What is the difference between marketing and selling?

Oftentimes, farmers confuse the act of selling their products to a customer as marketing. They think about marketing their product when it is ready to be sold. Since most agricultural products are perishable this often puts these farmers at the mercy of their customers. These farmers are essentially price-takers with little control of the price they will receive and/or the quantity they will sell.

In actuality, selling is a small portion of the entire marketing scheme. Selling is the transaction where a product is transferred from the farmer to a buyer for a price. In contrast, marketing is a process that involves several steps ranging from the generation of a product idea to the delivery of that product to the customer. Even after delivery of the product to the customer, the marketing process continues through direct communication with the customer to obtain feedback about the product.

In the business world, marketing is defined as a process of planning and executing the idea of a product, its price and the promotion and distribution of that product to satisfy the needs of the customer. This definition illustrates how the marketing process is a proactive approach to producing and selling goods, allowing the farmer to behave more like a price-maker. In other words, marketing should not be an afterthought of production, but should be carefully planned before production takes place.

Farmers interested in marketing their agricultural products should conduct market research and write a marketing plan. Market research and planning enable farmers to establish goals and objectives for their operation and become familiar with their potential customers, competition and trends in the market.

The following resources provide some useful information about marketing and market planning:

Center for Profitable Agriculture http://cpa.utk.edu

“Marketing for the Value-Added Agricultural Enterprise.” Center for Profitable Agriculture. University of Tennessee Extension Publication PB1699. http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/PB1699.pdf

“Direct Marketing Guide fro Producers of Fruits, Vegetables and Specialty Products.” University of Tennessee Extension Publication PB 1711. http://www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/PB1711.pdf