What is the definition of marketing?
As a marketing professional, I have always struggled to answer the question, “so as a marketer, what do you do?” The main reason I struggle to answer this is that marketing is so broad. It covers many aspects of a business, from pricing all the way through to packaging and distribution channels.
So what is marketing?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, marketing can be defined as:
The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising
Oxford Dictionary
Ultimately, this means marketing covers everything from researching the market in which a business operates, analysing competitor offerings, recommending prices for services or products, building marketing campaigns, retaining current customers with loyalty programs, reaching new customers through digital and traditional marketing methods and assisting the sales process where possible.
What does marketing include?
In terms of outputs, marketing includes:
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Research on competitors and industry trends
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Websites
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Social media
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Paid advertising
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Logo and branding
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Content for customer consumption
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Automation tools
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Business cards
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Printed collateral such as flyers and posters
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Signage for your business
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Email signatures
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Newsletters and reminder-based marketing
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Pitches for new business
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Reporting on ROI
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and so on.
That's a lot of things!
When you are a small business, it is hard to have internal resources that can handle all of the activities outlined above. This is where services from marketing professionals come in. You should ask around to see who is a suitable consultant in your area to help get this setup.
