Introduction to Marketing

Introduction to Marketing explores the cornerstone concepts that influence a

customers’ buying habits. The course describes how broadband companies aim to

understand consumers, develop marketing strategies, conduct research, and analyze

information to target and sell to key market segments. The curriculum combines

textbook principles, online exercises, industry-specific case studies, and real-life

situations to show how to translate marketing theory to everyday business. Some

of the topics covered include: creating marketing for new products, implementing

pricing strategies, handling distribution channels, forming integrated marketing

communications with advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal

selling, and direct marketing.

Delivery Options

Learning is a combination of online and textbook activities.

Completion Time

The estimated completion time for this course is 32 hours. The maximum allotted time is four months from enrollment.

Additional Course Information

Benefits

Upon completing students will:

earn three hours of college credit
receive an industry-recognized NCTI certificate of graduation

Objectives

Upon completing this course, students will be able to:

Define marketing and outline the steps in the marketing process
Explain marketing’s role in strategic planning and how marketing works with its partners to create and deliver customer value
describe the environmental forces that affect the company’s ability to serve its customers
explain the importance of information in gaining insights about the marketplace and customers
understand the consumer market and the major factors that influence consumer buyer behavior
define the major steps in designing a customer value-driven marketing strategy: market segmentation, targeting, differentiation, and positioning
define product and describe the major classifications of products and service
explain how companies find and develop new product ideas
identify the three major pricing strategies and discuss the importance of understanding customer-value perceptions, company costs, and competitor strategies when setting prices
explain why companies use marketing channels and discuss the functions these channels perform
explain the role of retailers and wholesalers in the distribution channel and describe the major types of retailers
discuss the changing communications landscape and the need for integrated marketing communications
discuss the role of a company’s salespeople in creating value for customers and building customer relationships
define direct and digital marketing and discuss their rapid growth and benefits to customers and companies
discuss how the international trade system and the economic, political-legal, and cultural environments affect a company’s international marketing decisions

Outline

Marketing: Creating Customer Value and Engagement

What is marketing, understanding the marketplace and customer needs, designing a customer value-driven marketing strategy, preparing an integrated marketing plan and program, engaging customers and managing customer relationships, capturing value from customers, the changing marketing landscape

Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Engagement, Value, and Relationships

Company-wide strategic planning: defining marketing's role, planning marketing: partnering to build customer relationships, marketing strategy and the marketing mix, managing the marketing effort, measuring and managing marketing return on investment

Analyzing the Marketing Environment

The microenvironment, the macroenvironment, responding to the marketing environment

Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights

Marketing information and customer insights, assessing marketing information needs, developing marketing information, marketing research and analyzing and using marketing information

Understanding Consumer and Business Buyer Behavior

Consumer markets and consumer buyer behavior, the buyer decision process, the buyer decision process for new products and business markets and business buyer behavior

Customer Value-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers

Market segmentation and differentiation and positioning

Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value

What is a product, product and service decisions, services marketing and branding strategy: building strong brands

Developing New Products and Managing the Product Life Cycle

New product development strategy and process, managing new product development, product life-cycle strategies and additional product and service considerations

Pricing: Understanding and Capturing Customer Value

What is a price?, major pricing strategies, internal and external considerations affecting price decisions, new product pricing strategies, product mix pricing strategies, price adjustment strategies, price changes and public policy and pricing

Marketing Channels: Delivering Customer Value

Supply chains and the value delivery network, the nature and importance of marketing channels, channel behavior and organization, channel design decisions, public policy and distribution decisions and marketing logistics and supply chain management

Retailing and Wholesaling

Retailing and wholesaling

Engaging Consumers and Communicating Customer Value: Advertising and Public Relations

The promotion mix, integrated marketing communications, advertising and public relations

Personal Selling and Sales Promotion

Personal selling, managing the sales force, social selling: online, mobile, and social media tools, the personal selling process and sales promotion

Direct, Online, Social Media, and Mobile Marketing

Forms of direct and digital marketing, digital and social media marketing, traditional direct marketing forms and public policy issues in direct and digital marketing

The Global Marketplace

Global marketing today, looking at the global marketing environment, deciding whether to go global, deciding which markets to enter, deciding how to enter the market and deciding on the global marketing program and organization

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