Can You Improve Your Business Based on Definitions?

Can You Improve Your Business Based on Definitions?

It's clear that most people have a muddled and confused view of what marketing, CRM, ecommerce, direct marketing, web development, web design, and graphic design are, what they cover, which is most important, and which is easiest to understand from talking to them.

Graphic design has been around the longest and has its roots in "old technology," so it's not surprising that most people have some idea of what it entails. Studies have shown that only about 7–11% of all communication is verbal, with the remaining 89–99% being nonverbal, with messages being conveyed via "graphical" factors like gesture, body language or posture, facial expression and eye gaze, clothing, hairstyles, architecture, symbols, and graphics. It's no big deal, then, that humans are highly visual creatures.

Nearly everyone thinks they have a firm grasp on the concept of web design, even if many conflate it with web development. Again, this is not shocking, but it is also not really useful. I don't see why not. Because you can't know what you're getting until you have a clear understanding of what you're purchasing (and a definition provides this clarity by setting the concept apart from others). And, hey, you can get "ripped off" if you don't know what you're getting into.

Since we don't want to be accused of cherry-picking our sources, we'll be the dull ones and explain what marketing, CRM, ecommerce, direct marketing, web development, web design, and graphic design are.

We also decided to put them in what could be described as "possibly the most boring and convoluted article ever" in the hopes that someone would read it and disagree with our assessment of their relative importance to the success of your business.

1. MARKETING: The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) in the UK, the largest marketing group in the world in terms of membership, provides the most frequently accepted definition of marketing on a global scale. Marketing is defined as "the management process of identifying, anticipating, and profitably meeting the needs of one's target market." Market research, new product development, product life cycle management, pricing, channel management, and promotion are all part of operative marketing. It's a tool used by management to make sure new offerings are profitable and produced in response to customer needs.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) is a set of processes, tools, and skills for handling business interactions with customers. The overarching goal of customer relationship management is to help businesses better manage their clientele by instituting efficient methods for doing so. Corporate strategies that aim to build and keep loyal customers happy are called "customer relationship management." While there are a number of customer relationship management (CRM) software solutions available for purchase, the concept of customer relationship management (CRM) is more of a mindset shift than a technological advancement. 

A successful customer relationship management strategy cannot be executed by installing and integrating software. All elements of the organization need to be reformed to be customer-driven, from policies and processes to front-of-house customer care to employee training to marketing to information management.

To distribute, purchase, sell, market, and service items or services using electronic systems like the Internet and other computer networks is the primary focus of electronic commerce, or e-commerce. Automated inventory management, electronic data interchange, online transaction processing, electronic marketing, automated data collection, electronic funds transfer, and supply chain management are all examples. The Internet, extranets, e-mail, ebooks, databases, and mobile phones are all common tools for this. Electronic commerce includes internet marketing. Information management, public relations, customer support, and sales are all possible components of Internet marketing.

The marketing subfield known as "direct marketing" collects, analyzes, and reports on data on individual customers (whether B2B or consumer) in order to create and maintain relationships that are beneficial for both parties. DM employs both addressable and non-addressable media. The recipient, who is typically a marketer, uses the recipient's reaction to inform their next steps or contact plan. Actually, all DM is done through media; only some of these media are "addressable," like email, telemarketing, and SMS. In most contexts, it is assumed to exclude direct eye contact. Many businesses prefer direct marketing because of how easily its success can be gauged.

As a whole, web development encompasses everything that goes into making a website for the Internet. Graphic design, XHTML, CSS, usability, semantics, server administration, content management, marketing, testing, and releasing a website all fall under this category. "Back end" can also mean the coding and server management that go into making anything work. A development team typically consists of multiple people, each of whom brings a unique set of skills to the table. A web developer is someone who programs the backend and frontend of a website and typically has greater experience with databases, CGI, and engineering. This may involve adding a site search function or supporting e-commerce.

Web design, often known as WWW design or just web design, is the process of creating content for the World Wide Web utilizing markup languages like HTML and CSS and visual components like images. Web pages are created by a web designer. A designer will typically create a mockup of a page in a graphics editing program like Adobe Photoshop. A designer can create the HTML template, CSS files, and all of the photos for your website once you have accepted the design.

Graphic design, as a practical discipline, is the strategic arrangement of visual elements and text to convey meaning. It may be used for anything from print to digital to film to animation to product packaging to storefront signage.