There are a lot of lame definitions of marketing out there, such as:

Marketing:  the management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.

Marketing:   is 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.

Marketing:  the act or process of selling or purchasing in a market.  The process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service.

These definitions are so boring they should come with a medical warning not to read and operate heavy equipment.  They also don’t really get to what’s important.

Here are short,  precise, more useful definitions of marketing and marketer.

Marketing:  the art and science of strategic influence. 

Marketer:  one who seeks a specific response.

These definitions say a great deal in just a few words.  They encompass both the idea of an influencer and someone being influenced.  They are also not strictly commercial but connect to a far greater range of behaviors.

The four words used to define marketing (art, science, strategic, and influence) are so important that it’s worth taking each one and expanding on its meaning.

 

Strategic

Marketing requires that you have a strategy.  You need a vision that runs through all the goals, tactics and execution you’ll engage in.

Many businesspeople (reading the lame definitions) make the mistake of looking at marketing as a static “process”.  This leads them to go straight into the execution of work without a specific sense of what they’re trying to say or who they’re trying to reach.

Start with a strategy.  Be clear about who you’re trying to reach.  Understand the benefit your offer delivers and know why your customers should care.  Compare yourself to the competition so you can say with conviction you’re the best choice.

A strategic vision gives you insight into why someone will spend money on your offer.  If you don’t have that, it’s hard to be profitable.

 

Influence

Every aspect of your marketing has an underlying goal.  You are trying to influence the thinking and actions of your audience.

Of course, the ways in which this happens are as complex as the responses of the human mind.  Everything from gentle teaching to obstinate cajoling fall in the realm of what you might try.

However, in the world of digital marketing, influence has a lot to do with making lifestyle connections.  Digital media allows people to get into social networks where the influence of a brand’s message quickly spreads.

The style of what you’re communicating varies, but it always has the underlying purpose of supporting your marketing strategy.  If it’s not influencing thinking or behavior in a way that connects to your strategy, then it’s not marketing content.

 

Science

Digital marketing is enveloped in data.  Every move we make online leaves a digital trail that marketers can use to understand audiences and target content delivery.

There is a very real science to marketing, which gets more detailed as you refine your marketing goals and tactics.  You make a hypothesis, test variables, and draw conclusions based on the numbers.  This is where you use prescribed processes the most.

One of the keys to the science of data analysis is knowing that it’s best at telling you how people responded to your content.  You can do a certain amount of predictive analysis with marketing, but you must be explicit about how the numbers are only predictions and not facts.

The science of marketing mainly comes down to determining what works and what doesn’t so you can make informed modifications.

You can stumble and guess your way to a good marketing campaign.  But to develop a great one, you need to be scientific.

 

Art

In the cause of science and pursuit of data, digital marketers sometimes forget there is also an art to marketing.

Only a small part of this is designing for aesthetic beauty.  The real art is understanding behavioral patterns, emotional triggers, and cognitive biases of the people you’re trying to persuade.

The marketing scientist would love to act as if people all make rational decisions based on complete information.  They’d like to think intellectual understanding is a driving force behind making a purchase decision.

But this is not the case.  We are emotional creatures, and in fact, science has proven that it’s emotions that guide the final action to buy.

Understanding people’s motivations and behaviors is an art.  Creating content that connects to them is an art.

Marketers don’t just rely on facts.  When they’re heading in the right direction, they can feel it.

Art makes marketing unpredictable, which is also what makes it interesting.

 

Are You a Marketer?

Everybody who starts a business wants customers to buy from them.  But this goal doesn’t make you a marketer.  It’s not just “delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers.”

Marketers seek a specific response from their audience based on the circumstances.  They understand that people doing early research or just discovering their brand need a different experience from those that are ready to buy.

Marketers understand the interplay between data and intuition.  They recognize people make unpredictable, emotionally-driven decisions, but they also look for patterns they can track.

The best marketers are like generals or coaches.  They have a strategy that underlies every decision they make.  They have an eye for details, but never lose sight of the big picture.

You seek to influence the behavior of people you want to do business with.  You use marketing to achieve those goals.

Influencing people is no easy task, which is why marketing needs to be well defined, both in words and deeds.