You might have seen I put a poll out this week on LinkedIn asking what marketing means to you, as I’m genuinely interested in what people think marketing does/should deliver for their business.

(If you didn’t see it, please have a quick search on LinkedIn to find my post from Wednesday, jump in & help me get a good view of how the land lies!)

I’d fallen into a bit of a habit with marketing in terms of wanting to focus heavily on tactics for my clients and the return on investment they would give.

Don't get me wrong, all important stuff, but after a little lightbulb moment (during my recent months of studying) I remembered it’s not just about pricing, social media engagement, great packaging or product positioning.

Marketing starts with assessing what challenges face the business as a whole, eg. how does a business reach sustainable growth and drive profit, and what are the barriers to these. (Yep I do ✅)

It’s vital to then line these up with a marketing strategy (next step!) to ensure alignment so that every activity/tactic within the organisation is driving to that overall goal. (Yep, do this too ✅)

And this strategy needs to consider the whole value chain, up and downstream, not just the from the front end (ahhh, ding…! 💡),

with tactical planning and execution following to deliver those results.

By inspecting all areas of the value chain, marketing can have a much broader impact on the business and deliver even greater ROI; think sourcing, materials, processes, design, the list continues…. as well as proposition, campaigns, communications.

It’s vital for marketers to be able to communicate the full benefits of marketing to the business by looking at all sides, but also for board members & key stakeholders to be open to understanding marketing as an all-encompassing holistic approach, not purely ‘a bit of digital’, a leaflet, or transitory budget.

Marketing is the bridge between the purchaser/end-user and the business, through understanding the markets, customers, the organisation’s capabilities, and how best to align to create a unique proposition, throughout the entire value chain.

It’s not just about pushing out as much product as possible, it’s about truly understanding and leading with customer/market wants/needs, how to acquire new and, just as important, how to retain current.

Digital is clearly an important tactic and has a place, but it is not the Golden Goose.

It is a full marketing approach oriented with customer and market insights for evidence and clarity that will create a platform for the right strategy, tactics, alignment, and ultimately deliver business growth, profit, and sustainability.