Marketing management is the art to advertise the products and services ultimately spreading the words in such a way that the customers are accustomed to the products and they are convinced to buy the products. There are several factors that affect the effectiveness of a marketing campaign as well as the firm’s functioning. These factors come under the marketing environment. In general, marketing environment includes various factors that affect the firm’s operations internally as well as externally and restrict the firm to serve or maintain a healthy relationship with targeted customers.
1. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Internal environment consists of the internal factors of the firm affecting the marketing environment such as employees, assets (like plant and machinery), products served, policies, as well as the structure of the organisation. Such factors are easily controllable by the firm.
2. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
The factors that affect the firm externally and which are uncontrollable especially when preparing the marketing strategies come under the external environment. The external environment is further divided into two parts:
a) Micro Environment
The factors which affect the decision making and the firm’s performance fall under the microenvironment. Listed below are the factors under the microenvironment which affect the marketing:
- Customers
Customers are at the heart of an organization. Without the customers, marketing strategies will remain incomplete since they play quite an imperative role in b2b as well as in b2c trade. The customers define the reasons why they should procure the products and how the product serves their wants.
- Competition
There are various competitors in the market that sell homogeneous products. The marketing strategy of the company is prepared after understanding how the customers approach the competitors or they approach their customers, at what price do they vend the product and any product differentiation if present.
- Suppliers
Suppliers are quite important for any organisation because they provide the firm with the required goods. The firm’s success depends upon the quality of goods. Both the quality and quantity of goods is the key to the success of the firm that is provided by the supplier and the supplier’s power depends upon his reputation in the market.
b) Macro Environment
The demographic, technological or physical factors or forces which affect the decision making and the firm’s performance fall under macro environment. Listed below are the factors under microenvironment which affect the marketing environment:
- Demographic Factors
Marketing strategies are affected by various demographic factors such as country, lifestyle, ethnicity, didactic levels. It is mainly dependent on the nature and volume of the population, per capita income of the people as well as the migration of the people in urban areas.
- Technology Factors
Gradually, enhanced technology is changing the business environment. People are becoming more addicted to the internet and are adopting online businesses. Since competition is growing, the main challenge for a company isto stop selling obsolete products and continuously bringing novelty in their technology.
- Political Environment
The political environment is bringing changes as more and more companies are leaving behind the socialistic system and going after the market-based system. However, before starting its business in a particular country, a company must clearly investigate its tax policy, competition policy as well as speculation policy to continue its successful and uninterrupted run.
Closing Notes
So, these were the factors that the marketing manager must consider before formulating any marketing strategy. At MIT School of Distance Education (MIT-SDE), we train our students to create effective marketing strategies by considering all the essential factors that are a part of the marketing environment. We offer Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) course in Marketing Management whereby the managerial skills and knowledge of candidates is enhanced so that they can immediately get absorbed in the industry after the completion of course. So, what are you waiting for? Enhance your employability skills with MIT-SDE’s distance learning course.
