Sales and marketing

What is marketing?

People talk about the marketing mix. This consists of (= it is formed from and includes):

choosing the right product (= what a company produces/makes or offers)

selling it at the right price (= what it costs to the buyer/consumer)

using the right kind of promotion (= the ways to make the product popular and well-known; this includes advertising.)

making it available in the right place (= where you sell the product and how it reaches the consumer; also known as distribution)

This 'mix' is often referred to as the four Ps, and marketing people have the job of matching these things to the needs of consumers (= the people who buy and use products). People who buy the products of a particular company are that company's customers/clients.

'Sales' and 'market'

There are a number of words which combine with sales and market to form compound nouns and word partnerships which are very common in marketing.

sales figures: the amount you have sold

sales target: the amount you would like to sell in a future period

sales forecast: the amount you think you will sell in a future period, e.g. next year

sales representative: a person who sells a company's products; abbreviated to sales rep

sales/marketing manager: the person who runs the sales/marketing department

market research: collecting and studying information about what people want and need

market share: the % of a market that a company has, e.g. a 20% market share

market leader: the company or product with the biggest market share