What is Marketing?

So, What is Marketing? 

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as: “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.”

Great, but what does that mean for you and your business? 

Marketing is quite simply your communication with customers and potential customers.  This involves your understanding of who your ideal client actually is, and how to best reach that audience.  Marketing leads to conversations, and conversations lead to sales.  And your marketing efforts help maintain your relationship with your clients too.

Marketing is not about pushing yourself/product/service on someone, those messages get tuned out by consumers.  Conversely, we all tune into the brands that we feel help us.  Remember, every company was started to help solve a problem.  Great marketing tells a story, your story.

So, what are some of the tools that need to be in your marketing plan?

• Your website.  This is your most important digital asset.  In 2020, there is no excuse to NOT have a website.  It doesn’t have to be complex, but at the very least it should be ADA compliant, mobile-friendly, and forward compatible.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  This simply means your site is positioned to be more visible to search engines, thus getting you more traffic.
• Social Media.  Yes, having social media pages is important.  But these pages also need to be maintained, with regular posts and interaction with your followers.
• PPC (Pay-per-click).  These are digital ads that push people to your website.
• Email marketing.  Yes, this is still a valuable tool.  Especially when you have regular communication with those that have signed up.  They help you continue to build your relationship with clients and can also help drive sales.
• Blog articles.  This content would be published to your website and it will help in a couple of different ways: 1. The pertinent information about your industry helps solidify your knowledge base in the field and 2. It will help pull people to your website that are searching on the internet for information about that topic.
• Print marketing.  This will include having snazzy business cards, brochures, and ads in newspapers or magazines should that make sense based on your ideal customer.

Of course, these are but a few examples of tools for marketing.

Should you have questions about how to create or implement a marketing plan, we would be happy to speak with you on a one on one basis.