There are many different definitions of marketing, which often confuse the reader. To protect you from this confusion, we have chosen for you the best definition of marketing.
The best definition of marketing: Marketing refers to the set of processes and tasks that enable a company to profit and success in the market. These tasks are: Identifying the target customers, Determining the value proposition, selecting communication channels, getting new customers, keeping existing customers, growing customers.
This definition is comprehensive and contains all the functions of the marketing process, so we called it the best definition of marketing. For clarity, this article will explain this definition in more detail. Let’s start.
💡 Helpful Statistics About Marketing: ● 82% of companies report using content marketing. ● On average, email marketing has a 4400% ROI. (OptinMonster) ● 76% of content marketers use organic traffic as a key metric for measuring content success. Only 22% use backlinks. . ● 78% of salespeople using social media perform better than their peers. (Screwpile Communications) ● 98% of sales reps with 5000+ LinkedIn connections meet or surpass sales quotas. (The Sales Benchmark Index) ● There are 1.5 billion social media users across the globe. (McKinsey and Company) ● The purpose of content marketing is to create and share relevant information to attract and engage a target audience that’s interested in your product or service. ● Blogs with educational content get 52% more organic traffic than blogs with company-focused content.
Table of Contents
Why is this definition considered the best definition of marketing?
This definition is considered the best definition of marketing for the following reasons:
- This definition explains the importance and responsibility of marketing in achieving success and profit for the company.
- This definition contains all the functions of the marketing process.
- This definition shows that the successful marketing process begins before the company’s work.
- This definition indicates that the marketing process is the dominant and comprehensive process that drives all other functions and operations of the company.
The essential characteristics distinguish this definition from others, which qualifies it to be the best definition of marketing. Also, this definition sheds light on all the functions and facts of marketing.
Information you can extract from the best definition of marketing.
Below we show you the essential information contains in this definition:
- Marketing enables the company to achieve profits and success in the market. (marketing process is a comprehensive process)
- Selecting the target customers
- Determining the value to be offered to the customer (Value proposition = product or service specifications)
- Determine the appropriate channels to reach the customer (communication channels)
- Determine the proper ways to get new customers
- Determine the right tactics and strategy to keep existing customers
- Determine how to grow and upsell existing customers
The following paragraph explains the previous points in more detail.
Success in the market and profit
In this section, the best definition of marketing shows the comprehensiveness of the marketing process. It is responsible for the success of the institution or company in the market and enabling it to achieve appropriate profits.
Usually, people expect that marketing is limited to the marketing department only, which is the opposite of the truth because marketing leads all other company departments such as production, employment, etc.
Marketing looks at the market entirely and identifies the activities that the company can practice and profit from.
Marketing also looks inside the company’s field of work and studies competitors, alternative products, customer interests, etc. Through all this information, draws a plan for the company to succeed and achieve profits.
The marketing process is essential and varies according to the type and size of the company, and at some stages, it may be called a different name. Refer to Marketing Vs. Customer development article for more details.
Selecting the target customers
One of the essential tasks on which the success and profits of companies depend is to choose the customer segment that the company targets. So the best definition of marketing has not neglected this task.
The company’s customers are the company’s first concern, and they are the ones through whom income and profits are achieved.
The marketing process studies the various segments of customers in the market. It determines the target segment to fit the company’s work and ambitions in terms of profit and growth.
Examples of target groups include:
- Young men from 18 to 45 years old
- Pregnant women
- Children from 2 years old to 12 years old
- Etc
Determining the target group is one of the first tasks of the company’s marketing operations because most of the other tasks depend on it.
The mistake in choosing the appropriate segment will hinder the company and may expose it to bankruptcy.
For example, if the company selects a small customer segment, this choice may hinder the company’s growth and expansion, which leads to limited profits.
Suppose the company selects a saturated segment with many strong competitors. This choice makes the company suffer a lot to overcome competitors and obtain a suitable share in the market.
For more details about this section, refer to How to describe your business model article.
Determine the Value proposition features
After defining the target customer segment, the company’s work is not completed without specifying the service or product provided to this segment.
The product or service is usually called a value proposition because it usually comes compound with other services, such as the guarantee period, after-sales services, etc. The customer views the product as an integrated value with these services and not a separate product.
Choosing the value proposition that suits the customer and achieves the company’s goals is usually called the product-market fit stage. This is considered one of the most essential early marketing operations at the beginning of the company’s work.
Determine the communication channels
The company needs to communicate with its customers for several goals, the most important of which are:
- Presenting promotional campaigns and advertisements to customers
- Receiving money from customers
- Communicating with customers for after-sales follow-up
- Transferring customer complaints and comments on the product or service
Because of the importance of these basic needs, the marketing process studies customer details to determine the appropriate channels for customers and services.
Communication channels are usually divided into three main sections:
- Online channels via the Internet or TV
- The traditional channels deal directly with the customer
- Mixed channels between the two previous types
For more details about this section, refer to How to describe your business model article.
Getting new customers
At this stage of the marketing process, the company knows the details of the target customers, such as their locations, hobbies, income level, etc. The company also knows the value proposition and its most essential characteristics.
This information allows the company to choose the best way to conduct promotional campaigns to acquire new customers. Based on its market study and understanding of its customers’ needs.
The more accurate previous steps were, the easier this step would be and give faster and better results.
It is worth noting here that the marketing process performs this task for the first time, at the beginning of the company’s work (startup mode).
For more information, you can refer to the marketing activities categories and how startup works articles.
Keeping existing customers
Due to the high cost of acquiring clients, it is much easier and less expensive to keep existing clients than to acquire new clients.
Therefore, the marketing process clarifies the necessary plans to keep these customers and not leak them to competitors.
Growing existing customers
Keeping existing customers is a better step than losing them, but increasing their investment and selling them new products and services is even better.
Since the company owns the data of existing customers, it can sell them a new service based on previous experience with those customers.
For more information, you can refer to the marketing activities categories article.
Examples of other definitions of marketing
Now that the best definition of marketing is known, we will show you some other definitions of marketing in this section.
American Marketing Association definition: Marketing is 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.
Dr. Philip Kotler defines marketing as “the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit. Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures, and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which segments the company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services.”
Marketing, when done well, is (a) the strategy of the business – its value proposition, go-to-market strategy, and brand positioning and image to the world.
Marketing is the process by which a firm profitably translates customer needs into revenue. Mark Burgess – Managing Partner.
Conclusion
The researcher often finds several different definitions of marketing, which leaves great confusion.
This article presents the best definition of marketing with a simple and sufficient explanation. This definition is considered a comprehensive definition that includes all the different marketing tasks.
The best definition of marketing: Marketing refers to the set of processes and tasks that enable a company to profit in the market. These tasks are: Identifying the target customers, Determining the value proposition, selecting communication channels, getting new customers, keeping existing customers, growing customers.
This definition is considered the best definition of marketing for the following reasons:
- This definition explains the importance and responsibility of marketing in achieving success and profit for the company.
- This definition contains all the functions of the marketing process.
- The definition shows that the successful marketing process begins early, before the company’s work.
- Also, shows that the marketing process is comprehensive and drives all other functions and operations of the company.