Marketing mix and practices of marketing strategies in the bank sector: The case of Tunceli

Banking services are at the forefront of the main elements that determine the economic and social agenda for all states throughout its historical process. Banking services are the safest port where the profits of the society can be kept safe and can be reached instantly in case of need. With the developing information and technology, the competition environment between financial institutions has increased and banks need to develop new marketing approaches to customers due to the incredibly fast and variable competitive conditions today in order to win customers. Societies used banking services as an intermediary in order to keep their deposits safe. Since there was no competitive environment in banking services, customers' bank preferences were very limited. However, with the competitive environment, different financial institutions have emerged and changes have occurred in customers' bank preferences. Banks and other financial institutions developed new marketing strategies in order to reach more customers, and sales and marketing units in the banking sector and operational units with sales targets accelerated their efforts to increase the profitability of the bank's business. Our study gains importance at this point. The functioning and priorities of the marketing mix in the eyes of bank employees and bank customers constitute the subject of our study. The aim of our study is to determine the priorities of the marketing mix and marketing strategies implemented by the banks operating in Tunceli province in terms of bank employees and bank customers and to compare these priorities. This study was carried out by interviewing a total of 26 bank employees and 136 bank customers in three public banks and three private banks, namely Denizbank, Isbank, Vakıf Bank, Garanti Bank, Ziraat Bank and Halk Bank operating in the province of Tunceli. In the study, using the AHP method to determine the importance of the marketing mix criteria; In order to determine the effects on 6 private and public banks in the Tunceli province region, the marketing strategies of these banks and the appropriate marketing mix for the banking sector from the eyes of bank customers and Bank employees, the determination of the importance levels of the marketing mix elements was investigated. It is hoped that the study will contribute to marketing science and literature.