Marketing workshops spell out basics

Can anyone relate to this quote from John Wanamaker?

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

Actually, this quote is my favorite – Steuart Henderson Britt: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.”

Based on comments from our Greater North Augusta Chamber of Commerce members, I am sure that there are readers continually frustrated and perplexed with the how, when and where questions that arise when marketing and advertising conversations start.

Wanamaker was a very successful businessman, the owner of Wanamaker’s Department Store, which is believed to have been the first department store in Philadelphia. He is also considered the father of modern advertising, and, yes, he still had trouble grasping all the variables involved.

We struggle with the how, when and where, but the why is very simple. It is possible to have the best product or service in the world and have it priced perfectly, but if no one knows about it, it’s worthless.

As a business owner, one must know what the customer wants and how to connect with these customers.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.”

This is the most concise, comprehensive definition of marketing that I have found, but what does it mean? Read the definition again. Nowhere in the definition does it mention advertising, ad placement or ad design. Very often people use the terms “advertising” and “marketing” interchangeably, when in fact, advertising is only one aspect of marketing. Other components include market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy and community involvement.

I did find another definition of marketing — it is the process of determining that there is a group of potential customers who have a specific need or want, developing a strategy to effectively reach these potential customers and convincing them that a particular product or service will best fill their need at the best price and is the most convenient. Oh, yeah, all of this must be done while maintaining a sustainable profit. That’s a mouthful, and tends to be very overwhelming.

With this in mind, we have asked several chamber members with years of actual marketing experience to create a series of workshops that will cover all the marketing basics, from the research questions that need to be answered to ways to track a successful campaign.

The format will follow the primary topics included in a formal marketing plan and will allow members to put together a basic marketing plan for their businesses. As always, there will be plenty of time to cover specific questions.

These workshops will begin in July, and we will provide more information as the individual classes take shape. Please contact the chamber at (803) 279-2323 if you have any specific requests or suggestions.

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