Welcome to BUS203: Principles of Marketing

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Explore the entire marketing process, from identifying and targeting your customer base to creating value that will appeal to your consumers and marketing and distributing your product.

Course Introduction

In this course, you will learn about the marketing process and examine the range of marketing decisions an organization must make to sell its products and services. You will also learn how to think like a marketer – and the best marketers know that the focus of marketing has always been on the consumer. You will begin to think about who the consumer of goods and services is, what the consumer needs, and what the consumer wants. Marketing is an understanding of how to communicate with the consumer. Four activities characterize marketing: creating products and services that serve consumers, communicating a clear value proposition, delivering products and services in a way that optimizes value, and exchanging (or trading) value for those offerings.

This course includes the following units:

Unit 1: The Definition and Principles of Marketing. Unit 2: Segmenting, Targeting, and Positioning. Unit 3: Customers and Marketing Research. Unit 4: Life Cycles, Offers, Supply Chains, and Pricing. Unit 5: Distribution and Promotion. Unit 6: Launching a Marketing Campaign. Unit 7: Social Media Marketing

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

[1] Describe the fundamental marketing concepts and terminology; [2] Explain the difference between marketing, advertising, and sales; [3] Describe the process of market research; [4] Describe the concept of pricing; [4] Explain product strategy, including the concepts of product life cycle, positioning, and pricing; [5] Define competition and explain competitive analysis; [6] Analyze the process of distribution and explain marketing channels; [7] Identify the key elements of product promotions; [8] Explain how to develop a marketing plan and apply the principles of marketing in creating a marketing plan; [9] Explain social media's place in the integrated marketing communications process

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

The primary learning materials for this course are articles, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final examination is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn 70% or higher on the final exam. The exam will be password-protected and requires a proctor.

Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. There is a 14 days waiting period between each attempt. You may only attempt the final exam a maximum of 3 times. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam after 3 attempts, you will not complete this course.

There is also a practice exam that you may take as many times as you want to help you prepare for the final exam. The course also contains end-of-unit assessments in this course. The end-of-unit assessments are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want to until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments by clicking on Quizzes in the course's navigation bar.

Tips for Success

BUS203: Principles of Marketing is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take 30 hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.

Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:

  • Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
  • Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.

To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don’t have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require login.

For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.

Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App

You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.

Last modified: Monday, 9 June 2025, 2:40 PM