What is marketing?

Marketing is often thought of simply as product sales or advertising; however, marketing includes much more. Marketing is “planning and executing a set of objectives to bring buyers and sellers together so that a sale can take place,†” and it requires thorough planning and execution.

Marketing has several objectives for an enterprise:

1. Identify a specific target audience for the enterprise or product and the needs of this audience
2. Attract the target audience to the enterprise or product
3. Meet the needs of the target audience and entice them to spend their money at the enterprise or purchase the product
4. Create a desire in the audience to repeat their purchase over and over again

More information may be found in Marketing for the Value-added Agricultural Enterprise at http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/PB1699.pdf.

†Dalton, Anne, Rob Holland, Shasta Hubbs and Kent Wolfe. Marketing for the Value-Added Agricultural Enterprise. University of Tennessee Extension Publication PB1699. May 2002. Available online at <http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/PB1699.pdf>. Accessed April 1, 2005.