subject: Online Marketing Tips: True Marketing Has Nothing To Do With Selling [print this page] When you hear the word marketing, what comes to mind? What concept or idea do you think of first? Perhaps money, or selling, or promotion? Is not marketing simply promoting a product or service to make a sale? Marketing is what you do as a company to make money, right? What if I told you that true marketing has nothing to do with selling. That selling is NOT the goal of marketing. Let me say it again. Selling is not the goal of marketing.
What Is the Goal of Marketing?
Selling is the RESULT of marketing, but it is not the end, or the objective. The GOAL of marketing rather, is MAXIMIZING RELATIONSHIPS. Marketing has more to do with people and with building relationships than it does with completing a sales transaction. People and businesses who promote a product with the entire goal being of making a sale are not MARKETING, they are SELLING. Ok, but when you are actually marketing, don't you want to make a sale? Yes, of course.
What Is the Intention of A Successful Business?
Making a sale, completing a transaction, these are all things, obviously that a business wants to gain. The difference is in the intention, the focus or mindset of the business. A business who focuses on true marketing focuses FIRST on providing value to their customer. Their GOAL is to make someones life better. To achieve this end, they offer their products or services.
They seek to satisfy their client, to HELP them, and if a sales transaction is completed, it is seen as the BONUS, as the REWARD for their excellent service. When marketing is understood correctly, suddenly business becomes more about listening, about providing terrific value, about communication, and about HELPING OTHERS. That should be the number one focus, the number one goal of all businesses.
What Should A Business Ask Itself?
A business must ask itself: How does my product or service benefit people? How does it help people? How does what my business has to offer make people's lives better? True marketing is about giving an answer to a question. It is about providing a solution to a problem. First, you find a need. You identify a problem. Then you figure out a way to fix it. And you offer your solution to people and they reward you with sales.
That is marketing. It is building relationships that are centered around serving, and providing incredible value to people to better their lives. The awesome part is that TRUE marketing will always lead to sales. If people have a genuine need that they want to have solved, chances are if you provide the solution, they're going to pay you for it. That is business.
Yes, the sale is part of the equation, it is just not the whole equation. So remember, marketing is not about selling, it's about building relationships with others by serving them and meeting their needs. Thanks for reading. I would love to hear your thoughts on this!
