What Is Marketing?

Marketing is what's behind how businesses and organizations connect with the people they serve. Whether you can call that a "secret sauce" or not, the American Marketing Association defines marketing as the process¹ of creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and stakeholders. At its core, marketing refers to understanding a target audience, developing a company’s product or service that meets their needs, and sharing those offerings through the right marketing channels.

Marketing is often used by organizations¹ to attract and engage prospective customers and to foster long-term relationships. Marketing encompasses both digital and traditional marketing strategies, allowing businesses to reach people wherever they are, whether online, in print, or in-person. For businesses, developing a solid marketing strategy requires understanding the audience, choosing the right channels, and continuously measuring the effectiveness of marketing efforts.

Marketing Fundamentals: The 4 Ps

A helpful way to think about marketing is through the marketing mix, often described¹ as the 4 Ps:

• Product: What is being offered and what makes it unique. Every marketing department considers the product’s features, benefits, and value proposition when developing a strategy.
• Price: How the product or service is positioned in the market, including considerations of competitor pricing and customer interest. Price influences perceptions and plays a key role in a company’s competitive positioning.
• Place (or Distribution): The distribution channels that deliver a product to customers, including retail locations, online platforms, and direct-to-consumer channels.
• Promotion: The ways a company communicates value, including sales promotions, public relations campaigns, advertising, event marketing, and outbound marketing initiatives. Promotion helps create awareness and informs potential customers about the product or service.

The 4 Ps provide a foundation for marketing professionals to coordinate the marketing mix effectively, guiding both traditional and digital marketing strategies.

Developing a Marketing Strategy

A marketing strategy is the blueprint for guiding² marketing efforts. Every strong strategy begins with conducting market research, which helps identify target customers, their preferences, and their pain points. Market research can include surveys, focus groups, competitor analysis, website analytics, and social listening, giving the marketing team insight into how to best connect with their audience.

Once the audience is understood, the marketing team develops² a marketing plan that outlines goals, identifies the target market, and determines which marketing channels will be most effective. Modern marketing strategy often blends multiple approaches: Social media marketing campaigns, SEO marketing, keyword marketing, and paid advertising may work alongside traditional marketing strategies like print ads, direct mail, or community events.

Effective strategies are typically aligned with a company’s mission, ensuring that all messaging supports the company’s brand and builds long-term customer loyalty.

Types of Marketing

Marketing is not a one-size-fits-all practice. Organizations and professionals often use multiple³ approaches to reach potential customers depending on their business and goals.

10 Types of Marketing

1. Content Marketing
   Content marketing is all about creating valuable content that attracts and engages your target audience. It may help establish brand authority, build consumer trust, and foster deeper connections. Techniques include blogging, video marketing, ebooks, webinars, and infographics.
2. Social Media Marketing
   Social media marketing involves engaging your audience on platforms like Facebook and Instagram (Meta), LinkedIn, and X. Key objectives include enhancing brand awareness, building loyalty, and driving traffic. Techniques include content creation, influencer collaborations, community management, and paid social campaigns.
3. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
   SEM ensures your brand appears when potential customers search online for your products or services. Key tactics include keyword research, on-page SEO, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, link building, and local SEO.
4. Email Marketing
   Email marketing nurtures leads and maintains customer relationships through direct communication. Techniques include personalized campaigns, automated drip workflows, newsletters, and feedback surveys, all designed to increase engagement and conversions.
5. Influencer Marketing
   Partnering with influential figures has the potential to expand a brand’s reach, build credibility, and drive engagement. Techniques include micro-influencer collaborations, brand ambassadors, content co-creation, affiliate links, and product reviews.
6. Event Marketing
   Event marketing creates direct customer interactions through conferences, webinars, networking events, product launches, and sponsorships. Effective strategies are typically aligned with a company’s mission.
7. Affiliate Marketing
   Affiliate marketing uses third-party affiliates to promote your products in exchange for a commission. Techniques include joining affiliate networks, collaborating with bloggers and content creators, providing discount codes, and tracking affiliate performance.
8. Guerrilla Marketing
   Guerrilla marketing leverages unconventional, creative tactics in public spaces to capture attention and create memorable brand experiences. Its main objectives are to raise brand awareness, generate buzz, and foster community engagement; all often with a low-cost, high-impact approach.
   Examples may include eye-catching street art, pop-up activations, flash mobs, and viral stunts. By surprising and delighting audiences in unexpected ways, guerrilla may help brands stand out, spark conversation, and leave lasting impressions.
9. Product Marketing
   Product marketing focuses on positioning and promoting products to drive demand and sales. Key techniques to get started can include market research, product positioning, go-to-market strategies, sales enablement, and collecting customer feedback to refine offerings.
10. Word-of-Mouth Marketing
    Word-of-mouth marketing relies on satisfied customers promoting a brand through personal recommendations. Some techniques to try out may include referral programs, customer testimonials, social sharing campaigns, influencer advocacy, and community engagement, all of which amplify credibility and trust.

Marketing Channels

Marketing channels are the methods⁴ through which companies deliver messages and engage audiences. Choosing the right channels ensures that brand messaging reaches the right target customers efficiently. A well-rounded approach often combines multiple channels to balance reach, engagement, and conversion.

Some common digital marketing channels include:

• Social Media: Engaging audiences through platforms like Facebook^® and Instagram^®, LinkedIn^®, TikTok^® and others. Includes social media promotions and influencer marketing to attract potential customers.
• Email: Direct communication to nurture relationships, provide updates, or share resources.

Some common traditional marketing channels include:

• Print Media: Newspapers, magazines, brochures, and flyers to reach local or niche audiences.
• Broadcast: TV and radio campaigns to build brand recognition on a large scale.
• Direct Mail: Personalized flyers, postcards, and catalogs that provide tangible touchpoints.
• Events: Trade shows, conferences, or community events for face-to-face engagement with target customers.

Using multiple⁴ marketing channels may support consistent messaging and can contribute to stronger brand loyalty over time.

The Role of Marketing and Brand Research

Marketing research connects¹ consumers, customers, and the public to marketers by providing⁵ information that helps identify and define opportunities and challenges, develop and assess strategies, track performance, and enhance understanding of the marketing process. It determines⁶ what information is needed, plans how to collect it, oversees the data-gathering process, analyzes the results, and shares the insights and their implications.

Some techniques⁵ may include:

• Surveys and Focus Groups: Collect direct feedback from potential customers about preferences and satisfaction.
• Competitor Analysis: Evaluate what competitors are doing to identify opportunities for differentiation.
• Customer Interviews: In-depth discussions to understand motivations and pain points.
• Creating Buyer Personas: Detailed profiles of ideal customers, including demographics, behaviors, interests, and goals. Personas guide marketing campaigns, content creation, and messaging.
• Customer Journey Mapping: Visualizing how target customers interact with marketing channels and products, helping marketing teams optimize the path from awareness to engagement.

By incorporating these insights, marketing professionals can refine strategies, craft brand messaging, and enhance marketing effectiveness across all channels.

Building a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan organizes⁷ strategies and tactics into a clear roadmap. It outlines objectives, selected marketing channels, marketing budget, and resources needed to execute campaigns. A plan serves as a reference for marketing managers and teams, ensuring marketing efforts are coordinated, measurable, and aligned with the company’s brand. It also supports long-term strategies for building customer loyalty and strengthening brand recognition.

Measuring Effectiveness

Marketing teams use evaluation to determine⁸ whether campaigns meet their goals. Metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, or customer feedback allow marketing teams to see what works and where improvements are needed. These insights help optimize public relations campaigns, sales promotions, outbound marketing, and other efforts, ensuring a consistent focus on building long-term customer relationships.

How Marketing Drives Brand Awareness and Loyalty

What is marketing? It's more than just selling products. It’s both the art and science of understanding people and connecting with them effectively. By exploring marketing fundamentals, strategies, channels, content marketing, specialized approaches, and market research, it becomes clear how marketing shapes the way a company promotes its brand, attracts prospective customers, and builds lasting brand loyalty.

¹American Marketing Association, "The Definition of Marketing," https://www.ama.org/the-definition-of-marketing-what-is-marketing/ (accessed September 29, 2025).
²American Marketing Association, "What is Strategic Marketing? Definition, Importance, and Key Components," https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/what-is-strategic-marketing-definition-importance-and-key-components/ (accessed September 29, 2025).
³American Marketing Association, "Guide to Types of Marketing: Strategies, Techniques, and Tactics Explained," https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/guide-to-types-of-marketing-strategies-techniques-and-tactics-explained/ (accessed September 29, 2025).
⁴American Marketing Association, "How Can Traditional and Digital Marketing Work Together?" https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/how-can-traditional-and-digital-marketing-work-together/ (accessed September 29, 2025).
⁵American Marketing Association, "The Four Steps of Effective Brand Research," https://www.ama.org/2023/11/01/the-four-steps-of-effective-brand-research/ (accessed September 29, 2025).
⁶U.S. Small Business Administration, "Market Research and Competitive Analysis," https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/market-research-competitive-analysis (accessed September 29, 2025).
⁷American Marketing Association, "What is a Marketing Plan?" https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/what-is-a-marketing-plan/ (accessed September 29, 2025).
⁸American Marketing Association, "How to Develop an Effective Marketing Strategy,"https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/how-to-develop-an-effective-marketing-strategy/ (accessed September 29, 2025).