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Marketing is an essential part of business. What’s surprising is that many people aren’t completely sure of what it entails. People often associate marketing with advertising and promotion, but this isn’t always the case. Marketing itself is an umbrella that hosts various branches underneath its arch. So if you’re in the beginning stages of a business, or just need a refresher, we’re here to give you the marketing basics.

Photograph from OmniBeat.com

Marketing, in a very basic definition, is promoting and selling products or services. Marketing is involved in everything from making the product to promoting it. To break it down into very simple categories, look at the 4 P’s:

1. Product: What you’ve made, what you’re bringing to the market.
2. Price: The amount you’re charging for your product.
3. Place: Where your products are going to go in order to reach the customer, like stores and online shops.
4. Promotion: How to raise awareness about your product.

This, in a nutshell, is marketing. It’s involved in every part of your business, even when your business is just an idea. In a business, the point is not to sell what you can make, but make what you can sell.  So the first step is figuring out a product that you can sell and then establishing a competitive price for it.

To do this, you need to do market research. This means once you’ve figured out your product, you need to figure out who it go to. Ask yourself: Who would buy this product? Would you find this product in stores? If so, which ones?

When you’re bringing a product to the market, you also need to be aware of your niche.  In order to bring in sales and make your business profitable, you’ll need to be able to know your market and your customer.

Those are basically the first three P’s: Product, Price, and Place. Once you’ve decided those you move on to Promotion. This is can also include advertising. This is how you’re going to get people to see and hear about your product. There are so many ways to promote your business. First and foremost, especially in an age where everything is online, is social media. Not only is it FREE, but it connects to millions upon millions of people worldwide. Use them to talk about new products you have coming out and promote special sales and discounts. Check out some of these other articles we’ve written on social media:

• Building an Audience on Facebook
• 11 Easy Tips for Awesome Facebook Brand Pages
• Pinterest Power: Making Pinterest Work for Your Business
• Using Twitter and Facebook to Boost Traffic
• 15 Articles on Social Media for Beginners

There are a million ways to promote your business, doing special sales, email blasts, weekly newsletters, ads, etc. are great options. Promotion is where you get creative in getting your product on the market.

For more tips check out these articles:

Shameless: Ten Fabulous Free Ways to Market Brand You!

Marketing 101

What’s the best marketing tip you’ve ever received?

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