By Tony Marino, Ph.D. We’ve noticed that on a well known marketing web site, thereis an article with a similar title - just what is marketing?This is a very good question and the answer typically endsup (as it is in the aforementioned article) being a lot oftactics, like advertising, brand management, sales, service,pricing, email marketing, etc. That’s a good start, but farfrom complete. And that’s one of the problems with the web. There are lotsof web sites out there with people claiming to beknowledgeable about marketing. In fact, if you go to searchengines like Google and type in marketing, you’ll come upwith over 16,000,000 web pages! By the time you’ve got thatmany people claiming to be experts in marketing, it’sdifficult to even know what marketing means. Marketing Is Not Tactics When most people think of marketing, they think of marketingtactics. People associate marketing with tactics, partlybecause they’re fun. Advertising is fun, promotions are fun,and so is sending out email campaigns and every othersimilar tactic. But tactics, while the most salient aspectsof marketing, are similar to the tactics of sport. They’revery important, but useless without having a sound basis ofknowledge. And so it is with marketing. Marketing is far more thantactics. Marketing is analysis, and a sound marketingstrategy is based on this analysis. Marketing Is All About Customers What type of analysis are we talking about? Well, analysisabout customers, for example. Having a solid understandingof customers means having a solid understanding about howcustomers behave, their motivations, their perceptions andpreferences. It means segmenting the market correctly andnot in the way that most companies think about segmentation(if they ever do). It means having a profound understanding of their attitudes,their knowledge and their emotions. Without having thisknowledge, the tactics of marketing are just blowing in thewind. You’ll hope that the tactics work, but be blissfullyunaware about whether anyone would want to pay attention orlisten. Adding Competitive Analysis Rarely do we see marketing sites deal with competitiveanalysis (we do!). Marketing is also about understandingcompetition. But not just listing off who the competitorsare. It means thinking about their competitive reactions,their objectives and capabilities. It means understandingcompetitive forces in an industry as well. Too often I see firms acting as though they weremonopolists, as though their competitors were unlikely toreact or had little interest in capturing a market. TheInternet is a good example of this. How many Internetcompanies really seriously thought about the potentialcompetitive reactions of the entrenched players? Did any ofthem consider long term competitive reactions? What aboutputting together plans that were robust to futurecompetitive reactions? No, marketing is also about competitive analysis, not justthe “interesting and fun” tactics that permeate the web. What About Capabilities Once again, to think about marketing you need to also thinkabout a company’s abilities to actually survive in themarket. I’m not talking about financial abilities, althoughthat is part of the story. What about a culture, thesalesforce compensation, the relationships withdistributors, suppliers, etc? Some companies focus squarely on customers and even thinkabout competitors. But these same companies often forgetabout their ability to provide what customers need, or theincentives in their distribution system to actually get thejob done. No, marketing is not just about tactics, it’s also aboutunderstanding your own company and it’s abilities andweaknesses. So, What Is Marketing? Marketing is, in fact, the analysis of customers,competitors, and a company, combining this understandinginto an overall understanding of what segments exist,deciding on targeting the most profitable segments,positioning your products, and then doing what’s necessaryto deliver on that positioning. How to do deliver on a positioning? Well, this is where thetactics come in. By branding correctly, by advertisingcorrectly, by communicating via email, letters, or whatever,but all done in a way that is consistent with the analysisthat marketing is really responsible for. If you want to get involved in tactics, that’s fine. Butjust think about artists, sports figures, doctors andscientists, and ask yourself whether in these other areas(which all, by the way, are as creative as marketing), it isjust necessary to understand tactics. I think what you’llfind is that tactics alone won’t get you very far, buttactics along with a strategy based on great analysis willget you exactly where you want to go. So before you go hiring consultants and network with othermarketers (as suggested in this “other article”), make sureyou understand what is marketing so you don’t just become atactical pawn, but someone who can ultimately direct theentire marketing campaign. Happy Marketing! Dr. Tony Marino is not only the CEO of America Web Works, he is also host of the PodCast Radio Show, the Founder of the http://www.AudioVideoStreams.com, the International ePublisher’s Association, Christian Times eBusiness Newsletter and the author of the ePublishing Master’s Course at: http://www.ePublisherUniversity.com. Additionally, he holds Email Compliance Officer status for many of today’s leading Network Marketing companies. He has also worked with the likes of legendary Direct Marketers Ted Nicholas and Gary Halbert. Best-Selling Authors, Harvey McKay, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. ABC Television’s, Jimmy Kimmel and NBC’s, Carson Daly. Online Marketers, Dale Calvert and Jay Abraham just to name a few. His offices are location in Portland and Los Angeles and he’d love to hear from you anytime! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tony_Marino,_Ph.D. http://EzineArticles.com/?So,-What-Is-Marketing?&id=80706 buy prescriptions internet pharmacies discount prescription buy generic levitra online