Written by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

Adapted from Field
Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation

“Marketing” — A Commonly Misunderstood Term

  Before you learn more about marketing, you should get a basic
impression of what marketing is. See What’s

"Advertising, Marketing, Promotion, Public Relations and
Publicity, and Sales?". Basically, you might look at
marketing as the wide range of activities involved in making sure
that you’re continuing to meet the needs of your customers and
are getting appropriate value in return. Think about marketing
as "inbound" and "outbound" marketing. (In
the following, consider "product" to be either a tangible
product or a service — nonprofits often refer to these as "programs".)

Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out:

1. What specific groups of potential customers/clients (markets)
   might have which specific needs (nonprofits often already have
   a very clear community need in mind when starting out with a
   new program — however, the emerging practice of nonprofit business
   development, or earned income development, often starts by researching
   a broad group of clients to identify new opportunities for programs)


2. How those needs might be met for each group (or target market),
   which suggests how a product might be designed to meet the need
   (nonprofits might think in terms of outcomes, or changes, to
   accomplish among the groups of clients in order to meet the needs)


3. How each of the target markets might choose to access the
   product, etc. (its "packaging")


4. How much the customers/clients might be willing pay and how
   (pricing analysis)


5. Who the competitors are (competitor analysis)
6. How to design and describe the product such that customers/clients
   will buy from the organization, rather than from its competitors
   (its unique value proposition)


7. How the product should be identified — its personality –
   to be most identifiable (its naming and branding)

Outbound Marketing Includes:

1. Advertising and promotions (focused on the product)


2. Sales
3. Public and media relations (focused on the entire organization)


4. Customer service


5. Customer satisfaction

  Too often, people jump right to the outbound marketing. As
a result, they often end up trying to push products onto people
who really don’t want the products at all. Effective inbound marketing
often results in much more effective — and less difficult –
outbound marketing and sales.

Sections of This Topic Include:

Basics and Planning

Basics of Marketing
Market Planning

Protecting Ownership of Your Products/Services
Intellectual Property

(Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, etc.)
 

  The following, miscellaneous information which may be helpful
as an overview of various aspects of business law in the United
States of America. Businesses requiring legal advice should contact
an attorney.

  Very simply put, copyrights are to protect ownership (authorship)
of written words, eg, in books, pamphlets, etc. Patents are to
protect ownership of processes or technologies. Trademarks are
to protect ownership of names, titles, slogans, images, etc.

Entered by Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

  It’s easy to become confused about these terms: advertising,
marketing, promotion, public relations and publicity, and sales.
The terms are often used interchangeably. However, they refer
to different — but similar activities. Some basic definitions
are provided below. A short example is also provided hopefully
to help make the terms more clear to the reader.

One Definition of Advertising

  Advertising is bringing a product (or service) to the attention
of potential and current customers. Advertising is focused on one particular product or service.
Thus, an advertising plan for one product might be very different than that for another product.
Advertising is typically done
with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail
messages, personal contact, etc.

One Definition of Promotion

  Promotion keeps the product in the minds of the customer and helps
stimulate demand for the product. Promotion involves ongoing advertising
and publicity (mention in the press). The ongoing activities of
advertising, sales and public relations are often considered aspects
of promotions.

One Definition of Marketing

  Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure
that you’re continuing to meet the needs of your customers and
getting value in return. Marketing is usually focused on one product or service.
Thus, a marketing plan for one product might be very different than that for another product.
Marketing activities include “inbound marketing,” such as market research
to find out, for example, what groups of potential customers exist,
what their needs are, which of those needs you can meet, how you
should meet them, etc. Inbound marketing also includes analyzing the competition,
positioning your new product or service (finding your market niche), and
pricing your products and services. “Outbound marketing” includes promoting a product through
continued advertising, promotions, public relations and sales.

One Definition of Public relations

  Public relations includes ongoing activities to ensure the overall company
has a strong public image. Public relations activities include
helping the public to understand the company and its products.
Often, public relations are conducted through the media, that
is, newspapers, television, magazines, etc. As noted above, public
relations is often considered as one of the primary activities
included in promotions.

One Definition of Publicity

  Publicity is mention in the media. Organizations usually
have little control over the message in the media, at least, not
as they do in advertising. Regarding publicity, reporters and
writers decide what will be said.

One Definition of Sales

  Sales involves most or many of the following activities,
including cultivating prospective buyers (or leads) in a market
segment; conveying the features, advantages and benefits of a
product or service to the lead; and closing the sale (or coming
to agreement on pricing and services). A sales plan for one product might be
very different than that for another product.

An Example of the Definitions

  The following example may help to make the above five
concepts more clear. I recently read that the story comes from
the Reader’s Digest, a quote found in "Promoting Issues
and Ideas" by M. Booth and Associates, Inc. (Thanks to Jennifer
M. Seher, participant in the CONSULTANTS@CHARITYCHANNEL.COM online
discussion group.)

"… if the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign
saying ‘Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday’, that’s advertising.
If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into
town, that’s promotion. If the elephant walks through the
mayor’s flower bed, that’s publicity. And if you get the
mayor to laugh about it, that’s public relations."

If the town’s citizens go the circus, you show them the many entertainment
booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the
booths, answer their questions and ultimately, they spend a lot
at the circus, that’s sales.