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WHAT DO YOU REALLY MEAN BY 'MARKETING'?

Written by Alexis Skigen Rago | May 21, 2025 10:29:57 PM
๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฏ๐˜† '๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด'?
 
Itโ€™s one of the most overusedโ€”and underdefinedโ€”terms in business.
 
Almost every business owner says:
โ€œI know I need to do more marketing.โ€
But what do you actually mean by that?
 
๐Ÿ‘‰ Brand awareness?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Lead generation?
๐Ÿ‘‰ A new website?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Email campaigns, SEO, ads, contentโ€ฆ?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Or just a vague sense of โ€œmore visibilityโ€?
 
Letโ€™s clear this up.
 
The American Marketing Association defines marketing as:
 
โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜บ, ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ด, ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ.โ€
 
Thatโ€™s trueโ€”but hereโ€™s a practical version:
 
๐Ÿ’ก ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฏ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ด๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฟโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.
 
And that bridge only holds if itโ€™s built with clarity.
 
If you try to โ€œdo more marketingโ€ without a clear foundation, you end up with scattered tactics:
 
๐ŸŒ€ Social content with no direction
๐ŸŒ€ Messaging that mimics competitors
๐ŸŒ€ Ads that donโ€™t convert
๐ŸŒ€ A beautiful website no one visits
 
Itโ€™s also known as the ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ-๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ-๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ช-๐˜ข๐˜ต-๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ-๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ-๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ-๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฆ-๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต-๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ฌ๐˜ด approach.
It can be costly.
 
Whatโ€™s missing?
 
โšก Clarity on your audience
โšก Clarity on the problem you solve
โšก Clarity on what makes your solution different
 
๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜.
Itโ€™s how you amplify what you already knowโ€”with precision.
 
No clarity = No traction.
 
So before you hire someone to โ€œdo your marketing,โ€ ask yourself:
 
๐Ÿ‘‰ What is the real goal?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Do I have a clear message that resonates with my Dream Clients?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Am I confident in what makes me different?
 
Because if notโ€ฆ marketing is the symptom. Not the solution. And a costly one at that.
 
When it works, marketing aligns:
โœ” Your values
โœ” Your message
โœ” Your Dream Clients
โœ” Your operations
โœ” Your growth
 
Itโ€™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 mattersโ€”consistently and clearly.
 
And thatโ€™s what builds trust.
 
โ€”
 
๐Ÿ“Œ This is part two of my โ€œWhat Do You ๐˜™๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜บ Mean?โ€ series.
In part one, we tackled small business.
Next up: strategyโ€”and all the confusion that comes with this foundational piece.
 
๐Ÿ’ฌ What does 'marketing' mean to you? Drop your definition in the commentsโ€”and letโ€™s get clearer together.