Looking for a marketing definition
that is relevant to your small business?

When I went looking for a precise marketing definition, I couldn't find just one answer. I had thought the search should be rather simple.

In reality, different business practitioners have their own definitions, depending on their position in the marketplace.

For example, each of my clients sees marketing definitions from their own viewpoints.

Here is one of my favorite explanations:

"Marketing is all those factors which go into the sale of a product or service such as price, distribution, wholesale and retail support, plus advertising and promotion," says Don E. Schultz in his book Essentials of Advertising Strategy.

With more words but in a similar inclusive tone:
"Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, services, organizations, and events to create and maintain relationships that will satisfy individual and organizational objectives." in Contemporary Marketing Wired (1998) by Boone and Kurtz. Dryden Press.

The American Marketing Association studied the issue and released their new definition of marketing in August, 2004, not without controversy:
"Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders."

And if you want to see an in-depth discussion of marketing history and its current status, go to answers.com/topic/marketing. The fifth entry, an essay from Wikipedia is quite useful for those seeking a comprehensive understanding.

Are you familiar with permission marketing? viral marketing? direct marketing? direct response marketing? data base marketing? multi-level marketing?

Today, there are so many terms and sub industries in the marketing field, it is really hard for anyone to keep up. All this is enough to make your head spin in bewilderment.

Thank goodness, as a small business you don't need to know it all.

But you would be well served to think about the marketing strategy you are going to use to reach your customers before you get involved with the day-to-day tactics.

In the beginning discussion of marketing, many business owners tend to gloss over the big strategic viewpoint. They'll talk more about individual tactics, perhaps not realizing that the big picture should come first.

So try to adapt and apply a marketing definition relevant definition to your business situation.

Writing your own overall marketing strategy will put you on a more direct path to success.

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