WHAT DO YOU REALLY MEAN BY 'MARKETING'?
by
Alexis Skigen Rago
on
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘆 '𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴'?
It’s one of the most overused—and underdefined—terms in business.
Almost every business owner says:
“I know I need to do more marketing.”
But what do you actually mean by that?
👉 Brand awareness?
👉 Lead generation?
👉 A new website?
👉 Email campaigns, SEO, ads, content…?
👉 Or just a vague sense of “more visibility”?
Let’s clear this up.
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as:
“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.”
That’s true—but here’s a practical version:
💡 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.
And that bridge only holds if it’s built with clarity.
If you try to “do more marketing” without a clear foundation, you end up with scattered tactics:
🌀 Social content with no direction
🌀 Messaging that mimics competitors
🌀 Ads that don’t convert
🌀 A beautiful website no one visits
It’s also known as the 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪-𝘢𝘵-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘴𝘦𝘦-𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵-𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘴 approach.
It can be costly.
What’s missing?
⚡ Clarity on your audience
⚡ Clarity on the problem you solve
⚡ Clarity on what makes your solution different
𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁.
It’s how you amplify what you already know—with precision.
No clarity = No traction.
So before you hire someone to “do your marketing,” ask yourself:
👉 What is the real goal?
👉 Do I have a clear message that resonates with my Dream Clients?
👉 Am I confident in what makes me different?
Because if not… marketing is the symptom. Not the solution. And a costly one at that.
When it works, marketing aligns:
✔ Your values
✔ Your message
✔ Your Dream Clients
✔ Your operations
✔ Your growth
It’s not just ads, funnels, or content. Those are tactics.
Marketing, done well, is how you communicate who you are, what you solve, and why it matters—consistently and clearly.
And that’s what builds trust.
—
📌 This is part two of my “What Do You 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 Mean?” series.
In part one, we tackled small business.
Next up: strategy—and all the confusion that comes with this foundational piece.
💬 What does 'marketing' mean to you? Drop your definition in the comments—and let’s get clearer together.
