Marketing For Dummies

Most business owners think of marketing as handing out 5000 flyers. Marketing actually consists of a chain of components, each having a specific goal, and market. It can be used on its own but keeping the chain complete will ensure a successful marketing campaign.

When I intensively started researching marketing I came across this simple description of the marketing chain and each component. Marketing can be described as follow:

• If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying ‘Circus coming to the Fairground Saturday’ – that’s ADVERTISING.
• If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town – that’s PROMOTION.
• If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed – that’s PUBLICITY.
• If you get the mayor to laugh about it – that’s PUBLIC RELATIONS.
• If the town’s citizens go to the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus – that’s SALES.
• AND, if you planned the whole thing – that’s MARKETING!

Make sure marketing is a core part of your business if you want to stay in business!

Source: Entrepreneur Magazine, South Africa – Smart Business Solutions (Pty) Ltd