What is your definition of marketing?

Many people have many different and varied definitions of marketing. Early on in business I struggled with trying to understand exactly what marketing was. It seemed to be this mystical dark art…

I know what marketing is not; marketing is not selling. Selling is different.

Selling is one on one what you are doing face to face or on the phone.

Advertising is not marketing, it is part of your marketing mix.

Seth Godin said in his article; Which comes first, the product or the marketing?
“Marketing is not the same as advertising. Advertising is a tiny slice of what marketing is today, and in fact, it's pretty clear that the marketing has to come before the product, not after.”

Marketing done properly does the selling for you. It is selling in advance. Therefore, as Dan Kennedy said, “marketing is the quickest path to the sale”.

For mine, in it’s most simple form;

Marketing is what you say and who you say it to…

That means – having your particular message that speaks specifically to your desired audience, your selected group of people for whom you have a solution.

For your marketing to be effective you need to know

            Who you are speaking to

            What they want most

            And crafting your message to solve their problem or satisfy their desires.

The next puzzle to solve is how to get your message in front of exactly your selected group of people.

Brand Philosophe

Link to Seth’s Blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/02/which-comes-first-the-product-or-the-marketing.html