What Even is Marketing?
When I went in for a routine teeth cleaning, I didn’t expect to have an existential crisis. But there I was, reclined in the chair, spit bib on, when my dental hygienist started to make small talk.
“So, what have you been up to?” she asked.
I told her I had recently graduated from college and was now working at Pinnacle Marketing Group in Bemidji. As she put on her gloves and got to work, she paused and said, “Oh, what’s that?”
“Ets a mahketing ay-jun-see,” I mumbled around a mouthful of fingers.
Apparently, that was clear enough, or she’s just fluent in “mouth full of fingers,” because she followed up with, “Yeah, but what even is that?”
As she poked and scraped my teeth, my life flashed before my eyes, or at least my marketing degree did. I had no idea what to say. Sure, part of it was because she still had her whole hand in my mouth, but mostly because I didn’t know where to start.
Back to the Office…and Back to the Basics
Once I got back to the Pinnacle office with clean teeth and no cavities 😊, I decided the best place to start is at the beginning. I dusted off my trusted intro to marketing textbook and skimmed through chapter one.
“Marketing: The process by which companies engage customers, build strong customer relationships, and create customer value in order to capture value from customers in return” (Armstrong and Kotler 5).
The textbook definition still felt a little abstract, so I kept reading. And that’s when it really clicked.
The truth is, marketing is so much more than just one thing. It’s a process. A process that had become so ingrained in my everyday workflow that I didn’t even realize I was following it.
Shoutout to the great marketing professors at Bemidji State University who drilled these concepts into my brain so thoroughly, they became second nature.
Inside the Marketing Process
This process starts with listening. You need to understand your audience before you can connect with them. What do they actually need? What problems are they trying to solve? You can’t market well if you’re just guessing.
Once you know who you’re talking to, the next step is to build a strategy around their needs. That means choosing the right group of people to serve (targeting and segmentation), understanding how to serve them best (value proposition), and figuring out how your business can serve them better than competitors (differentiation and positioning).
Then comes the part most people think of when they hear the word “marketing,” which is the actual stuff you put out into the world. This is where you create things that deliver value. That could be launching your new website, posting on social media, or running Google ads. Everything should work together and support your audience, not just promote your business.
Next is building real relationships. Marketing isn’t just about getting someone to buy your product or service. It’s about showing up consistently, creating a positive experience, and building trust so people want to come back or tell others about you.
When all these steps work together, you begin to capture value in return. That could be steady sales, long-term profits, and loyal customers who come back again and again. This is the result of a strategy that goes far beyond ads and sets your business up for long-term success.
Open Wide for Marketing That Works
So, what even is marketing? Turns out, it’s a whole lot more than I could explain with a mouth full of dental tools. It’s research, strategy, content, consistency, and relationship building, all working together to create long-term success. At Pinnacle Marketing Group, this is exactly what we help businesses do every day, even if you’re not quite sure what marketing is. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to take your marketing to the next level, our team is here to help build a strategy that actually works. No spit bibs required 😉.
Works Cited:
Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Marketing An Introduction. 13th ed., Pearson, 2017.
