Marketing is a way of conveying one’s message to others through advertising or promotions. In marketing, there are two main ways of doing things: selling and customer management. Selling is a primary component of marketing, while customer management is all about understanding the needs and requirements of the customers. Marketing is one part of the sales process that should be given priority over the other. For example, the marketing strategy for a small business will not include the distribution of products to the customers directly, rather, it will be done by means of the advertising and marketing agencies.

Marketing is a strategic process which has to be integrated with other system processes and activities such as research and development strategy, building and inventory management system, budgeting and financial planning, financial marketing strategy, human resource management, product development strategy, quality management system, planning and organizing and production planning and promotion system. Marketing activities should be planned, developed, controlled and monitored by a planning committee which should meet at least quarterly. Marketing is an integral part of any business and an essential element of its success. It helps in the creation of brand awareness, development of product quality, and leads to increase in sales.

Marketing research and analysis form an integral part of any marketing strategy. A well-planned marketing research program helps organizations to understand their target markets, competition and other factors which affect the marketing needs of the organizations. The marketing research program also includes collecting customer details, performing market research, analyzing the marketing activities of the competitors, evaluating the effectiveness of the advertising campaign, collecting data on target consumers, developing marketing strategy, etc. Marketing research requires a lot of time and patience and hence most companies do not embark upon it initially.