What is marketing?

And where should you start with marketing?

That is a question we all think about as business owners. But before coming up with answers, let me ask another question I share in this post.

Today’s post is a quick, exciting fact I want you to ponder.

We all hear the expression “marketing” all the time.

We all know it is essential for running our business.

We all know we should have a marketing strategy for our business.

But my question before answering any of the above is this.

Did you ever think about how vast the marketing field is?

Because we have no idea, really.

I also pondered this question a few years ago. I wanted to find an answer to this question to create the right strategic direction for my marketing. So what did I do?

I went down the rabbit hole and created a list (below). It introduces the different areas of marketing. (Please note! It is my personal list. There is a possibility I have missed a couple of areas here and there.)

The conclusion is: Marketing can mean many things.

I can tell you one thing, however; what marketing is not!

Next time, when anyone throws the word ‘marketing’ at you, remember this. Or, when YOU use the term ‘marketing’, keep the sentence below in mind:

Marketing is not a single word with one meaning.

Ok, ok. Let’s just stop beating around the bush!

So, what is marketing, then?

To finally answer this simple question, let me ask you this.

Which marketing did you mean?

Because I have a list like this:

1. Offline marketing
2. Online marketing
   1. Digital marketing
      1. Free digital marketing
         1. Email marketing
         2. Local marketing – Google Business
         3. Visual marketing
            1. Photography
            2. Video marketing
            3. Graphic design
         4. Social media marketing
            1. Facebook
            2. Instagram
            3. LinkedIn
            4. Pinterest
            5. Tripadvisor
         5. Content marketing
            1. Online content
            2. Offline content
         6. SEO marketing
            1. On-site SEO
            2. Off-site SEO
            3. Technical SEO
         7. Referral marketing
         8. Informative marketing – Blogging
      2. Paid Digital
         1. PPC (SEM) marketing
            1. Google Ads
            2. Facebook Ads
            3. Instagram Ads
            4. Youtube Ads
            5. LinkedIn Ads
            6. Tripadvisor Ads
3. Influencer marketing
4. Brand marketing
5. Guerilla marketing
6. Affiliate marketing
7. Product marketing
8. User-generated marketing
9. Word-of-mouth marketing

In fact, everything you do IS marketing.

The way you speak, the tone you write in is marketing.

Sales is marketing.

Graphic design is marketing.

The way you dress, is marketing.

Whether it is about making an impression in front of others or making a living with your business, when you want to achieve a goal or succeed, you market yourself. Everything that you do is marketing.

I only had one aim with this blog post.

Now that you have seen this list, I want you to ponder the vastness of this field called “marketing” and contemplate it concerning your current marketing strategy.

---

Follow this blog as I share hands-on marketing tips with readers that I find helpful.

Thank you for reading my post.

I am Shopi.
The No B.S. Marketing & Design Guy for Hospitality Businesses.

Original Image by Vectonauta on Freepik modified by me.