Bring your “A” game: How to improve your marketing management

There are several theories and concepts that can help you understand the basics of managing marketing activities, but a new way to understand the marketing management process is to think about it using As. Here’s how.

The As Model

This simple model can help with the understanding of the basic elements of the marketing management process, and identifies the importance of the customer and how a manager should be customer-centric with the planning of marketing-related activities.

This is shown in the diagram:

In this diagram, the customer, or the target audience, is at the centre of marketer’s focus. Placing customers at the centre of your marketing plans involves understanding the customer, creating a product/service to satisfy their needs, communicating how your offering will satisfy their needs, and delivering it to the customer effectively.

In this process of understanding the customer, the marketer must manage the marketing process by firstly setting the aims (strategy formation/planning) and allocate the resources (identifying activities/tactics/budgeting) to undertake the action plan (implementation), and then do an audit (research/monitor) to see if the original aims were met. The results of the audit will then help set the aims for the next campaign period.

This presents a circular flowing model that can help managers understand the process of what they should be doing strategically to market to their target audience.

Identifying A’s in the marketing management model

1. Audience

   The customer or the target audience is at the centre of marketer’s focus

2. Aims

   Setting out the objectives or goals for strategy formation/planning

3. Allocate

   Distribute the resources by identifying activities/tactics and budget to undertake the plan

4. Action

   The process of implementing the plan

5. Audit

   Conducting some research to monitor if the aims were met

6. Affects

   The factors in the society or the marketing environment which have an influence on the planned marketing activities

Affecting factors

Of course, the management of marketing activities is not this easy, as businesses are operating in the real world where there are lots of disruptions and changes in doing business daily.

While developing a marketing strategy, there are many issues in the society, or the general marketing environment, like competitors, changing technology, economic downturns, even COVID-19 lockdowns/re-openings, which affects the planned marketing activities. Therefore marketers must be aware of these when setting aims or allocating resources and funding to the planned, controllable activities.

These will then be implemented in the action plan, and monitored by an audit of the results to see if they achieved the aims, despite the changing marketplace.

Important in the marketing process is the way the planned marketing strategy aims determine the tactics that turns it into reality when implemented and then checked to see if they achieved the aims.

Kicking As!

Next time you are planning your marketing activities one way to look at it is by trying to bring your A game to your marketing activities — and the you can kick As!