Macro Marketing, in simple terms, is the study and analysis of the market and its contributing factors that influences the success of marketing efforts and strategies. Or in other words, macro marketing is how the market and marketing affects the economy and society as a whole. Macro Marketing is two fold. Both the overall marketing environment and the economy play a role in how macro marketing works. These two factors affect each other and go hand in hand in macro marketing analysis. Businesses are invested in understanding macro marketing in order to determine what goods and services are in demand thus outlining what is produced and sold in the market.
Why Macro Marketing?
The purpose of macro marketing is to better understand the external forces that shape the market. Why would a business need to thoroughly comprehend all of these forces? The answer is simple. A business needs to study the market and the forces that affect it in order to gain insight into the challenges and opportunities that a company may face in their marketing strategies. This builds better business practices and marketing campaigns.
Marketing affects how people do business. Macro marketing studies how product, price, placement, and promotion (the 4 P’s) determines demands for goods and services and ultimately production and selling. It is an intricate system that must be understood in order to continue producing and selling in the market. Marketing plans that work in one environment may fail in another because of different factors affecting the market. Companies need to stay competitive to succeed in the market and the study of macro marketing helps businesses determine what they need to do to get a leg up on the competition and stay in the game.
History
Macro Marketing was first developed and utilized in 1962 by Robert Bartels. He authored a book called “The Development of Marketing Thought”, that sought to explain the outlook and advancement of the market and marketing. His book detailed the research methods needed to adequately analyze the market.
Research is the pinnacle of macro marketing. Marketers have to understand all of the facets that affect the market and how consumers play a role in contributing to market stability and changes. There are several factors that play a role in how macro marketing is studied.
Macro Marketing Factors
There are a number of different factors that are essential in observing and analyzing in order to understand how the market will play out:
● Economic
● Societal/Cultural
● Political
● Technological
● Demographic
The study of these factors shows businesses what the future holds and how to shape their marketing strategies going forward.
Economy
The economy is a major aspect of understanding macro marketing. It is the key player in how the market works. When the economy is strong, that usually means people are willing to keep spending and spend more because unemployment rates are higher. In a weak economy, unemployment rates tend to drop and consumers are not willing or able to spend as much and begin to spend less. This changes everything for businesses and marketing as a whole. Businesses need to stay on top of what is happening in the economy in order to adjust their marketing plans to continue succeeding in the market. Companies need to follow and accommodate for changing interest rates, inflation whether falling or rising, and GDP growth.
Society/Culture
Consumers and their beliefs and attitudes about the world around them are a driving force in shaping the market. If consumers’ attitudes about certain aspects of how the world works begin to shift or change, then their spending habits tend to follow suit. A popular outlook that has been on the rise in recent years, is consumers’ beliefs on the importance of sustainability and climate change. This has caused many companies to start “going green” in an effort to appease these evolving consumer attitudes and beliefs with products that save on energy and help the environment.
Politics and Government
It is no surprise that the government plays a large role in shaping policies that can affect consumer spending. The regulations on advertising, data, privacy, and other business practices are often developed by politicians invested in business and this changes the marketing environment. Sometimes it hurts consumers’ trust and confidence in businesses and sometimes it helps. In the end, spending habits change with these policies and regulations.
Technology
Technological advancements allow companies to change the way they do business with customers. This alters the market and how consumers spend. With the improvement of technology, many businesses are able to reach their consumer base more easily and can beat out the competition with newer and better technological developments. Technology also sometimes affects how traditional marketing works and this too can change the landscape of the market.
Demographics
Similarly to the economy, demographics provide key data about income levels, population growth, age disbursement, etc to businesses in order to build their marketing campaigns. These demographic factors play a role in how the economy works and what consumers will spend their money on.
The Market and Macro Marketing
Macro Marketing is the study of the market, economy, and other determining factors that affect how the market works, and even the “health” of the market. Macro Marketing provides businesses the insight needed to maintain success in a market that is bound to change, grow, weaken, strengthen, and continue in a cycle driven by consumers. Marketing strategies are formulated around macro marketing data.
