What is marketing?

When I'm delivering my training courses on marketing for small businesses and start ups across Norfolk, we usually start with a fairly simple question - "What is marketing?" I ask everyone to jot some ideas down to try and get a picture of the level of knowledge in the room (and also to give my voice a break from talking all day!) This exercise is also hugely valuable to get people "into the groove" and "thinking marketing". I truly believe that marketing is so much more than just a process like accounting or administration, its a whole way of thinking. Those that srtuggle with the concept will often start by putting advertising down on the blank sheet of paper but marketing is so much more than simply advertising.

Some of the most successful small businesses and start ups are those which think marketing all of the time. By this I mean that they are open-minded to creative ideas - anything from giving some products away to a charity to forming alliances for referrals or collaborating to host an event. So here are a few of the more unusual things that some of my training course delegates think are marketing that you might not have thought of:

1. Giving away free samples of your product - this could be at an event, in the street or even mounted onto the front of a magazine
2. Holding an open day
3. Writing an article in a magazine
4. Writing a blog or using other social media
5. Setting up a customer loyalty scheme - use a simple business card to collect stamps and give loyal customers a free drink etc on their 6th visit.
6. Clever packaging and point of sale (POS) - a dull product can look totally different in a clever box or display stand
7. Incentive schemes - encourage word of mouth from existing customers by rewarding them for referring a friend to you
8. Giving away branded promotional gifts such as pens, stickers or carrier bags

Can anyone suggest any other smart marketing ideas?