The most important aspect of marketing today is to develop a customer base that is loyal to your establishment and to be able to inexpensively advertise and market to the greatest amount of people for the least amount of cost.

Americlean® provides you with an abundance of marketing and advertising information, materials and assistance. It is important to understand how marketing works so that you may take full advantage of its benefits.

What is Marketing?

Everyone has an opinion about what "marketing" is. Some think that it's "advertising." Others think that it's "sales." The truth is that marketing is much more than selling and advertising. The simple truth is that marketing is the process of finding and keeping customers- and is the precursor that both advertising and sales use to maximize their results. Is that partly advertising? Yes! Is that partly sales? Yes! But those two elements are just the tip of the iceberg--there's a whole lot more to marketing!

Marketing is a process involving a mix of variables: the product and/or service that you are offering, the pricing of those goods and services, the promotion to gain acceptance by customers, and the place you showcase your product(s) to your customers. The 4 P's are called the marketing mix, and your customers should be the target of all those marketing efforts.

For a more detailed definition of the marketing mix, look at it from a strategic, decision-making point of view. It is time you thought about these elements for your new business.

Product/Service	Pricing	Promotion	Place (showcase)
Variety	List Price	Sales Promotion	Locations
Quality	Discounts	Advertising	Television
Design	Free Incentives	Sales	Web
Test & Tweak
Branding	Up sells	Rewards/Loyalty	Newspaper
Features	Variances	Direct Marketing	Magazine
Consumer/Business		Surveys	Representatives
Warranties		Focus Groups	Radio

Why is all of this important? Marketing, done professionally, can effectively set the course of action (the foundation & strategy) on which to build your business in the manner you want it done.

Below is an abbreviated, time tested, outline as to how large consumer goods companies proceed with their marketing efforts - which can greatly benefit any company that has entered the consumer sales field of battle.

Step What It Takes To Do It Right for Your Business

1. Identify your goals, needs and desires, being as specific as possible.

2. Perform research (current and potential customers) to learn what they need, like and want.

3. Research your competition and define any external factors of influence in the market.

4. Develop a "situation analysis" highlighting your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This includes an analysis of your organization's resources to achieve these goals (needs & gap analysis).

5. Develop the positioning of your products and/or service: why should the customer buy from you as opposed to your competition? What is your unique marketing proposition?

6. Write a detailed, realistic marketing plan that takes into account the research performed, your specific goals and the available resources of the organization to accomplish those goals.

7. Issue a timetable of specific action steps: who will do what when to achieve the goals.

8. Execute the marketing plan and action steps.

9. Follow - up at regular, specific intervals by testing and taking corrective action as necessary.

The steps are universal, but the execution is individual.