Marketing and sales

No matter how great your product or service is, the recipe for success includes several other components, such as the branding and marketing plan, and content creation, copywriting and sales in order to accomplish the latter.

The word brand comes from the Old Northern word brandr, which stood for the burning of a trademark on a product or pet. The meaning of the word has not changed, but it has expanded – yes, the brand still signifies a visual identity, but contains more than just a logo. Essentially, a brand is a company’s business card. A brand is what makes a customer recognise, remember and ultimately buy or consume the product.

Creating a brand is not just about putting your logo and name on paper. Creating a strong brand requires thorough background work, getting to know the company and its customer base, explaining the goals, setting the narrative, and so on.

The marketing plan should be part of, or closely linked to, the business plan of each company, describing the origins and organisation of the company’s marketing. Marketing planning must go through a whole series of steps, from describing the mission and vision, analysing the internal and external environment, to preparing financial forecasts and risk analysis. Marketing plans are usually prepared for 3-5 years, but shorter plans can be made for marketing a specific product or service, for example. This is called a marketing tactic.

What makes advertising stand out and impossible to forget? Good text. And who writes good text? Copywriters! Originally the term ‘copywriter’ only stood for someone writing advertisements. Nowadays, you can almost equate the terms ‘copywriter’ and ‘content creator’. But not quite. A good copywriter has an understanding of the product or service being sold, knows the potential customers, has a wide range of knowledge and is a great creative writer. The goal of their work is to get customers to do something. The task of the content creator is to pass on information, explain, give reviews, etc. The job of the content creator can also be, for example, writing product descriptions and keeping them up to date.

Anyone who has ever had to sell something knows that sales is not a job for everyone. A good sales person is consistent, open, positive, empathetic and a great communicator. While a strong brand and a waterproof marketing plan will help sell your product or service, it is the salesperson who will eventually seal the deal. It can be difficult to find the right fit among sales experts, but they are out there for those who seek them.

The most important tool for marketing and sales staff is their professional knowledge and experience. Another important tool is a computer and, in some cases, professional software. Charisma and very good communication skills are also definitely important in sales work.