There are lots of different ways to define marketing. Instead of trying to add yet another definition to the near-infinite number of marketing definitions, I’ve listed out a bunch for you to look through.
Some will hit home for you while others won’t. They all have merit, and I encourage you to do your best to understand what each means and why it is important for your business, even if it doesn’t really do anything for you.
Away we go!
Marketing is the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service
~ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marketing
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
~ https://www.ama.org/the-definition-of-marketing-what-is-marketing/
Olga Mizrahi – “Sell Local, Think Global”
Marketing is identifying why your target market should choose you and effectively communicating that to your audience.
Marketing is made up of the activities a company undertakes to promote the buying or selling of a product or service. Marketing includes advertising, selling, and delivering products to consumers or other businesses.
~ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing.asp
Marketing is the process of getting potential clients or customers interested in your products and services. The keyword in this definition is “process.” Marketing involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or services.
~ https://www.cyberclick.net/marketing
Marketing is the process of creating firm awareness; building and differentiating the brand; driving business development activities; and identifying, anticipating, and satisfying client objectives to achieve profitable business goals.
~ https://www.smps.org/resources/what-is-marketing/
Marketing refers to any actions a company takes to attract an audience to the company’s product or services through high-quality messaging. Marketing aims to deliver standalone value for prospects and consumers through content, with the long-term goal of demonstrating product value, strengthening brand loyalty, and ultimately increasing sales.
~ https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/what-is-marketing
Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including the selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emphasize in advertising; operation of advertising campaigns; attendance at trade shows and public events; design of products and packaging attractive to buyers; defining the terms of sale, such as price, discounts, warranty, and return policy; product placement in media or with people believed to influence the buying habits of others; agreements with retailers, wholesale distributors, or resellers; and attempts to create awareness of, loyalty to, and positive feelings about a brand.
~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing
Marketing is the process that companies use to get consumers interested in the products and services they’re selling.” That process includes several fundamental steps, including:
~ https://www.thehartford.com/business-insurance/strategy/marketing/marketing-defined
- Defining your target audience(s), that is, who is most likely to buy your product or service
- Determining which products and/or services your target audience is likely to buy
Setting a price for these products and/or services- Promoting your company and products/services via multiple means, including advertising, PR, digital/social media, etc.
- Selling your product to the customers and prospects you’ve intrigued through your promotion efforts
Marketing is often mistakenly identified with selling and promotion. There is actually much more to Marketing than one might realize. Most people are surprised to learn that the most important functions of the marketing professional often have little to do with selling. Marketing’s major concern is satisfying customers’ wants and needs. The heart of Marketing is matching supply and demand in a complex, advanced economy. Marketing consists of many activities including identifying customer needs; developing goods and services to satisfy those needs; communicating information about products to potential customers; and logistics and distribution management, which assures that products are delivered to customers as needed.
~ https://cob.unt.edu/mktg/what-is-marketing
Marketing is the practice of creating interest in a product or service and convincing potential customers to buy it. The term “marketing” encompasses a broad range of strategies designed to identify, reach, and convince prospective buyers. These marketing strategies include:
~ https://www.shopify.com/blog/what-is-marketing
- Market research. Whether you’re in business-to-consumer or business-to-business marketing, conducting market research can help you better understand your target audience.
- Advertising and promotion. Connect with consumers by advertising a product or service yourself, or hiring an advertising agency that will create a campaign that aligns with your goals.
- Social media strategy. Reach potential buyers where they spend their time by creating conversations about your product or service on social media.
- Public relations. Reach out to media outlets to broaden the reach of your brand.
Customer acquisition and retention. Build relationships with consumers and the media to expand the reach of the message.- Print marketing. Connect with prospective customers via signage, newspapers, magazine ads, and other traditional distribution channels.
- Digital marketing. Reach consumers via internet marketing on social media, video platforms, search engines, blogs, and other digital marketing channels.
Marketing is every bit of contact your company has with anyone in the outside world.
Jay Conrad Levinson – “Guerrilla Marketing”
Getting someone who has a need, to know, like, and trust you. Your branding includes all of the following:
John Jantsch – “Duct Tape Marketing”
- Name / Logo / Stationery / Forms / Email Signature
- Telephone Manner / Delivery Vehicles / Printed Materials
- Office Facility / Smells / Business Cards / Invoices
- Newsletter / Customer Service / Sales People / Signage
- Employee Attitudes / Sounds / Attire (Uniform) / Fax Cover
- Facebook Fan Page / Advertising / Email Format
- Web Site / Vendors / Twitter Background
Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.
Seth Godin
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.
Peter Drucker
Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.
Joe Chernov
Marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make. It is the art of creating genuine customer value.
Philip Kotler
Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world you are one.
Robert Rose
Marketing is about values. It’s a complicated and noisy world, and we’re not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is.x
Robert Rose
Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.
Beth Comstock
Marketing is really just about sharing your passion.
Michael Hyatt
Marketing takes a day to learn. Unfortunately, it takes a lifetime to master.
Phil Kolter
The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.
Tom Fishburne
The aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous.
Peter Drucker
Content is the atomic particle of all digital marketing.
Rebecca Lieb
Marketing is the art and science of creating demand.
Brian Halligan
Marketing is enthusiasm transferred to the customer.
Gregory Ciotti
Marketing is the process of teaching consumers why they should choose your product or service over those of your competitors.
Neil Patel
Marketing is not a function, it is the whole business seen from the customer’s point of view.
Peter Drucker
In marketing, the familiar is a dead horse, and the unfamiliar is what sells.
Al Ries
Marketing is the act of connecting customers to products.
Seth Godin
The best marketing strategy ever: CARE.
Gary Vaynerchuk
Marketing is about creating change.
Seth Godin
Marketing is the art of getting people to change their minds.
David Meerman Scott
Marketing is the science of customer behavior and the art of customer experience.
Steve Jobs
Marketing is not selling. Marketing is building a brand.
Donald Miller
Marketing is about making your customers feel good.
Chris Brogan
Marketing is the price you pay for being unremarkable.
Robert Stephens
Marketing is the action you take to get your potential customer to notice you.
Seth Godin
Marketing is about creating a customer who is prepared to buy.
Phil Knight
Marketing is a race without a finishing line.
Philip Kotler
Marketing is about creating an emotional connection.
Tim Sanders
Marketing is understanding your customers so well that you don’t have to sell to them.
Peter Drucker
Marketing is simply the act of introducing products to the marketplace.
Guy Kawasaki
Marketing is about more than just selling products. It’s about selling ideas.
Seth Godin
Marketing is about earning trust and turning that trust into relationships.
Seth Godin
Marketing is the difference between having great products and having great products that people buy.
Seth Godin
Marketing is the conversation you have with your customers that leads to them being raving fans.
Mike Volpe
Marketing is about listening, engaging, and building lasting relationships.
Chris Brogan
Marketing is the creative use of truth.
Philip Kotler
Marketing is the process of getting your customers to tell your story for you.
Seth Godin
Marketing is the process of identifying and satisfying customer needs.
Philip Kotler
Marketing is the ability to connect with consumers on a human level.
Mary Ellen Tribby
Marketing is about creating a customer who creates customers.
Shiv Singh
Marketing is the strategic art of generating demand.
Jay Baer
Marketing is about creating value for the customer.
Philip Kotler
Marketing is about creating relationships, not just transactions.
Scott Stratten
Marketing is the bridge between the product and the customer.
Seth Godin
Marketing is about making your customers’ lives better.
Seth Godin
Marketing is the process of bringing a story to life.
Ann Handley
Marketing is the art of meaningful persuasion.
Phil Kolter
Marketing is the intersection of creativity and strategy.
Julia McCoy
Marketing is the soul of your business, the fuel that keeps it running.
Dave Ramsey
If this list isn’t enough, feel free to check out these pages that also have a collection of marketing definitions.