Operational Marketing (Concept, Characteristics and Functions)

To talk about operational marketing It is necessary to refer first to the area where it is developed. In general, marketing is a very broad subject, there are planning activities, formulation of objectives, planning of strategies, implementation and execution of activities.

In this sense, the board of any company is in charge of determine the direction of the company, determine the objectives to be achieved and develop the strategy to achieve them.

The development of this planning Strategic is closely related to operational marketing, as detailed below.

Operational Marketing Concept

Operational marketing can be defined as a strategy to develop activities and actions aimed at selling a product. Its ultimate goal is to bring potential consumers all the information related to the goods or services that the company offers in the market.

The tactical marketing, as it is also known, uses theoretical work from strategic marketing as a guide to achieve business objectives. That is, it is not just about metrics and numbers, it goes even further.

With the development of actions and tactical activities of operational marketing, it is possible to meet the expected KPIs. That is, to comply with the performance that is aspired with respect to the effectiveness and productivity of the company. Know if the decisions that have been made have been effective and if the previously formulated marketing objectives have been met.

In this sense, operational marketing orients its activities to identify opportunities in the market, and without being long-term, review policies related to the product, such as the promotion and communication of the product and its differentiating characteristics, its distribution or its price.

Due to the time pressure with which it must act, so that operational marketing is efficient and meets the objectives, it is necessary that the decisions about the KPIs and timing on which it is based, and that the strategic marketing has previously established, are correct.

Characteristics of Operational Marketing

The most outstanding characteristics of operational marketing are:

• It depends on the strategic decisions previously dictated by strategic marketing, so both are directly related.
• He is partly responsible for the sales volume of the company.
• Its activity has an impact on the profitability of the business in the short term.
• Reduces the cost of both media and resources.
• It is aggressive, urgent and definitely visible.
• It is related to the advertising and with tools such as email marketing or mailing.

Functions of Operational Marketing

Some of the functions that operational marketing performs are:

• Develop commercial activities: this function is oriented to trade, they are strategies that consider the environment where the company, to be efficient and effective, they must be realistic, coordinated, planned and on time settled down.
• Manage marketing groups: This activity is in charge of coordinating the activities of the people who execute the commercial policies described above.
• Coordinate activities: are the activities that are planned and coordinated from the initial design to the distribution of the product in the market. Everything in the same integrating process is concatenated since it does not treat the actions as isolated links.
• Manage product attributes: this function is related to the perception projected by the product, its image, transmitted values. Likewise, other characteristics that determine in a sociological and psychological way how consumers will see the goods and products offered by the company in the market.
• Manage Products: is the function dedicated to attending to the variation in the tastes, interests and needs of consumers, due to changes in the market. For this, they adapt the policies related to the goods and services offered by the company, in regarding its maintenance, variety, modifications, as well as the development and promotion of new products