For those of who are new to marketing, here is the marketing fundamentals in a couple of simple points. Make no mistake, marketing is a vast field and there are plenty of educated scholars and experienced practitioners. However, as a student, small business owner or even a marketing manager, these guiding principles should be carefully thought about before spending a marketing budget or creating a marketing department.

That said, what is marketing? It is “the activity of exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society” according to the Marketing Society of America. Of course many experienced marketeers know that already but it’s always good to repeat. Ironically repetition is a great marketing tactic.

Marketing can make or break a business. With the right campaigns and advertisements, a business can experience ten folds in profit when rolled out correctly to the right demographic at the right time and in the right conditions. I’d like to compare marketers to leprechauns. The talented ones can really spin gold…

The number one responsibility of a marketer in any business is to generate leads. These leads can be converted into a number of opportunities that will benefit the business such as customers, sponsorships, and partnerships. In order to entice prospects and customers, companies now pay really close attention to who they are and their needs. But first…

Who are they? Where are they?

Who are these people a marketer would like to engage with? The target demographic of a company can be as wide as Coca-Cola whom does not really have a target market although advertisements are generally geared towards the younger crowd. It can also be as narrow as Lululemon’s women and youth females that have a fitness interest. So let’s go one step ahead and create a fictitious character that we will be marketing to. They can be the cornerstone to whom to provide services and products to.

Meet my ideal business prospect. Yes, he has a name.

Jack, age 32, is very interested and loves making milkshakes. He is proudly engaged to his fiancee and has a small business of making them in his local market in Sydney. Proving successful he is now ready to open a store hoping to grow a steady business from his local regulars.

Evidently, my target demographic for my marketing services is small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) that will have a budget for marketing services or consultation.
Now that we’ve identified our target demographic we can now start thinking about how we will engage them.

Here is a step by step guide to Defining Your Market by Entrepreneur.com

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