Encyclopedia >> General Topics >> The Tools

Marketing Tools

What are marketing tools and how can they be used to support the marketing program in general? These are the topics we will discuss in this section of the Marketing Encyclopedia.

The Tools for Marketing Success

Anything you use to reach your promotional goals can be considered a marketing tool. These items might be tangible (such as a direct mail postcard) or intangible (such as your knowledge of your audience). For example, here are some common marketing tools broken up by category:

• Tools for direct mail marketing — These include the list / database, the letter or postcard medium, the printing and mailing service, and the design and content of the direct mail piece.
• Tools for Internet marketing — These can include a wide variety of tools such as the business website, blog, online press releases, lead generation system, chat programs, forums, etc.
• Tools for network marketing — These include the networks of people you know and the method through which you correspond with them.

The Most Important Tool of All

Whether you realize it or not, you are the most powerful marketing tool you have at your disposal. None of the other items mentioned above can succeed without your energy, focus, compassion, intelligence and enthusiasm.

To succeed with marketing, you must first have a product or service that's worth talking about. Once you have that, you need to learn everything you can about your audience and what they want from a product like yours. So in this regard, you are the most important marketing tool you have!