Prompt #1 Asking Questions and Breaking Assumptions

My preconceptions of the marketing field of business:

• Marketing is constantly changing due to the growth of technology
• Business working hours are 9-5 Monday-Friday
• Business workers are expected to dress professionally at all times
• Marketing gets put on the back burner in many businesses
• You need to invest if you want to grow
• Businesses believe they have enough marketing
• Small businesses don't think marketing is necessary
• Marketing only applies to gaining new customers

Thanks to the "Introduction of Marketing" (Palmer, Adrian. Introduction to Marketing. 3rd ed. N.p.: Oxford University Press, 2012. 1-576. Print.) I was able to learn more about the previous preconceptions I've had of the marketing field. Many of the preconceptions I had actually did turn out to be true. For starters, marketing is constantly changing. Technology grows every day which allows us to expand with it. Think about all the ads you now see on your computer every time you open it. Another truth, is that you need to invest if you want to grow. Marketing is a key to business growth. You need to invest in marketing and the media in order to keep your customer pool growing.

Some of my preconceptions of marketing happened to be false. Many marketing executives work hours extending beyond the typical 9-5 work days. As well, not all jobs require you to be dressed professionally. A lot of retail marketing jobs actually require you to dress based on the product they sell. The absolute worst misconception I had was that marketing only applies to gaining new customers. If a business wants to be successful it is equally important to put in effort to gaining new customers as it is to keep the old customers coming back.

A few preconceptions above are technically true, but that doesn't mean they should be. Marketing is usually the last thing many businesses want to invest in, however, it is the most important. In order to grow you need to gain new costumers, that's where marketing comes in. Businesses also believe that they've done enough marketing simply by putting out a few ads. Wrong. You can never have enough marketing, the more your name is out there, the more people will remember it. Last but definitely not least, small businesses don't think marketing is necessary. As the daughter of a small business owner, I know from experience that if you want that business to succeed you need to help it grow. If you market your business correctly it can grow rapidly.

Marketing may seem small in the huge field of business but it plays an even larger role in its success.

By: Sydney Smith