THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING ACTIVITIES AT ENTERPRISES: A MANAGEMENT APPROACH

Abstract

The article is devoted to the importance of marketing activities at the enterprise from the point of view of top and middle managers. One of the factors that ensures the effective functioning of enterprises is its management of marketing activities, as well as the understanding that marketing plays a key role in achieving great business success. The main stages of the marketing plan and specific marketing measures are highlighted, which will allow the enterprise to effectively manage marketing activities in order to achieve the goals. A research model of marketing activities has been developed, which includes three characteristics of the enterprise: its type, size (number of employees) and the main type of activity(production).The types of marketing activity are identified in the study. They were all divided into six groups (product management, price management, distribution, communications, marketing research, marketing planning), four of which represent elementsof the typical marketing mix, and the others cover marketing planning and marketing research.According to the assessments of senior and middle managers, the marketing function of price management was found to be less important than marketing planning andproduct management. Communication was rated as less important than product management.Ratings of the importance of some marketing activities also differed depending on the size of the company, with managers of small companies (up to 50 employees) rating marketing planning and marketing research as less important to them than managers of large companies. The management of a company that bases its main strategy on price indicated a greaterimportance of price management than other companies. The assessment of the importance of marketing activities also varied depending on the presence of a marketing department at the enterprise. Managers of enterprises that had a marketing department rated the importance of almost all marketing activities higher than did managers of enterprises that did not have a separate marketing department.