Tell anyone you work in marketing and they’ll invariably say something like, ‘What does that involve then?’ It’s one of those terms we’re all familiar with, without necessarily knowing what it means. Over the years, we’ve had all sorts of people ask us what marketing means. Fellow attendees at networking events. Strangers in the pub. Even our director Frances’ young children…

You may be surprised to hear that plenty of business owners aren’t quite sure what marketing means either. They know it’s important. They know they have to do it. But they perhaps aren’t sure what the ‘doing’ bit involves.

The bog standard definition of marketing
Marketing can be defined as: the action of promoting or selling products or services. That, in its simplest form, is it.

In practice, it’s a little more complicated than that. After all, marketing isn’t about spamming anyone and everyone with adverts (an expensive way to go about marketing if ever we saw one!) Good marketing is more of an artform than the basic definition would have you believe.

The razzle dazzle definition of marketing
At OCTOPUS, we prefer to define marketing as: promoting your product or service at the right price to the right people in the right place.

That’s a lot of Ps, isn’t it? Well, those five little Ps are critical. You have to get all of them right if you want to successfully sell your wares and, ultimately, grow your business.

The 5Ps in more detail
As they’re so important, let’s break those 5 Ps down a little more:

• Promote: This is all about communicating effectively with your audience, both online and offline, through channels such as social media, email marketing, and so on.
• Product (or service): Essentially, what is it you’re trying to sell, and why should the customer buy it?
• Price: This is a balancing act between what’s profitable for your business and what the customer is willing to pay.
• People: Who exactly are you targeting with your product or service?
• Place: And finally, how (or where) does your product or service meet the customer? Is it a digital product, or are you reliant on third-party retailers? Perhaps your service is delivered in person (for example, if you’re a consultancy business).

At OCTOPUS, we work with businesses big and small to define, drive and deliver their five Ps of marketing. If you’d like to know more about what’s involved – or if you think your marketing could use a little more razzle dazzle this year – drop us a line.