How do you define marketing?

The traditional definition of marketing has been the introduction of your company’s products and services to prospective customers. By reason of this definition, business owners have pursued the “traditional” avenues of marketing. These include (but aren’t limited to): Advertising, hiring more sales people, prospecting, direct mail, referral programs, internet marketing, and many more.

All of these traditional marketing methods can work – but many times they don’t (don’t create a paying customer) and this leaves business owners frustrated. Sometimes they have invested thousands of dollars in these traditional methods only to find out they didn’t work or that in order to REALLY work, they need to invest thousands more.

The business owners then go back to the providers of these traditional marketing methods and ask for accountability. The reply is usually something like this:

“Did the (marketing method) bring in more prospects?” “Yes, but they didn’t buy anything” says the business owner. “Well, if they don’t become paying customers, we can’t control that – that is your responsibility” is the reply.

In other words traditional marketing method providers are not paid and do not concern themselves with what happens after a prospect is generated. Indeed there may be plenty of new prospects generated, but if they don’t become customers, it hasn’t helped the business owner! And, the frustration only grows.

The frustration grows partly because the definition of marketing is short-sided and inadequate. It is about time for a new one. Now granted, I have heard MANY vastly different definitions, and each will probably continue to change over time, but for our purposes:

21st Century Marketing Systems has redefined marketing to be:

The introduction AND SELLING of your company’s products and services to PAST, PRESENT, AND PROSPECTIVE customers by first leveraging and optimizing ALL of your company’s marketing assets.

Let me know what you think!