Marketing can be the practice of treating customers as human beings, not just a sale. Marketing is really the practice of listening to customers, and that process of listening gives a company two opportunities. One, a company can take action on what they learn, and in the course of taking action; customers recognize that you listened to them personally. Two, a company can take action based on what they have learned or explain to customers why they cannot take action, and in the course of which demonstrate to customers that they are willing to work with them and treat them like a human being.

Because the term marketing is commonly interpreted to mean only the process of promotion of a company, I use the term engagement marketing to explain the process of listening to customers and taking action on what they have heard. To me engagement marketing covers each of the four P's of marketing including promotion. Engagement marketing really means “marketing,” but it is better to support or coin another marketing related phrase such as “engagement marketing,” in order to explain how the process of marketing works best when a strategy of listening and taking action upon what a company has learned as a result of what is learned is used.
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