Marketing is a very broad term and is not confined to brick and mortar marketing alone. Marketing refers to the whole process an organisation undertakes in order to engage its clientele, create awareness so as to create demand for the products or services that an organisation provides, build brand awareness so as to create demand for a particular product or service and ultimately capture enough market share to make a company profitable. There are many forms of marketing that an organisation can engage in. These include advertising and branding through TV, radio, print and internet marketing. Some companies have also started outsourcing their marketing campaigns to agencies that specialise in specific niches.
One of the more interesting sub-specialties of marketing is what is known as social marketing management. Social marketing focuses on creating marketing strategies which integrate various facets of public relations and selling. For example, there are marketing concepts which involve building awareness about a product or service by utilising the power of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Alternatively, there are marketing concepts which relate to selling directly to the public, such as through a catalogue or by using press releases and testimonials from existing clients and customers. Other sub-specialties of marketing management include healthcare marketing, market research, non-profits marketing, government marketing and product pricing/discounting.
Another interesting concept is marketing research. Marketing research deals with gathering information about potential customers, including age, gender, purchasing preferences, location, language used, household income, buying history and other factors. The information that is gathered from this research then allows marketers to develop and implement strategies based upon this information, which aim to reach their consumer. Marketing research is also important for businesses looking to expand their market base as it is often estimated that up to 75% of potential consumers do not even know how to use a computer or go online. For this reason, marketing research encompasses search engine optimization, paid search marketing, ecommerce marketing and other methods of attracting consumers.