What is YOUR definition of Marketing?

[Young Recruit]

Hi everyone,

It's clear from many discussions on this forum that marketing means different things to different people.

It would be interesting to hear what each of your definitions of marketing are and what you feel marketing has to do with your business. For example, is marketing really necessary? or is it an essential part of your business?

If possible could you please add to your post what your business does (if you have one) and how many employees you have?

Look forward to your responses,

JA.

 

[S-Marketing]

Marketing is everything a small business does. There is no part of a small business that shouldn't be thought of as marketing, or at least considered from a marketing perspective.

You know what my business is in relation to this forum. I'm a marketing consultant who works primarily for results based fees, for service based businesses.

For the purposes of this thread I also have business interests in building maintenance industries. These range from specialist wall coating application, through to a fencing contracting business and also tool hire. All of my businesses are deliberately small, and have never employed more than 8 people.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Jay Abraham has a good definition:

Marketing is the continual education of a customer or prospect for the life of that customer on the advantages and benefits your company or your service brings them that no-one else does; it's the intelligently formulated process of increasing their demand or desire for your product or service; and finally, it's the strategic process of bringing them to closure and to completed action.

Steve

 

[S-Marketing]

Jay Abraham has a good definition:



Steve

I don't really agree with any of that. It implies that promotional marketing and advertising are the most important aspects. It sits quite nicely with the general misunderstanding of marketing, but that's about it.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

I don't really agree with any of that. It implies that promotional marketing and advertising are the most important aspects.

How so?

(I don't see that at all.)

 

[Matt1959]

for me, marketing has always been the way in which a business presents itself and its products...or services

 

[WickITServices]

Marketing is what happens shortly after you walk into a party and see someone you really fancy. It's an instinct.
In business, it is much the same. The art of becoming interesting and desired to your prospect are similar to courtship.

 

[Vestor]

For example, is marketing really necessary? or is it an essential part of your business? Absolutely essential for me - I think thats the first thing you realise is just how important it is. I tried all sorts and eventually you find what works and stick with that. SEO on website is my most important tool as a webshop. After that google adwords and direct targeted marketing. Adverts are costly and won't nessacerily yield good results. Even adwords its very important to have keywords that yield paying customers. I'd say marketing is probably one of the most important aspects - since selling and ultimately making a profit is the bottom line. So glad I recently got pro at SEO ats thats been very fruitful for me but i'll warn you if you don't know how to do it yourself theres lot of scammers who claim to with no idea or out of date methods.

 

[ITsoldUK]

My definition is simple.

Marketing is what allows my business to breathe effectively.

To answer your second part it is crucial to keep my business alive.

 

[ITsoldUK]

for me, marketing has always been the way in which a business presents itself and its products...or services

Alas it is so much more than that.

What you have highlighted is all part of the sales mix which I have always viewed as a seperate business function.

 

[Ashley_Price]

Everything a business does is about "marketing". Marketing is building a reputation and brand. But that doesn't stop with the way you advertise your business. It is every contact you (and your staff) have with someone outside the business.

Provide great service or product to a client - they will recommend you to others. Conversely, let them down and the client will stop using you and probably tell others how bad your business is. So, in all your dealings with customers you are "marketing" your firm.

Even at a social occasions not directly connected to your business, how you interact with others could be considered marketing. If you act inappropriately at the event, it may turn people off you and even affect them using your business. The accountant staggering round at a lunch time "social" telling everyone how drunk she is (yes, I have actually witnessed this), would not inspire confidence in the other people to use her.

 

[Salt&Pepper]

Marketing is the is the science of stopping people's intellect for the time necessary to make money off them

 

[superdooper500]

To me marketing is all about shaping or creating a product or service to fulfill a clearly identified market need. Only once you have created your product to meet this need can you then enter into promoting your solution to your chosen market. You will then need to look at the feedback from the market you've promoted to, and continue to shape and develop your product based on the feedback you get (the price may be wrong, the solution may be wrong etc).

It's an iterative process should never stop as long as you are actively trading, and is not all purely about advertising and promotion. It goes far deeper than that.

 

[AlexanderR]

To me marketing is image, presence, and reach.

The important things, are looking great in front of prospects, being the dominant choice, and being in front of as many people as possible.

The perfect example for this would be red bull and monster, who are in a marketing war right now. They're everywhere you look right now, as long as your not looking at rocks. They're both global, and pulling the same stunts in every country they trade in. And they're both pulling crowds in to witness events they're hosting.

My Business, being a motor sport team, does the exact same thing, only on a smaller scale, for clients who want great marketing, at very low prices.

 

[mhall]

My Hubbys view: (not saying I agree with the sentiment though!)

"If I tell you I'm good in bed, that's promotion. If someone else tells you that I'm good in bed, that's Marketing"

 

[mhall]

...and I suppose, if someone rings you to tell you that I'm good in bed, that would be tele-marketing ?

Too much chocolate I think.......

 

[Young Recruit]

My Hubbys view: (not saying I agree with the sentiment though!)

"If I tell you I'm good in bed, that's promotion. If someone else tells you that I'm good in bed, that's Marketing"

Like it!

There's nothing like a good analogy to get your point across!

JA

 

[S-Marketing]

How so?

(I don't see that at all.)

Steve,

Sorry, I missed your reply.

For me, the quote gives the impression that marketing is focused squarely on communicating to the client, and getting them to buy from you. It says to me that marketing is all about persuading people to buy what it is you are selling.

Obviously the above is important but I tend to go about it from the opposite angle. When I take on a new client or start a new business I am looking for opportunities from within the business that will give a decent foundation for any marketing communications. I also concentrate on building advantages into processes within the business which will tailor the business to best meet the needs of my selected targets.

For me, marketing is all about getting what the business does right. Once you do this, there is much less need for promotional marketing and advertising.

 

[Young Recruit]

For the purposes of this thread I also have business interests in building maintenance industries. These range from specialist wall coating application, through to a fencing contracting business and also tool hire. All of my businesses are deliberately small, and have never employed more than 8 people.

So Stretchy your a maintenance man/plasterer/fencer/marketing consultant!

A market focused tradesman is a rare thing. I recently hired a few trades and was shocked at the service most provided.

JA

 

[Young Recruit]

Marketing is the is the science of stopping people's intellect for the time necessary to make money off them

The objective of making money is always good!!

JA

 

[S-Marketing]

So Stretchy your a maintenance man/plasterer/fencer/marketing consultant!

A market focused tradesman is a rare thing. I recently hired a few trades and was shocked at the service most provided.

JA

No, i'm a marketing consultant who also has business interests in the maintenance sector. I don't get my hands dirty. I am actually a qualified professional climber, but haven't worked at height for many years now.

As I have said before, the only decent marketing consultant for a small business is one who has owned small businesses. A consultant who has built up experience as an employee is next to useless, IMO.

Not sure where you got plasterer from, I've never plastered anything in my life.

 

My Hubbys view: (not saying I agree with the sentiment though!)

"If I tell you I'm good in bed, that's promotion. If someone else tells you that I'm good in bed, that's Marketing"

Sounds more like a death sentence to me.?

Marketing is the art of selling overpriced crap to morons who Neither want or need it:

See Apple for further information.

 

[AlexanderR]

Apple have been surprisingly bad at marketing. They've been operating as long as Microsoft and IBM, and yet been in the shadows right up until the iPod was released. Granted they had designers overjoyed, but Saab did that too. Even Dell managed to do a better job.

If you're looking for the definition of marketing, think back to the Pepsi vs Coca Cola war, the current Red Bull vs Monster Energy war, Myspace vs Facebook and the list goes on.

Ultimately, you could follow the winning examples, image, presence, reach. Or you could follow the losing examples, Mass Media, alienation, spam.

As you can probably tell, I'm pretty much in awe of the job Coca Cola and Red Bull have done in marketing, and it's a little puzzling that nobody is following in similar footsteps. Even small companies would benefit from attending sports events, exhibitions and doing the odd amount of sponsorship, especially since most, if not all of these can be written off against corporation tax and business expenses.

 

Apple have been surprisingly bad at marketing.

As they are the richest company in the world.

I wish I was as bad at marketing as they are.

 

[AlexanderR]

Just take a moment to think about how they got that rich in the first place.

Apple may now be one of the richest companies in the world, but how often did you hear about them in the 90's? Early part of the new millenium? What about the years before the iPod was released? If not for the iPod, Apple would now be bankrupt.

But forgetting recent success, I'm trying to point out, that for the past 20 or more years, the market leaders have always been at, or hosting some type of event, supporting great athletes or supporting great minds, and this has brought them money.

It works because the events they attend, gives prospects a chance to find out about your business, see the results, first hand, and possibly make a purchase that day.

Supporting athletes gives access to areas off-limits to spectators, where many other business people meet and greet, drink a little champagne and do lots of business.

Supporting great minds gives you the chance to ride on their fame and fan base, much like IBM and Sony's recent campaigns. And in the past, Microsoft and IBM have done this.

ATL Fuel cells have been sponsoring inventors all their trading career, it paid of a few years ago when a new fuel container was developed. This new fuel container is now mandatory for all competition race vehicles, and is patented by the company, these fuels cells will eventually make it into domestic and commercial vehicles.

Herbalife do not run media marketing Campaigns, they are entirely direct marketing, and sports sponsorship. They were the only company on the NYSE to register growth in 2011.

I could go on and on and into greater detail, but these are the great stories in marketing. Anyone thinking of doing any marketing at all should be looking at these companies, and taking notes.

 

Apple may now be one of the richest companies in the world, but how often did you hear about them in the 90's?

You knew someone who had a home computer or a mobile phone in 1990.?:|

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Steve,

Sorry, I missed your reply.

For me, the quote gives the impression that marketing is focused squarely on communicating to the client, and getting them to buy from you. It says to me that marketing is all about persuading people to buy what it is you are selling.

I'd say the definition I gave was more about "educating" than "persuading" (which has has connotations).

Obviously the above is important but I tend to go about it from the opposite angle. When I take on a new client or start a new business I am looking for opportunities from within the business that will give a decent foundation for any marketing communications. I also concentrate on building advantages into processes within the business which will tailor the business to best meet the needs of my selected targets. [/QUOTE]

If you're talking about building a better product, or a better value offer, speeding up delivery, etc, then I'd call that "innovation".

Because, unless you educate the prospect/customer in some way, it's not going to make people buy.

Steve

 

[Steve Sellers]

Marketing is the art of selling overpriced crap to morons who Neither want or need it:

What did you say you do again?

 

What did you say you do again?

I play the banjo.

 

[Steve Sellers]

I play the banjo.

Cue link but no useful comment:

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/member.php?u=12231


:|

 

[AlexanderR]

You knew someone who had a home computer or a mobile phone in 1990.?:|

Of course I did. Remember windows 95? The Nokia 5110? There were plenty of home PC's and mobile phones in the 90's.

Remeber the millenium bug scare? How many millions did they say that would affect again?

 

[S-Marketing]

Steve

That's a bit confusing. I was reading what is showing as your post and thinking ''that's odd, that sounds like what I wrote''.

Do you not agree that innovation is part of (or at the very least should be led by) marketing?

 

[Steve Sellers]

Steve

That's a bit confusing. I was reading what is showing as your post and thinking ''that's odd, that sounds like what I wrote''.

Do you not agree that innovation is part of (or at the very least should be led by) marketing?

Innovation wins the day!

Sorry got that wrong. The innovator wins the day!

 

[JamieBaker200]

Marketing, for me, is not just about doing good sales talk to others or having the best plan to market the products you have. It is not just about paying for the advertisements on TV and Radio. It is not just about selling and convincing other people.

Marketing needs understanding not on its properties but on the way you understand the demands and need of all people. Know what they want and reach them.

 

[Liamh121]

Marketing is the process by which a business works to identify the desires, attitudes and behaviours of a consumer or particular target market and then leverages a portfolio of promotional techniques in order to either satisfy their demand with a supply or create a new demand with product innovation leadership.

We are a Brighton based digital marketing agency called Hackett and Tiger - we're largely focused on social media, CRM, paid search, strategy, branding and research and so our solutions are incredibly well integrated.

 

[Steve Sellers]

Marketing, for me, is not just about doing good sales talk to others or having the best plan to market the products you have. It is not just about paying for the advertisements on TV and Radio. It is not just about selling and convincing other people.

Marketing needs understanding not on its properties but on the way you understand the demands and need of all people. Know what they want and reach them.

Indeed. For me marketing has only one purpose - a route to the 'market'.

 

[JamieBaker200]

Indeed. For me marketing has only one purpose - a route to the 'market'.

It is true that it has one Route. Whatever we want to talk about marketing, it still has one direction "To approach people" as they are the one's that will bring profit.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

As I see it, marketing experts cannot explain what they do in a sentance of under 15 words, without using gobbldeegook words, so what hope do we have

Most small companies do not employ a marketing department, most big companies do,

Marketing and sales are so close they overlap in many area's hense the problem in giving a full job spec

 

[cucumber]

> As I see it, marketing experts cannot explain what they do in a sentance of under 15 words, without using gobbldeegook words, so what hope do we have

Right, but the problem is marketing is a very wide subject - can involve so many different aspects of life/business. Also it's very subjective - different things required in different situations. So to sum up something like that you can't help but be abstract. You can avoid gobbledegook though, but not abstractions I don't think. Because as soon as you talk concretely then you're being far too narrow.

 

[cucumber]

Here's my stab:

Marketing improves what's on offer from the perspective of prospects and makes and improves connections between what's on offer and prospects. Physical/practical connections (eg making sure the product/service is available via an easy to use channel for whoever is the target, eg in a shop near them) through to psychological connections (eg making what's on offer more appealing, wanted, desirable by the prospect).