What are the 4 functions of marketing?

How Many Marketing Functions are There?

Marketing management can include a wide range of activities, from monitoring analytics to crafting the perfect social media post. So you might be wondering how many marketing functions are there and what do they involve? There are seven core marketing functions, as outlined here: 

1. Marketing information management
In addition to the more commonly understood marketing functions, one of the most important functions of marketing is collecting, analyzing, and storing various channels of data about the company’s customer base, trends in the industry, and competitor activities. Marketing information management and the data gleaned from it impacts all of the other marketing functions, making it vital to a marketing department’s remit. Marketing tools are used to monitor and collect this data and enable more informed decision-making about promotion, selling, pricing, and more. 

2. Promotion
Promotion is the most commonly known function of marketing. It includes the traditional and digital marketing activities most audiences would be aware of. Promotion involves activities designed to communicate with customers, inform them of the brand and products, and convince them to purchase goods or services. Promotional activities include a wide range of tasks, including designing print ads and other collateral, planning and managing social media campaigns, hosting events or webinars, producing eBooks or infographics, and even public relations press releases or interviews. 

3. Selling
Marketers aren’t standing behind a cash register at a check-out line, but they are the people driving customers to those cash registers or online shopping carts. Marketers work consistently to nurture potential customers through the buying process, showing and explaining the value that the product or service has to offer and how it meets their needs. Whether marketers are generating leads for B2B products or reaching out to the customer directly via personalized email communication, they are intricately involved in the selling process. 

4. Pricing
While pricing is determined in part by the cost of making a product or delivering a service, it is also by market research around customer demographics and the customer’s willingness to pay a particular price point. Marketing departments should have detailed information on both of these categories because of their management of marketing information and data. 

5. Product management
Marketers are responsible for the above-mentioned marketing information management. They affect product management in a few key ways. First, they receive and quantify feedback from customers about their needs and desires that could affect your company’s product mix. Second, marketers regularly conduct research into their target audience and their competitor’s offerings and relative success. These two pieces of information, regularly aggregated by marketers, can directly affect the products a company offers and the price points at which they’re offered. 

6. Financing
Marketing and financing are interlinked within a company, and indeed, neither can operate without the other. Marketing decisions greatly impact financing decisions, and vice versa. A marketing department’s ability to effectively promote and sell products can directly impact funds or loans a finance department can secure. On the other hand, without the funds to carry out marketing activities, marketers would be left without the resources they need to do their jobs. 

7. Distribution
Finally, distribution is the act of getting products and services into customers’ hands, which is an essential marketing requirement. Distribution typically involves decisions about the routes that products or services take to get to market. This element is important for marketers because they need products to get into the hands of their customers in order to successfully complete their mission of selling. 

These marketing functions are all essential areas marketing departments will be required to engage with. Individual marketers will often specialize in one of these functions. 

Marketing is a very broad term and cannot be explained in a few words. Marketing is an essential business function that helps in making the customers aware of the products or services that are offered by a business.

The definition of marketing as defined by the American Marketing Association is as follows.

“Marketing is the process of planning and executing conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.”

Functions of marketing are those aspects that define the practice of marketing and are being discussed in detail in this article.

The following are the functions of marketing:

1. Identify needs of the consumer: The first steps in marketing function is to identify the needs and wants of the consumer that are present in the market. Companies or businesses must therefore gather information on the customer and perform analysis on the collected information.

By doing this they can present the product or service that matches closely with the customer needs and wants.

2. Planning: The next step in marketing function is planning. It is considered very important for a business to have a plan. The management should be very clear about the company objectives and what it wishes to achieve from the created plan.

The company should then chalk out a timeline that is essential for achieving the objectives.

3. Product Development: After the details are received from the consumer research, the product is developed for use by the consumers. There are many factors that are essential for a product to be accepted by the customer, a few factors among the many are product design, durability and cost.

4. Standardisation and Grading: Standardisation refers to the process of ensuring uniformity in the product which means that a product developed by a business shall be standard for every consumer with the same quality and design and this is one of the key aspects that needs to be maintained by the business.

Grading is referred to as the process of classifying products that are similar in quality and characteristics. Grading helps in making the customer know about the quality of the product offered. It helps in making customers understand that the products conform to highest quality standards.

5. Packing and Labelling: The first impressions of a product are its packaging and the label attached to it. Therefore, packaging and labelling should be looked after very well. It is a well known fact that a great packaging and labelling goes a long way in ensuring product success.

6. Branding: Branding is referred to as the process of identifying the name of the producer with the product. Certain brands are there in the market which have a lot of goodwill and any product coming from the same brand will be accepted more warmly by the consumers. Although, having a separate identity for the product can be helpful.

7. Customer Service: A company has to set-up various kinds of customer service based on their product. It can be pre-sales, technical support, customer support, maintenance services, etc.

8. Pricing: It can be regarded as one of the most important parts of marketing function. It is the price of a product that determines whether it will be successful or a failure. Some other factors are market demand, competition, price of competitors.

The company or business should understand clearly that bringing about frequent changes in the price of a product can lead to confusion in the minds of consumers.

9. Promotion: Promotion is the process of making the customers aware of the product by presenting it to customers across various channels of promotion and entice them to buy the product.

The major channels of promotion are: advertising, media, personal selling and promotion (publicity). An ideal promotion mix will be a combination of all or some methods.

10. Distribution: Distribution refers to the movement of consumer goods to the point of consumption. A company must ensure that the correct channel of distribution is selected for the product.

The mode of distribution is dependent on the factors such as shelf life, market concentration and capital requirements. Proper management of inventory is also essential.

11. Transportation: Transportation is defined as the physical movement of goods from one place to another. In other words, it is the movement of goods from the place of production to the place of consumption.

Also, the correct mode of transportation can be selected based on the geographical boundaries of the market.

12. Warehousing: Warehousing of products creates time utility. It is often seen that there is a gap between the time a product is produced and the time when it is consumed. Companies like to maintain the smooth flow of goods even when the products are of seasonal nature. Warehousing and storing provides the opportunity to provide goods during off season also.

This concludes the article on the topic of Functions of Marketing, which is an important topic for Commerce students. For more such interesting articles, stay tuned to BYJU’S.

Important Topics for Commerce Students:

  • What is GAAP?
  • Purchase Book Format
  • Significance of Fixed Assets
  • Characteristics of Tangible Assets
  • Types of Intangible Assets

What is the main function of marketing?

The 7 functions of marketing are promotion, selling, product/service management, marketing information management, pricing, financing and distribution. Understanding the core functions of marketing can help you better focus your efforts and strategies to support your business.

What are the 5 marketing functions?

Functions of Marketing – Classified into 5 Groups: Research, Product, Distribution, Management and Sales Promotion.

What are the 4 types marketing?

The four Ps are a “marketing mix” comprised of four key elements—product, price, place, and promotion—used when marketing a product or service. Typically, businesses consider the four Ps when creating marketing plans and strategies to effectively market to their target audience.

What are the basic 4 P's of marketing?

The 4Ps of marketing is a model for enhancing the components of your "marketing mix" – the way in which you take a new product or service to market. It helps you to define your marketing options in terms of price, product, promotion, and place so that your offering meets a specific customer need or demand.