According to the AMA, "marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders."

Well, knock me over with a feather, but that just doesn’t sound too exciting to me

It’s not that the definition is wrong. It is as good a place to start as any. But it is missing two things that we need to be good marketers.

1. Sales. The goal of marketing is to sell something — whether it be a product or an idea, and while this is perhaps implied with "delivering value" and the focus on customers, I’d like to see it more explicit.
2. Action. In marketing, we want to get someone to do something. The AMA definition is passionless and passive — I want to see marketers excited and active — doing, making things happen, getting results.

So here’s what I’d like to add to the dialogue:

"Marketing is the art, and science, of persuading a prospect to take the desired action. Most often, to buy a product, but also: renew a subscription, sign the petition, make the contribution, etc."

Implicit in this definition is the creation of the "product"  that will persuade — both the tangible and intangible.

Here are a couple of other blogs that also cover this topic: Marketing Playbook and Brand Mantra.

What do you think we need to add to this definition to make it work for you?