Marketing defined - The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines marketing as "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders." So waht does this mean? It means attract more customers, get them to buy, and keep them happy even after they buy so that they can tell their friend and even come back for more.

When people think of marketing many think of advertising... TV commercials, radio spots, newspaper and magazine ads, internet ads, and so on. True, advertising is a function of marketing but there is a lot more to marketing than just advertising. Marketing is a social science that entails not just advertising but also many other functions such as product design, research, promotion, branding, pricing, customer service, and public relations.

Marketing could well be the most important business function of all. Marketing is the business plan of how to attain and keep customers. Do you think you can run a business without customers? Of course not. And, that is probably the reason why more business books have been written on the topic of marketing than any other business topic.

Although large corporations have a well-paid marketing departments, some staffed with graduates of marketing programs from top business schools, marketing is not a business function performed solely by large corporations. Sure, they may have a formal marketing budget but all businesses perform marketing functions, some perhaps on a much smaller scale than a large corporation. That includes small businesses, medium sized businesses, sole proprietorships, and partnerships. Even the local conveniance store owner performs marketing. His pricing decisions - that's marketing. His smile when he greets a customer - that's marketing. His promotional signs in the front window - that's marketing.

Marketing is important. Marketing can make or break a business. It's not an exact science so there can never be a definitive step-by-step guide. But there methods and doing it properly can help make a business a success.