s beliefs and state of mind.

Consumer buying decision process

 Need Recognition:
The buying decision process begins with the identification of need where the
consumer recognizes the need or requirement.
The need can be triggered by internal or external stimuli. For instance, an advertisement
or discussion with friends may arouse the need for a smartphone or a tablet.
Marketers at this stage should research the consumer needs and the appropriate products
that can satisfy those needs.

 Information Search:
In this stage, consumers attempt to seek information about the products/ services
that will satisfy their needs. A consumer who is interested in purchasing a home might
start meeting property agents visit appropriate websites or gather information
through newspapers.
Buyers can obtain information from various sources. These include personal
sources (family, friends, and neighbours), commercial sources (advertising, display,
and websites), public sources (mass media, internet searches, and consumer
ratings), and experiential sources (handling, using, and examining the product).

 Evaluation of Alternatives:
By now the consumers were only gathering information. In this stage, consumers use
that information to assess alternative brands in the choice set. Consumers arrive at
a judgment to buy a product or service through some evaluation procedure. This
 evaluation procedure varies from one buyer to another. Suppose a consumer wishes to
purchase a wedding gown, she might evaluate the alternatives based on four attributes
— style, economy, price, and warranty. Marketers should study the consumers and
identify how exactly they evaluate any brand for final purchase. If marketers can
recognize the evaluation procedure they can very well influence the choices of the
consumers.

 Purchase Decision:
In the evaluation stage, the buyer ranks the brand and forms an intention to
purchase. In this stage, the consumer finally purchases the most preferred brand.
Here, two factors come in between the purchase intention and purchase decision —
the attitude of others being the first and the unexpected situational factors being the
second. If a close friend or family member of the consumer thinks to invest in an electric
car, then chances of purchasing a petrol/diesel car are reduced. Similarly, unexpected
factors such as changes in the economy, price drop by a close competitive brand, and
word-of-mouth may also change the purchase intention and decision of the consumers.

 Post-purchase Behaviour:
The job of the marketer does not end after the product is purchased by the consumer.
In this stage, marketers take further action after the purchase based on their
satisfaction or dissatisfaction achieved after using the product or service. Marketers
know that consumer satisfaction is a key to building profitable relationships with
consumers. Satisfied consumers spread positive word-of-mouth and therefore, every
marketer attempts to delight consumers by exceeding their expectations.

Market segmentation

Market segmentation is the key to any long-term marketing plan that works.

To maximize your marketing budget, you should determine why your customers buy from you
by dividing your market into subgroups. Then, you’ll be better able to meet their unique needs.

Market segmentation is a process that consists of sectioning the target market into
smaller groups that share similar characteristics, such as age, income, personality traits,
behavior, interests, needs, or location.

Knowing your market segmentation will help you target your product, sales, and marketing
methods. It can help your product development processes by guiding how you build product
offers for various groups, such as males versus women or high-income versus low-income.
These segments can be used to optimize products, marketing, advertising, and sales efforts.
Bases of Market Segmentation

Geographic segmentation
Geographic segmentation consists of creating different groups of customers based on
geographic boundaries.
A fast-food chain might change its menu items and specials based on what people in a certain
area like. For example, they might have spicy food on the menu in places where spicy food is
common.
The needs and interests of potential consumers vary according to their geographic location,
climate, and region. So, geographic segmentation is valuable. Understanding geographic
segmentation allows you to determine where to sell and advertise a brand and where to
expand a business.

Demographic segmentation
Demographic segmentation divides the market through different variables. Demographic
segmentation includes age, gender, nationality, education level, family size, occupation,
income, etc.
A company that sells luxury cars might look for customers with a certain income, age, or job. For
example, they might make ads for older, wealthy people who are likely to be interested in luxury
cars.
Demographic segmentation is one of the most widely used forms of market segmentation
since it is based on knowing how customers use your products and services and how much
they are willing to pay for them. Surely demographic segmentation is very important.

Psychographic segmentation
Psychographic segmentation consists of grouping the target audience based on their
behavior, lifestyle, attitudes, and interests.
A fitness brand might try to reach customers based on how they live and who they are. For
example, they might go after people who like to be active and care about their health.
To understand the target audience, market research methods such as focus groups, surveys,
interviews, and case studies can successfully compile psychographic segmentation
conclusions.

Behavioral segmentation
Behavioral segmentation focuses on specific reactions, i.e. consumer behaviors, patterns,
and how customers go through their decision-making and purchasing processes.
An online store can target customers based on what they buy. For example, they might give
discounts to people who buy from them often or send personalized suggestions based on what
people have bought in the past.
The public’s attitudes towards your brand, how they use it, and their awareness are examples
of behavioral segmentation. Collecting behavioral segmentation data is similar to how you
would find psychographic data. This allows marketers to develop a more targeted approach.
Advantages of market segmentation
Knowing what market segmentation is and the benefits it has for your organization will help
you implement it correctly. Here are some of its advantages:

Create stronger marketing messages: When you know who you are targeting, you can
create strong, personalized messages that respond to the needs and wants of your target
audience.

Find the ideal marketing strategies: You may not know which the right strategy to attract
the ideal audience is. It allows you to know the audience, create a plan that will work
successfully, and determine better solutions and methods to reach them.

Design-targeted advertising: Market segmentation allows you to target your advertising to

the audience successfully and effectively, knowing their age, location, buying habits, interests,
etc.

Attract potential customers: By sending direct and clear marketing messages, you attract
the right audience and are more likely to convert them into buyers.

Differentiate your brand from the competition: By creating messages specific to your value
proposition, you can stand out from the competition. Segmentation allows you to differentiate
your brand by focusing on specific customer needs and characteristics.

Identify your niche market: It helps you discover your niche market. Identify the niche with
the broadest audience and whether it has needs that your brand can effectively address.

Focus your efforts: This allows you to identify new marketing opportunities and avoid
distractions that take you away from your target market.

Create a customer connection: You can create effective strategies when you know what your
customers want and need. This allows you to create strong bonds between your brand and
the customer to create brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Disadvantages of market segmentation

Market segmentation can help a business in many ways but can also have some negative
effects.

Increased costs: If you want to target specific segments, you may need a bigger marketing
budget to make customized products, create targeted advertising campaigns, and do a market
segment.

Overlooking potential customers: If you focus too much on specific segments, you might
miss out on potential customers who don’t fit into your identified segments.
Complexity: It can be a difficult process that requires detailed analysis and research. This can
be hard for smaller businesses with fewer resources to do.

Measuring effectiveness: It may be hard to know how effective a segmented marketing

strategy is because it may not always be clear which segment is responsible for the success or
failure of a campaign.

Risk of stereotyping: There is a risk of stereotyping certain groups based on their

demographic or psychological characteristics, which could lead to negative perceptions and
backlash.

Requisites of Effective Market Segmentation

Measurable and Obtainable

The size, profile and other relevant characteristics of the segment must be measurable and
obtainable in terms of data. It has to be possible to determine the values of the variables used
for segmentation with justifiable efforts. This is important especially for demographic and
geographic variables. For an organisation with direct sales (without intermediaries), the own
customer database could deliver valuable information on buying behaviour (frequency,
volume, product groups, mode of payment etc).

Relevant
The size and profit potential of a market segment have to be large enough to economically
justify separate marketing activities for this segment. If a segment is small in size then the cost
of marketing activities cannot be justified.

Accessible
The segment has to be accessible and servable for the organisation. That means, the customer
segments may be decided considering that they can be accessed through various target-group
specific advertising media such as magazines or websites the target audience likes to use.

Substantial
The segments should be substantial to generate required returns. Activities with small
segments will give a biased result or negative results.

Valid
This means the extent to which the base is directly associated with the differences in needs
and wants between the different segments. Given that the segmentation is essentially
concerned with identifying groups with different needs and wants, it is vital that the
segmentation base is meaningful and that different preferences or needs show clear variations
in market behaviour and response to individually designed marketing mixes.
Unique or Distinguishable or Differentiable
The market segments have to be that diverse that they show different reactions to different
marketing mixes. If not then there would have been no use to break them up in segments.

Appropriate
The segments must be appropriate to the organisation’s objectives and resources.

Stable
The segments must be stable so that its behaviour in the future can be predicted with a
sufficient degree of confidence.

Agreeable
The needs and characteristics of each segment must be similar otherwise the main objective
of segmentation will not be served. If within a segment the behaviour of consumers are
different and that they react differently, then a unique marketing strategy cannot be
implemented for everyone. This will call for a further segmentation.

Actionable or Feasible
It has to be possible to approach each segment with a particular marketing programme and
to draw advantages from that. The segments that a company wishes to pursue must be
actionable in the sense that there should be sufficient finance, personnel and capability to take
them all. Hence, depending upon the reach of the company, the s egments must be selected.

Market targeting

Market targeting is a process of selecting the target market from the entire market. Target
market consists of group/groups of buyers to whom the company wants to satisfy or for whom
product is manufactured, price is set, promotion efforts are made, and distribution network is
prepared.

Alternative Strategies (Methods/Patterns) for Market Targeting:

Company may opt for any one of the following strategies for market targeting based on the
situations:

1. Single Segment Concentration:

It is the simplest case. The company selects only a single segment as target market and
offers a single product. Here, product is one; segment is one. For example, a company may
select only higher income segment to serve from various segments based on income, such
as poor, middleclass, elite class, etc. All the product items produced by the company are meant
for only a single segment.
Single segment offers some merits like:
(1) Company can gain strong knowledge of segment’s needs and can achieve a strong
market position in the segment.
(2) Company can specialize its production, distribution, and promotion.
(3) Company, by capturing leadership in the segment, can earn higher return on its
investment.

It suffers from following demerits like:

(1) Competitor may invade the segment and can shake company’s position.
(2) Company has to pay high costs for change in fashion, habit, and attitude. Company
may not survive as risk cannot be diversified.

Mostly, company prefers to operate in more segments. Serving more segments minimizes the
degree of risk.

2. Selective Specialization:
In this option, the company selects a number of segments. A company selects several
segments and sells different products to each of the segments. Here, company selects many
segments to serve them with many products. All such segments are attractive and
appropriate with firm’s objectives and resources.
There may be little or no synergy among the segments. Every segment is capable to promise
the profits. This multi-segment coverage strategy has the advantage of diversifying the
firm’s risk. Firm can earn money from other segments if one or two segments seem
unattractive. For example, a company may concentrate on all the income groups to serve.

3. Product Specialization:
In this alternative, a company makes a specific product, which can be sold to several
segments. Here, product is one, but segments are many. Company offers different models
and varieties to meet needs of different segments. The major benefit is that the company can
build a strong reputation in the specific product area. But, the risk is that product may be
replaced by an entirely new technology. Many ready-made garment companies prefer this
strategy.

4. Market Specialization:
This strategy consists of serving many needs of a particular segment. Here, products are
many but the segment is one. The firm can gain a strong reputation by specializing in
serving the specific segment. Company provides all new products that the group can feasibly
use. But, reduced size of market, reduced purchase capacity of the segment, or the entry
of competitors with superior products range may affect the company’s position.

5. Full Market Coverage:

In this strategy, a company attempts to serve all the customer groups with all the
products they need. Here, all the needs of all the segments are served. Only very large firm
with overall capacity can undertake a full market coverage strategy.
 Marketing challenges in the 21st century

1. Getting new customers for your business

Getting new customers is the entire purpose of your marketing campaign; you want people to
find you, and you want them to buy your products or use your services.
If you’re not getting new customers with your current campaign, it could be time for an
overhaul. Take a look at your campaign and think about how you’re targeting your audience.

2. Training your marketing team to get the best ROI

Training your marketing team is an ongoing effort. What worked in the marketing world a
decade ago may not be what works for you today, for example, so you do need to focus
on researching current markets and the tactics that work to reach your audiences?
Understand the skills each of your employees has and then decide if you need to outsource
any of your marketing work. You may be surprised at where there are skill gaps that still
need to be filled.

3. Keeping up with the last global changes

Keeping up with global changes is another marketing challenge that many businesses run into.
As the globe becomes ever more connected, people are getting influenced by content from all
over the planet.
Keeping up with those influences isn’t simple. If engagement differs across markets, then you
need to think about why some countries are recognizing your brand more easily than
others.

4. Expanding your brand into other countries

Expanding your brand in another country isn’t just about offering it there. You also need to
think about how to promote it, get to know your local audiences, and be sure you’re keeping
up with the competition.
To help yourself, define your target audience. Then, consider taking action to resolve
language barriers. Using content creators to help with promotion could be supportive of
your efforts, too, since they know the local lingo.

5. Budgeting for your marketing campaigns

It can be expensive to market to more than just your local community. It also gets expensive
when you start expanding into different marketing modalities, such as going to live ads or
marketing across multiple social media channels.
Budgeting issues can be resolved by staying focused on your campaign. Start small and go
slow to see which campaigns get the most interaction.

6. Struggling with a lack of resources

Not every business is going to start with the same resources to cover all the markets you want
to reach. Even if you have enough budget, you may not have the staff needed to carry out your
campaign to its fullest potential.
7. Database management: Keeping your data accessible
Your database is going to grow larger over time as you gather more information. You need to
keep it organized, so you can access the information you need when you need it and see if you
are getting a good return on your investments (ROI).
Using a unified marketing and analytics platform will keep you organized. If you take this
database on the cloud, you’ll be able to access it from anywhere where you have internet
access, making it easier to do your job in or outside the office.

8. Handling market changes as they arise

The market is constantly changing. A competitor could go out of business, or the wants and
needs of your customers may shift.
Studying market trends can help you stay apprised of changes and help you adapt quickly as
they occur.

9. Standing out from the crowd

Another serious marketing challenge that people run into today is the problem of too much
choice. Customers can become overwhelmed when there are too many choices out
there, and having so many options on the market can cause disruptions in sales and services
rendered.

10. Increased competition

Markets are now global means that you have increased competition in your niche no matter
what it is. There are not only the old markets you used to use but also new markets that are
starting to develop.

11. Diluting your message

A big problem you could run into is diluting your message too much. The last thing you want
to do is segment your campaign in a way that reaches a lot of people but doesn’t lead to
conversions.

12. Generating the right leads and better traffic to your website
There is the challenge of getting people to your website. Generating leads from those who
visit your site is necessary if you want to convert people to buyers of your services or products.
It’s a challenge to generate leads and traffic because Google and other search engines are
always changing how they approach searches.
 Customer relationship management (CRM)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is often referred to as a process, strategy, or

software/technology that enables organizations to manage relationships with their
customers, vendors, and suppliers.

CRM enables business owners and salespeople by helping them streamline the sales
process, improve interdepartmental collaboration, and maintain business relationships.

A CRM software system performs the following activities:

 Collects customer data from multiple sources and applications and stores it in a
centralized location
 Automates repetitive sales, marketing, and customer service processes
 Tracks prospects and customers through their purchase journey
 Identifies upselling and cross-selling opportunities
 Promotes interdepartmental collaboration

Essential CRM Features

Choosing a CRM system can be confusing because not all CRMs are the same, and each offers
vastly different features compared to its contemporaries. So, essential features you need in
a CRM software.

1. Contact Management
All the essential information related to a lead/customer’s contact such as their name, email
address, phone number, work details, past communications, etc. should be easily accessible
and modifiable.

2. Lead Management
Keeping track of leads can often be tedious if you’re still relying on spreadsheets or other
incompatible tools. The lead management Opens a new window feature gives you an
overview of your leads with their status, lead score, etc. By clicking on an entry, you can view
their profile, recent activities on your website, prior communication, complaints, and so on.

3. Pipeline Management
The pipeline management feature gives you a visual representation of your current leads and
deals. The deals are segregated according to the stage of the sales pipeline. This makes it easy
for salespeople to understand the status of each lead and helps them decide which leads to
pursue.

4. Sales Automation
The sales department is possibly already taxed with too much work. The addition of repetitive
administrative tasks such as sending invoices or following-up with a cold lead can negatively
impact their productivity.
With the sales automation feature, salespeople can automate repetitive tasks so that they can
focus on hitting the sales target. Automation workflows are initialized based on triggers or
rules. For example, if a lead hasn’t replied after three days, the follow-up workflow will be
activated wherein a reminder email will be automatically sent to the contact.

5. Sales Forecasting
A CRM tool processes tons of data daily. The sales forecasting feature uses this data to predict
future sales. This way, salespeople can get an approximate understanding of their pipeline and
how efficiently they can push sales. Salespeople can effectively use this information and
convert hot leads.

6. File Storage and Sharing

Rather than relying on external file storage applications, salespeople can store important and
frequently required files such as quotes, feature sheets, sales scripts, etc. in a centralized
repository and share them with co-workers instantly.

7. Email Management
You can integrate your email with CRM so that you don’t have to jump between multiple tabs
to send an email. With the email management feature, you can send emails right from
the CRM interface, mark the status of the lead, mention a remark, and prioritize emails. This
way, you won’t miss out on connecting with any of your leads.

8. Reporting and Analytics

This feature summarizes sales performance in a single dashboard. You can customize or
create new types of reports based on your requirements and export them in different formats.

CRM techniques
Here are some key CRM techniques in marketing:

Customer Segmentation:
Divide customers into segments based on common characteristics such as demographics,
behavior, or purchasing history.
Tailor marketing messages and campaigns to specific segments, making them more relevant
to each group.

Personalization:
Use customer data to personalize marketing messages, offers, and experiences.
Address customers by their names, recommend products based on their preferences, and
provide personalized content.

Data Collection and Analysis:

Gather and analyze customer data from various sources, including transactions, social media,
and interactions with the company.
Use analytics tools to gain insights into customer behavior, preferences, and trends.
Multichannel Marketing:
Implement marketing strategies across multiple channels, such as email, social media,
websites, and mobile apps.
Ensure a consistent and seamless experience for customers across all channels.

Customer Journey Mapping:

Map out the entire customer journey from awareness to purchase and beyond.
Identify touch points and interactions to understand where and how customers engage with
the brand.

Lead Management:
Implement processes to capture, qualify, and nurture leads.
Use CRM systems to track and manage leads through the sales funnel.

Customer Feedback and Surveys:

Collect feedback from customers through surveys, reviews, and social media.
Use feedback to understand customer satisfaction, identify areas for improvement, and
enhance products or services.

Automation:
Implement marketing automation tools to streamline repetitive tasks, such as email
campaigns, lead nurturing, and social media posts.
Automate personalized communication based on customer behaviors.

Customer Loyalty Programs:

Implement loyalty programs to reward and retain existing customers.
Use CRM data to identify loyal customers and offer them exclusive rewards or discounts.

Integration with Sales and Customer Support:

Ensure seamless integration between marketing, sales, and customer support teams.
Share customer information across departments to provide a unified and consistent customer
experience.

Predictive Analytics:
Use predictive analytics to forecast customer behavior and trends.
Anticipate customer needs and proactively address potential issues.

Social CRM:
Monitor and engage with customers on social media platforms.
Use social CRM tools to track customer interactions, gather insights, and respond to feedback.
Implementing effective CRM techniques in marketing requires a combination of technology,
processes, and a customer-centric mindset. The goal is to build and maintain strong
relationships with customers, ultimately driving customer satisfaction, loyalty, and business
growth.