The 7 Fundamentals of Marketing Every Entrepreneur Should Know

As an entrepreneur, you will have to square with the fact that somehow you’ll need to notify the unassuming public about your great offering.

Whether by word of mouth, placing an ad in a local paper, or shining up your website, you’ll need to market the business.

Marketing is how you get in front of your customers. It’s what turns your dream into dollar signs and mere wishes for clients into actual, paying customers.

I often meet people who say “My business doesn’t need much marketing” or “I just need to cook good food and customers will come,” etc.

That is–sorry to break it to you– a delusion. Effective marketing is the crucial soil in which every business needs to grow.

You might say, “Charmaine, I don’t have a large budget. I can’t afford a marketing department.”

That’s alright too! These days, you can learn anything, at least the basics.

Today, I’ll share the fundamentals of marketing to help you up your entrepreneurial journey.

The 7 Fundamentals of Marketing

• Product
• Price
• Place
• Promotion 
• People
• Process
• Physical (or digital) evidence.

Bummer, unlike what you may have been thinking, marketing is more than adverts and campaigns… those are just a small part of marketing.

1. Product:

If your product is bad, no matter the campaigns or ads you run, you’ll just negative publicity once your customers find out.

You don’t want bad reviews and complaints popping out when someone tries to find out about your business. 

Apart from product quality, there are other things to consider like product market fit, branding, differentiation, life cycle, etc.

I talk more about it here.

2. Price:

Beyond just attaching a value to your product(s), price affects a lot of important business factors.

Your revenue, profitability, value, and even scalability are affected by your pricing strategy. 

Price determines if potential customers should try you out. Value your product too low, and you’ll gain suspicions; value your product too high, and you’ll arouse contempt.

It’s beneficial to stay competitive or even reduce pricing as a new business, but it’s important not to undervalue your products.

There’s an article that explains how price affects your marketing here.

3. Place:

Let’s get rid of the ambiguity first, shall we? 

The “place” in this context means “distribution”, how your products reach your target market.

If you own an eatery, bakery, or restaurant, then your ideal place would be: 

• easily accessible physical outlets
• good delivery service
• good website for online reach and orders
• Participation in local events. 

A consultancy? Your ideal place would be:

• Website
• Social media
• Email (marketing)
• Speaking engagements/webinars.

If you own a fully digital business, your ideal place would be:

• A good website
• Social media
• Emails
• Content

4. Promotion:

In some way, promotion feels the same as place. 

Let me clarify: place is how your product reaches your customers; promotion is how your target customers learn about your product.

Now, this is the marketing you’re all familiar with. The;

• Ads
• Public Relations (more commonly known as PR)
• Sales promotions
• Influencer marketing
• SEM (SEO and PPC)
• Referral programs 
• Content marketing 
• Social media marketing 
• Email marketing.

These are all familiar terms, but if you want to know more about them, follow my Facebook page “A Mostly Stay-at-Home Mom” to get updates when I post more on promoting your business.

5. People:

Business people will tell you the only important people in a business are the customers. I beg to differ.

You, the business owner, your staff, your delivery channels, and your customers are important for good marketing.

I’ll explain it using 3 scenarios;

A. Physical Store/Restaurant owner: A customer walks in to place an order, having likely had a bad day and wanting to be done with it. Your salesperson cheerfully greets them with a smile, swiftly attends to their needs without unnecessary conversation or delays, and politely sends them off. This customer is more likely to return when they need the same product because your salesperson was nice and didn’t waste their time.

B. Online Retail: A customer finds your website, likes a product, and makes a payment. They receive a tracking number but are not tech-savvy, so they reach out to your chat support with inquiries. The customer support representative is nice, straightforward, and reassuring. The customer feels reassured, and true to their word, the product arrives on time and in good condition. You’ve gained a loyal customer who will likely promote your business for free.

C. A Consultancy: A customer reaches out online, and as usual, the team is polite and professional, attending to each customer without overindulging them. They receive high-quality service, and you gain a loyal customer and free referrals.

That explained how internal people (staff, team, delivery people) are important.

Now for customers, there’s a reason why KYC is such a big deal. No, I’m not telling you to pull data about your customers or target audience. 

Far from that, it’s good to understand your customers. 

Do you run a restaurant downtown? Find out what kind of meals are more appreciated there. You don’t want to serve apples and pawpaw when the majority of downtown folk love berries and bananas.

Do you want to run a digital store? Sell something with demand, something “people” actually want. 

An agency or consultancy? Well, you get it.

6. Process:

View this from a consumer’s perspective, as we’re all consumers in some form, aren’t we?

Among thousands of businesses, there are those you patronize for your various needs. Ask yourself why. What sets them apart?

You could walk into a district with two car dealerships and pick one over the other without second thoughts. Similarly, you may choose to go to a bakery three streets away rather than the one next to you. Why?

I’ll tell you why—it’s all in the process. It’s about the quality of service, reassurance, peace of mind, taste (for edibles), speed, consistency, delivery, and more.

You may not be the best in your field, but if you set yourself apart with your process, you’re bound to have customers who will return repeatedly simply because your process gives them peace of mind.

The process allows you to brand yourself and set yourself apart. It’s the same reason why you may choose to walk into a bag store and purchase a more expensive Gucci bag over a stylish but cheaper alternative beside it.

You’ve heard about the Gucci quality and their meticulous process assures you of that quality, even if their bag comes at a higher price.

7. Physical (or Digital) Evidence:

If there’s no evidence, then who will know about your beautiful process?

Who will know about previously satisfied consumers?

You see, there’s a trend I’ve noticed on Instagram (I’m not sure if it’s new or not). Interior design businesses post before-and-after videos of houses they’ve transformed. 

The result? The comment section fills up with inquiries about their service prices and people expressing interest in having their homes done the same way.

Maybe your business structure won’t allow you to do the same, and that’s perfectly fine. Here are some other ways you can showcase evidence;

Packaging:

If your product or service is aimed at wealthy customers, consider using luxurious packaging for products, and offering free additional services if you run a service-based business.

Store impression:

If you have a physical outlet, ensure it gives customers a clear impression of what your store offers. 

For example, if you run an eatery, use showcases to display your tasty dishes and arrange tables and chairs to create a cozy atmosphere. If you sell home decor, neatly arrange your products to showcase your expertise in interior decorating.

Customer Reviews and Testimonials:

I know it’s very easy to do this, but please don’t put fake reviews on your website or social media. 

It’s very easy to recognize, you can use Yelp or a Google business profile to get authentic reviews.

These reviews will act as votes of confidence, helping you persuade your target audience to give you a try.

Conclusion

If you noticed, I avoided using complex terms because here, I focused on sharing the fundamentals of marketing, especially for small business owners with limited budgets.

I hope you found this helpful and informative. If you did, check out this article where I shared some resources to ease the difficulties of owning a business.

You could also listen in on my podcast, A (Mostly) Stay-at-Home Mom, where I share weekly tips for busy moms earning or looking to earn a side income. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!