Is Marketing a Luxury in Troubled Times?

Many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – and some large ones, for that matter – have difficulties when it comes to marketing. That should come as a surprise, given that Amazon in the UK alone lists more than 65,000 titles on the subject.

But that may be just where the problem lies. In difficult and complex areas of business it is sometimes difficult to see the wood for the trees. Outlined in this article is a simple view of what marketing is and the critical elements to be managed for success. It has been developed over years of working with SMEs and start-up businesses with little or no marketing budget.

There are three main questions to consider:

1. What is marketing, really?