Why Businesses That Don't Do Marketing Definitely Do Marketing

Have you ever come across a business that claims that it doesn't "do marketing"?

Sometimes they're even proud of the fact that they don't "do marketing".

But they’re wrong.

Too many otherwise smart and successful people just confuse marketing with advertising. Actually, advertising is just a small, but very prominent, piece in marketing’s bigger universe.

Marketing is the discipline of business growth.

it’s about building the foundations on which a business can flourish and grow.

If you’ve ever considered what product to launch, or who might buy it, you’ve done marketing.

If you think about your ideal customer, segment your market, make choices about where to focus, you've done marketing.

What most businesses call “marketing” is only the visible tip: promotion, campaigns, creative ideas.

Underpinning all that sits planning, research and strategy, the bits most people ignore, yet without which the rest is just hit and hope decoration.

Whenever I begin with a new client, the first step is simple: we need to understand how they see themselves, and how they think their customers and see them.

We do a workshop, Post-its on the wall under three columns: Company, Competitors, Customers. It’s informal, messy and unlocks truths that a more formal setting just can't.

The next step is to question wether your perceptions are matched by your customers. That’s where customer research comes in. Depending on budget, we may run a buyer survey, ask people who’ve purchased from the category about their preferences, unmet needs, and awareness of brands. If budgets are tighter, interviews and simpler surveys still yield necessary insight.

This isn’t just theory. It shows who’s buying (and why), who else they consider, and what they take away from each experience. You discover your competitive set, your actual position in the market, and what customers expect from you.

Ideal customer profiles emerge. Strategies form around each distinctly different target group:

GET these people WHO have those problems TO buy this thing BY doing that thing.

It all needs focus. Some companies wander too far and dilute their message, but don't.

Focus in on your sweet spots.

Now, before you even scribble out a campaign idea on the back of a greasy napkin, you need to focus on what makes you memorable.

It might be a phrase, a colour, a tone of voice.

If there’s a white space, a gap in what your competitors are presenting themselves as, you should fill it.

With clarity on what’s distinctive and who you’re targeting, it’s time to plan how, when and where you’ll reach people.

Channels, timing, budgets matter as much as creative. The plan is essential to marketing.

“Emily in Paris” might look fun, but it's not proper marketing.

Proper marketing is about setting pathways, not just making noise.

All tactics should stem from research, from a well-defined strategy, and with metrics that measure progress.

It isn’t marketing if it’s just activity without intent.

Likewise, pure strategising without execution is masturbation.

So, for those still insisting they don’t do marketing: sorry, but you do.

Every decision, every focus, every move to grow your business involves marketing, whether you call it that or not.

Do marketing. And do it well.