Meaning and Definition of Marketing

1. Meaning and Definition of Marketing

In everyday speech, people often use "marketing" to mean nothing more than advertising, or

simply "selling." In business, the term is much wider. Marketing is the complete process

of identifying what customers need, creating a product or service that satisfies that need,

and then delivering it to the customer at the right place, at the right price, with effective

communication — while earning the business a fair profit in return.

A useful working definition: Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of goods, services, and ideas to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives. In plain language, marketing

is everything a business does — from studying what customers want, through designing and

pricing the product, to advertising it and getting it into the customer's hands — that leads to

a satisfying exchange for both sides: the customer gets a need satisfied, and the business earns

revenue and, ideally, a loyal repeat customer.

Key ideas built into this meaning:

• Marketing starts before the product is even made — with understanding customer needs and wants — and continues after the sale, through customer service and follow-up, aiming for a satisfied, repeat customer rather than a one-time transaction.
• Marketing is a continuous process, not a single act. It cycles through identifying needs, developing the offering, pricing it, promoting it, distributing it, selling it, and then gathering feedback to refine the next cycle.
• Marketing applies not only to physical goods, but also to services (banking, insurance, education, transport) and even to ideas (a public-health campaign "selling" the idea of vaccination is a form of marketing too).
• The end goal of marketing is customer satisfaction alongside profitable exchange — a sale …