It’s a question I was asked just this morning—one that, despite the ubiquity of the term, often remains misunderstood.
At its core, marketing is the strategic process of identifying and satisfying customer needs—at a profit. It’s not just about making noise. It’s about creating value: for your customers, your brand, and ultimately, your bottom line.
More Than Just Promotion
Many people automatically equate marketing with promotion—advertising, social media posts, brochures, logos, and packaging. And while these are all tactics within a marketing toolkit, they represent just the tip of the iceberg.
Marketing starts much earlier.
✅ It begins with understanding your customer:
Who are they? What do they need? How do they behave?
✅ It involves researching the market:
Is there genuine demand? Is the opportunity viable? What does the competitive landscape look like?
✅ It includes developing a solution:
Do your products or services genuinely meet the needs identified? Can you deliver at a price the market will accept and still maintain margin?
✅ And only then does it move into communication and promotion—telling your story in a way that resonates, builds trust, and drives action.
The Marketing Mix: More Than the 4Ps
To be effective, it helps to understand the broader framework marketers use—the marketing mix. Traditionally, this refers to the 4Ps:
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Product – What are you offering and why does it matter?
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Price – How much will it cost and how is it positioned?
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Place – Where will people find and access your offering?
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Promotion – How will you raise awareness and persuade customers?
Many businesses today add two more to this list:
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People – The team delivering the service (especially important in SMEs and service industries)
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Process – How the experience is delivered, from first click to after-sales care
Get this mix right, and your business becomes a marketing-led organisation—one that focuses on customer need, communicates clearly, and delivers consistently.
Why It Matters
Starting with a logo and a strapline may feel like progress, but unless it’s based on insight, research, and a clear strategy, you may be building on very shaky foundations.
Poor planning = poor performance.
Guesswork = wasted budget.
No demand = no sales.
Marketing done properly avoids all of these.
Need Support with Your Marketing Strategy?
At BMC, we work with SMEs to help them build a robust, strategic marketing approach that drives long-term success—not just short-term activity.
If you’re rethinking your marketing or wondering how to get more from your current efforts, let’s talk. We offer a free initial consultation to understand your goals and offer some clear, actionable advice.
📩 Just fill out the contact form on our site and we’ll get back to you.
