The marketing environment represents a mix between the internal and external forces which surround an organization and have an impact upon it, especially their ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers.
The marketing environment consists of the micro and macro environment .
Macro environmental factors include social, economic, political and legal influences, together with demography and technological forces. These are sometimes referred to as the PESTLE factors and are discussed in more detail in PESTLE analysis. The organization cannot control these forces, it can only prepare for changes taking place.
Micro environment refers to the forces closely influencing the company and directly affect the organization’s relationships. The factors include the company and its current employees, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries, competitors, customers and the general public. These forces can sometimes be controlled or influenced and are explained in more detail in Porter’s 5 Forces .
Familiarity with the different types of markets helps marketers to better understand the marketing environment they operate within.
The main types of customers are businesses, consumers, government bodies and employees. Several transactions can occur between them, leading to the concept of consumer or B2C markets, Business or B2B markets, export markets, government or G2C markets, with each having their own specific profile.
Business to business (B2B) marketing represents the sales process between organizations or institutions. Transactions in these markets are often more complex, the distribution channels are shorter and more direct with stricter product standards and specifications.
Consumer markets (B2C) are represented by individuals who purchase goods, products or services for their own consumption.
They can be segmented into various groups taking into account factors such as age, education, location, attitudinal values, income, etc., meaning that various marketing strategies can be applied.
G2C markets (government to citizen) develop when governmental institutions become sellers and citizens assume the role of buyers.
These interactions are becoming increasingly more specialized. For example, we can have B2E (business to employee) , a transaction that reflects what businesses do attract and keep their employees in terms of recruitment tactics, benefits and opportunities, plus E2B(employee to business). Others from the
digital arena include C2C (consumer-to-consumer) or P2P (peer-to-peer) , which represent the ability of online users to interact directly with each other, without the need for an intervening organization other than to facilitate the communication.
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