Marketing Virgin

I once had a professor who would pose this question every time I went to class. His answer: “A relationship.” Nothing more, nothing less. We all gave him the, “huh?” look the first few times, but then we quickly learned how to give him the response he desired. In time, before he could even get the question out, someone would yell, “a relationship!” That sentence was the only thing I learned in that class – and by the way, I got an “A”.
Misconceptions about marketing:
1. Marketing = Advertising Advertising is a function of marketing. Marketing uses advertising to gain interest in a product, service, or the company as a whole. 2. Marketing = Sales Sales follows marketing. It is the job of marketing to gain the interest of prospects, nurture and build a relationship, and turn over the qualified prospects to the sales staff to “seal the deal”. 
 

Marketing is the process of generating interest in you. Your goal is to build awareness about your brand, solution, or service among the people you think are most likely to benefit. This group of people is also known as your target market. You want this group to give you information about themselves – their general interests, contact information, timeframe for purchase, etc. This will help your company close a deal.  
What is marketing to you?