GOOD MARKETING IS ESSENTIAL FOR ANY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS
Lots of people are outstanding at creating or delivering goods and services; but they never seem to get the sales they hope for.
This is because people with outstanding marketing skills are few and far between!
Marketing makes clients or customers aware; opens a dialogue, convinces them to buy, then ensures delivery and satisfaction.
This course is studied by distance learning. It will help you to -
- Study marketing at your own pace and in your own home.
- Improve your knowledge of marketing
- Improve your job prospects
- Improve your knowledge and skills in marketing with this great course.
- Train on a broad basis to undertake anything from a narrow to very broad scope of activities within the realm of business operations, specific to marketing.
You can start the course at any time and work at your own pace.
Why Study the Course?
This is a great course to choose, if you want to not only learn about the subject now; but keep learning after you finish studying. We believe a good course should not only develop intelligence and knowledge; but also:
- Improve your ability to communicate with others within the discipline
- Develop problem solving skills relevant to this discipline
- Expand awareness and develop creativity
- Facilitate networking (develop contacts within an industry)
- Develop attributes that set you apart from others in your industry
- Motivate you, build confidence, and more
According to some authorities, success is actually only affected about 20% by your knowledge and intelligence.
Our school works at helping you in a holistic way, to develop all of the things mentioned above, in a way that relates to the discipline you are studying; and in this way, giving you the capacity
- to apply yourself to unanticipated problems
- to understand new information as it emerges
- to see and seize on new opportunities as they reveal themselves
- to continue to grow your abilities within your discipline as you progress through life after study.
In a world that is changing faster all the time; it is difficult to even be certain how this industry might change between the start of your course, and the time you finish studying.
With this in mind; any course that is to have long term value in today's world, must developbroad generic skills (as above). This approach to education is not unique to ACS, but it isan approach tested, proven and adopted in our courses; and an approach that is also usedby some of the most successful, cutting edge universities and colleges around the world.
Sample course notes - MARKETING SHOULD START WITH AN UNDERSTANDING OF ECONOMICS
A basic understanding of the laws that govern economic activity should be understood, and applied when considering any type of marketing.
Law of Demand
A fall in price usually causes an increase in demand, while a rise in price usually causes a decrease in demand. If a greater quantity of a particular good is put on the market, it will be sold at a lower price.
Example: An increased supply of smartphones in the market results in lower prices of the commodity and therefore more people are likely to buy the smartphones. If supply is reduced for any reason then the small quantity available on the market will fetch a greater price value which tends to reduce the overall demand by the people. If the price of smartphones is raised, usually due to limited supply, less smartphones will be purchased, but may give a higher total return to the manufacturer, especially if they are producing a product in higher demand.
Law of Substitution
Expenditure on different commodities is so distributed that the utilities obtained from the last unit of money spent in each form of consumption are equal.
The demand for luxuries is elastic and the demand for necessities is inelastic. Example: Where an item is low in availability (such as orchids), people may buy chrysanthemums as a substitute if they feel the two serve a similar purpose and therefore good substitutes. For a luxury item such as cashmere, the demand in the textile industry may be volatile (or elastic) whereas the demand for cotton (a more basic essential item) will be more stable (inelastic).
Law of Diminishing Return
As extra resources are put into production the successive extra units produced decrease. Example: It is well known that as you increase input into a farm you tend to obtain an increase in yield or productivity. Eventually a point is reached where an equilibrium exists that refers to input to equal yield. Surpassing that point with additional input (labour etc), may in fact result in a reduced return as yield is less than input. (i.e. If you put twice as much material and labour into producing something, you get less than twice as much product produced), and so reduce your profit due to increased costs.
Law of Diminished Marginal Utility
The more of anything you consume, the less satisfaction is obtained and in some cases the less of it you want. The first car you buy may be worth a lot to you in terms of satisfaction. The second car may still be worth a lot but the third and fourth may have lost its uniqueness and value in your eyes. This can have an effect on the car manufacturer as the 'worth' of the item to the customer may reduce if product is oversupplied. This is one of the important reasons to be early into the market with a new product or service.
How Significant is Competition to Marketing Success?
Competition exists when two or more businesses (or individuals) compete with each other to offer the best possible terms to a third party, in order to gain their business. Competition encourages the development of new products, services, and technologies and provides consumers with a greater selection of better quality goods at lower prices. When competition is removed the selection diminishes and prices often go up.
In extremely narrow or small markets competition can be destructive; the cost of production can exceed the sales price with excessive aggressive competition.
A competitive market:
- has a large number of buyers and sellers who are free to compete for the consumer’s dollar
- no single buyer or seller can control the market through individual actions
- buyers and sellers enter and leave the market at will
- the labour force competes for jobs with others within the market
- consumers freely compete with each other for goods and services
- competitive markets allow us to exercise our freedom of choice
Competition is often broken down into three classifications.
- Direct competition – competition between products that perform the same function i.e. one brand of potting mix competes with another very similar brand.
- Substitute competition – competition between products that are close substitutes for one another i.e. a power driven pedestrian rotary hoe vs. a small tractor with rotary attachment.
- Budget competition – when consumers have available funds to spend and may have one or more then one want, businesses then competes with each other to secure the spending.
Competition is often limited in many countries by government controls and competition laws and competition regulators. For example:
When there is a government owned monopoly – there may be a ban on competition from any other source.
Governments also restrict competition by offering protection to some producers i.e. farmers - through subsidies or tariffs.
Generally businesses are driven to improve individual competitiveness.
If you are interested in learning more about marketing, this could be the course for you.