What is Marketing Process? 5 Steps of Marketing Process

Marketing Process Steps | There is a very popular five-step model of the marketing process for creating and capturing customer value. In the first four steps, companies work to understand consumers, create customer value, and build strong customer relationships.

In the final step, companies reap the rewards of creating superior customer value. By creating value for consumers, they in turn capture value from consumers in the form of sales, profits, and long-term customer equity. 

These steps are; 

1. Understanding The Marketplace And Customer Needs And Wants.
2. Designing A Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy.
3. Constructing an integrated marketing plan that delivers superior value.
4. Build Profitable Relationships.
5. Capturing Value From Customers.

What Is Marketing Process?

The marketing process, in simplest words, involves everything from need identification to customer satisfaction.

It also includes a different string of actions and reactions, while the ultimate goal is customer satisfaction.

Basically, the seller tries to satisfy the customers by offering value and capturing value from them as well.

Remember:  Marketing is a book, and advertising is just a chapter.

Marketing Process Steps

Step 1: Understanding the Marketplace and the Customer Needs and Wants

The process starts with the identification of customer needs. However, it can grow to identify their wants and demands as well. Now, this can be confusing for the readers because we have mentioned three different terms. That’s why we are going to differentiate all of them.

• Needs. It include all the basic necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, safety, self-expression, communication, transportation, and individual needs for knowledge.  As a marketer, you cannot create these needs; they are just basic ingredients of human markup.
• Wants. Wants are basically an advanced version of needs, but this time, it is the society or culture that shapes them. For instance, transportation is a need, but Suzuki Hayabusa or Mercedes Bens are wants.
• Demands. Demands are basically a reflection of peoples’ high buying power. When a company meets customers’ demands, it gives them pleasure rather than just satisfaction.

Here are some vital aspects that every marketer must consider at this stage;

• Understanding the local market/area/country/region.
• Identifying the interests of the target audience/potential customers.
• Evaluate how much people can spend on your product. i.e., their buying power.

Identifying the needs is simply not enough. As a marketer, you must know whether you would be able to produce an “affordable” product for your customers or not.

Step 2: Design a Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy

At this stage, a business needs to find answers to these two questions;

1. Which group of consumers should we target- identification of target market.
2. How can (or should) we satisfy the needs/wants of that group- by selecting a value proposition.

Apart from that, you need to identify the local market trends and the level of intensity of customers’ needs (how badly they want a solution).

Step 3: Choosing The Target Audience

It is simply impossible to satisfy everyone or all types of audiences. That means you have to divide the market into small segments and then choose the one you can target.

Of course, you can choose multiple market segments if you have the funds, workforce, and all other resources.

Selecting The Value Proposition

Once you decide your target audience and identify their needs/wants, the next thing on your agenda is how you can satisfy that specific need of that group of customers.

This is a stage where you can differentiate your brand in the market. Your value proposition includes the benefits and value you can provide to your customers.

There are different ways to position your brand in the market. For instance, you can go with the Production Concept and make your products highly affordable and available for your customers. Or, you can choose the Product Concept and offer unique and unprecedented features/benefits through your product.

Build an Integrated Marketing Program that Delivers Superior Values

As a marketer, you are now clear about your company’s marketing strategy’s outline. The next step for you is to build an integrated marketing plan that focuses on providing value to the customers. At this stage, you need to think about these aspects;

• Product specifications and their feasibility
• Budget
• Mediums of product promotion
• Room for product development/improvement in future
• Price

Basically, we are talking about a company’s marketing mix. A marketing mix is a combination of different marketing tools that a business uses to practically implement its marketing strategies.

Remember, your marketing mix will have a decisive role in building strong relationships with your customer, delivering the customer’s expected value, and achieving your overall organizational goals.

Step 4: Build Profitable Relationships and Create Customer Equity

A marketing process is simply incomplete without building profitable relationships with your customers.

The word “profitable” means that you have to please your customers and make them buy your products or services again and again.

Yes, you must keep striving to acquire new customers as well, but it is important that you retain customers for the long term.

In simpler words, increasing customer equity should be the primary objective of any marketing mix.

The question is, how can you build this profitable relationship? Well, this is where customer relationship management comes in handy. Customer relationship management focuses on;

• Providing value to the customers.
• Helping customers in the pre-purchase stage.
• Offering after-sales services.
• Seeking regular feedback from customers.
• Urging customers to come up with suggestions and recommendations about your product.

Marketing Process Steps

Step 5: Capture Value from Customers to Create Profits

As we have already mentioned, the best way to capture value from customers is by creating customer equity.

A company’s loyal customers are directly proportional to the company’s customer equity. Most importantly, these loyal customers not only give you business (and ultimately profits), but they work as your marketing advocates to convert your potential customers into actual customers.

There is absolutely no doubt that marketers simply cannot build customer relationships or create customer value on their own.

It is only possible when they have a strong collaboration with other departments in the organization and make partnerships with external bodies.

That means marketers need to be good at customer relationship management as well as partner relationship management.

Marketing Process Steps

The Bottom Line

From all the discussion above, we can safely say that a marketing process focuses on three core elements, and they are

• Identifying the needs or wants of your target audience/potential customers.
• Developing an effective and feasible marketing strategy.
• Satisfying or pleasing your customers by offering value and creating profitable relationships with your customers.

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