The core functions of marketing are very important to help the marketer focus on the strategies to enhance the business. It becomes easier to calculate the ROI and relevant KPIs if the marketer knows what the marketing department is expected to deliver. So in this blog, CloudVandana is digging into the 7 functions of marketing and describing the way how they align with overarching business objectives.

Following are the 7 key functions of marketing.

Promotion
Selling
Product Management
Marketing information management
Pricing
Financing
Distribution

1. Promotion

Promotion stays at the top of the marketing strategy. Building brand awareness and raising the company profile are major priorities for every marketing department. Promotional strategies sometimes overlap with other awareness-building activities, such as advertising and public relations. So marketers need to plan the promotional campaign in a proper way. Promotional events include everything from content marketing and email marketing to social media and influencer marketing. So promotion is the most essential component of the marketing mix.

2. Selling

The main target of selling is to push the target audience through the sales funnel and make them customers offering products r services. Marketers can reach out to the target audience by delivering quality content or product demonstrations that will attract the audience. Marketers’ ultimate goal is to increase sales and enhance business. Marketers need to nurture the leads throughout the sales process whether it is consumers or B2B prospects.

3. Product Management

Product management is an organizational function within a company dealing with new product development, business justification, planning, verification, forecasting, pricing, product launch, and marketing of a product or products at all stages of the product lifecycle. Designing a new product that better meets customer needs and fills a gap in the marketplace doesn’t happen by coincidence or sheer luck. Marketing teams may identify new growth opportunities while speaking with prospects, running competitor analysis, and incorporating feedback from customer support services into marketing strategies.

4. Marketing Information Management

Strategic marketing is generally data-driven. The more information a marketer can gather about the target customer, competitors, and market trends, the more successful the marketing efforts will be. One of the core functions of marketing is to collect valuable data and share it with other departments that might find it useful. The sales team can always use more in-depth marketing insights to help them refine their pitches.

5. Pricing

Marketing research also informs the marketer how brands set the price of a product. Brands need to set effective pricing that balances how customers value the goods or services with the cost of production and delivery as well as accounting for the current price of competing products. Marketing research sheds light on a brand’s reputation and helps you better understand the amount of value the target audience pays to the brand.

6. Financing

Financing is the less-discussed function of marketing, but they are very important for business. Financing may not seem like a serious concern for the marketing team, but gradually marketers need to think about this matter. If the marketing department can’t secure a space in the budget to fully support the next marketing campaign, the ROI calculation will be difficult in the future. A marketing campaign program that gets the most value out of available resources and applies the right strategies to engage and nurture qualified leads, can show undeniable ROI.

7. Distribution

Distribution is the final step of any marketing effort. Distribution is segmented into two categories.

Physical Distribution
Digital distribution

So, where to sell the products or services and how to get them into customers’ hands is another important planning of marketing. Marketers need to be aligned whenever a new product, promotion, or campaign is launched so companies can have all of their distribution ducks in a row.

So, we can see that marketing touches every part of any business. The insights gathered from the marketing efforts can inform and improve any number of day-to-day operations while guiding long-term strategic decision-making.