Marketing managers play a crucial role in helping a business to promote and sell its products to its customers. They can lead and influence the way a brand looks and feels in the market and marketing manager duties can cover the entire spectrum of how a company communicates. Discover expert tips on how to succeed as a marketing manager and what it takes to progress your career in this fast-paced industry.
Functions of Marketing Manager
1. Integrated Marketing
The marketing manager has to take decisions on the various elements of the marketing mix in an integrated way. For a customer does not purchase a product just because of its price or utility or appearance.
Thus the marketing manager has to integrate all the elements of the marketing mix in such a way that the consumer finds the final deal very attractive. While doing this he should try to reduce the cost of marketing the products and at the same time win the goodwill of the customers.
2. Determining Objectives
It is the function of the marketing manager to determine the marketing objectives of the company. The marketing objectives must be fixed keeping in mind the overall objectives of the firm.
Not only does he have to fix the marketing objectives, but he has to crystallize the product objective, pricing objectives, promotion objectives and physical distribution objectives. He has to integrate and direct all these objectives towards the overall marketing objectives.
3. Product Policy
The marketing manager must be very clear as to the type of customer who will use his product. He should be clear on whether his company wants to produce a single product or a line of products.
Thus his product policy objective must be consumer oriented and in keeping with the overall marketing objective.
4. Pricing Policy
It is the duty of the marketing manager to fix the pricing policy in keeping with the marketing and over all company policy. The pricing policy and product policy are interrelated.
The marketing executive should fix the price in such a way that it results in maximum profit for the company from the volume of sales secured at that particular price.
5. Distribution Strategy
The marketing manager has to decide upon the distribution strategy that he has to adopt. Does he want a limited distribution or a widespread distribution, will have to be decided and then he will have to organize for the channels of distribution and will have to select the channel accordingly.
6. Advertising and Sales Promotion
The marketing executive has to decide upon the advertising and sales promotion policy as well. He will have to decide whether the advertising will be done by a separate department in his organization or it would be better to entrust the work of advertising to the outside professionals, or to use a combination of both these methods.
7. Proper Planning
Planning is deciding in advance what is to be done. All companies carry out planning for the smooth functioning of its organisation. The marketing manager has to plan as to how the objectives that have been determined will be implemented. For proper planning the marketing manager has to carry out functions like marketing research, planning the sales policies, planning the long term marketing programme, planning for product diversification, etc.
8. Selling
The marketing manager has to perform the following functions in regard to selling: to direct the sales manger to regulate sales, to organize sales territories and fix sales quotas, to select and train personnel for the sales department, to motivate the sales personnel and to organize and develop the channels of distribution.
9. Service
After sales service is regarded as an integral part of modern marketing management. In fact in today’s competitive business world if a company has to survive, it has to be consumer oriented and has to take care to see maximum satisfaction is given to the customers. Thus a marketing manager must see to it that proper after sales services are given to the customers. Any complaints and problems of the customers are to be dealt with at once.