With the proliferation of the Internet, the meaning of the word "marketing" also seems to proliferate. Cyberspace has opened up a whole arena of new marketing technologies, techniques, and twists.
Many times, ill-conceived notions and perceptions reduce the meaning of the word "marketing" to a shadow of it's true self. Many see marketing as a series of tactics or gimmicks. Some define marketing as pyramid programs and the like. Others treat the words "marketing" and "sales" or "marketing" and "advertising” as synonymous. None of these adequately convey the definition of marketing.

The marketing definition hasn't changed. So what has? What has changed is the business environment. Companies compete with more efficient technologies. Customers have better access to their cost options and they communicate to each other in ways not conceivable in the pre-Internet age. In some industries, the Internet has lowered the cost of entry so that entrepreneurs - many times from a home office - have entered the competition. The changes in competitive environment are numerous.

What have also changed are marketing strategies and the marketing programs we have available to implement those strategies. These have changed, but the basic marketing definition has not. Superior marketing is and always has been analysis, then action. It is strategy development, then logical and thought-out tactical implementation. It is the way to customer satisfaction and increasing profit.

The steps to successful marketing and implementation include analysis of your customers and the business environment in order to identify key opportunities to better and more profitably meet customer needs. Armed with that information, you determine how to act on those opportunities, and implementing your plan. It remains Analysis and Action.

The process doesn't have to be cumbersome. Five-year plans and novel-length documents are not required. The logic of the action is what is important. By applying the basic marketing process, choosing the best marketing tools at your disposal, rather than a tactic here and a technique there, your chances of success skyrocket.