Are You a Marketer or a Seller?

Most serious marketers are familiar with Theodore Levitt’s “Marketing Myopia“, but I had not read it in quite some time.  Re-reading it this past week, one of the things that it sheds light on is marketing versus selling — I think it’s a VERY  important distinction to make.

Here’s what his article says:

“The difference between marketing and selling is more than semantic. Selling focuses on the needs of the seller, marketing on the needs of the buyer,” (Levitt, 1975).

Which do you fall under?

There are a LOT of people online who are online sellers, but how many are actually online marketers? Sellers are preoccupied with converting their product or service into cash, while marketers are satisfying the needs of their customers.

Therefore, what marketers offer consumers are not determined by themselves, but the buyers. REMEMBER that your product needs to be a consequence of the marketing effort.You can spend countless hours perfecting the greatest product of all time, but if consumers don’t see the benefit of it, it isn’t going to matter.

I TRY to be a marketer and I would contend I’m a LOT less guilty of being a seller (though I would argue we’re all guilty of it at one point or another) than I was in the past. Anyhow, I just thought it was an interesting point that could be applied directly to online marketing and figured I would share. Perhaps you need to re-evaluate your business efforts. As always, I’m interested in opinions, additions, etc.