When we talk about marketing on the web, it is important to note that we still use the same models and methods as the real (off line) world.
The concept of marketing is at its essence one of the simplest ideas not to mention one of the most important marketing philosophies. The very core of this concept is customer satisfaction which states that the organization (the business) should always look to satisfying the customer's wants, the customer's needs while at the same time meeting the company's goal which is to create a profit. The major credo for this concept is "The Customer Rules". As simple as this is sounding, it helps to have an understanding how marketing has evolved through the centuries and how we can correlate this to marketing on the net.
There have been three basic philosophies/concepts over the centuries and they are "product", "selling" and "marketing". Each of these philosophies has had a particular time in its history when it was dominant, but the concepts did not die out, they instead evolved and merged with the other philosophies and are still actively used today by companies large and small.
Product philosophy was dominant prior to the industrial revolution (late 1800's- 1920's). To explain product philosophy we could use this definition "The Company (business) knows its product better than anyone". This did not lead to poor sales as some might think due mostly to the time period and the level of the technology of that time. Most products or goods were made by hand, the producing of the goods was slow and therefore the demand could not be met in most cases. The importance at that time was for a business was that very little marketing was required. It is fair to say that "Business was the king". The down side was that for the very same reasons of hand made and lack of technology, the demand always exceeded the supply. It is no wonder then a company did not have to consult with a customer on designing or producing their goods
.
The selling Philosophy was the shortest in dominance of the three philosophies. It became the leading concept around the 1930's to around the 1950's. The basic premise was that any business could sell any product or service it wanted.
The reason for the selling philosophy was the ever-rising number of goods available after the Industrial Revolution. Businesses became progressively more efficient in production, which increased the volume of goods. With the increased supply, competition also entered the picture. These two events eventually led to the end of product shortages and the creation of surpluses. It was because of the surpluses that companies turned to the use of advertising and personal selling to reduce their stocks and to sell their products. The selling philosophy also made it so that part of the business could keep its focus on the product through the product philosophy.
The main reason that the selling philosophy did not last long was that even though it was assumed that a well trained and motivated force could sell any product, it was easier to sell a product a customer wanted. When companies realized this fact, the selling philosophy gave way to the concept of marketing.
Now we come to the concept of marketing. The marketing philosophy simply says that a company should look to meeting the customer's needs and wants at the same time as meeting its goals. By understanding the needs of the customers, then designing the product for them, sales and profits are far more likely to occur. Some might argue
those customers can't always tell what they want, but through a variety of means such as surveys, focus groups etc. the marketing philosophy has been very successful and is considered a very beneficial marketing concept.
In the last year or so a new philosophy has been coming forward, which is a combination of all the concepts, but is leading the way to how Internet marketing is evolving.
Enter the world of relationship marketing using blogs as a way to create a presence. Relationship marketing can be defined as "- Marketing with the conscious aim to develop and manage long-term and/or trusting relationships with customers, distributors, suppliers, or other parties in the marketing environment. While big companies still have a big control over many of the markets, the everyday person can now learn how to use this form of relationship marketing to create a nice income on line, reminiscent of the "mom and pop" stores of the 50's.
