For years, people have looked at Marketing as some obscure concept, a word that actually means something where Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the ToothFairy all live together peacefully.
The truth is quite the opposite.
Let’s start with what Marketing isn’t. Marketing does not mean becoming overly assertive about selling or advertising your products or services. It is not a silver bullet that can make any business succeed.
However…
Marketing IS understanding how people perceive and then think about things. Using this understanding to drive how you tell your story, how you communicate your message, and how you highlight things that people want using text, imagery, colors, visual effects, etc. Marketing is the thing that connects your business to the brain of the customer in a way that makes them feel better or actually see the benefits they could enjoy by using your business’s offering. Some business people try to lump branding and marketing into being the same things, but Marketing and Branding actually are 2 entirely separate components that compliment each other and when used properly, can lead a business to success.
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” -Peter F. Drucker
So unlike a large banner or sign advertising something, Marketing is like a conversation. You use the things mentioned above with a strategy, and end goal, and lead the conversation to take your customer there. So rather than telling someone something as a sign would, a conversation in marketing shows that you understand not only the wans but the needs of the customer. Once you understand the neeeds, you target those needs, pivot to meet the needs and focus on customers first. Marketing is successful when businesses put the neeeds of the customers first.