Marketing, according to the American Marketing Association, is "the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives." Marketing focuses on the process by which consumers' and business' needs for products and services are anticipated and satisfied. Modern marketing stresses research and analysis to understand consumer behavior and to identify customer needs, new product research and development, competitive pricing, coordinated promotional or sales programs and efficient distribution.

All organizations, either explicitly or implicitly, practice marketing activities. Although it is common to think of marketing as something that is practiced only by for-profit businesses, not-for-profit organizations and government agencies need to realize that their ultimate goal is to determine their client's needs for products and services and to provide those that fit within the organization's mission.

An understanding of marketing is important for success in all business fields and occupations. Rapid technological innovations continue to change human needs. The challenge facing organizations is how best to satisfy these changing needs and provide goods and services to consumers at an affordable price. Marketers are instrumental in finding the answer to such challenges.

Many people erroneously think of marketing as "selling," but such a definition is too narrow. Although sales is one part of marketing, the discipline also includes such topics as new product introduction, pricing, advertising, marketing research, distribution, and many other tasks. This means marketing students may wish to prepare themselves for many different kinds of jobs.