Peter Drucker is one of the best known “business thinkers”.

He was a writer, consultant and college professor. He’s also widely considered the father of modern management theory.

And he understood what marketing is, and what it isn’t.

Image courtesy of marklarson

“That which gets measured gets done”

This is often-quoted, but rarely practiced.

If you really want to achieve great things, then you need to figure out how you’re going to get there.

Focus on the process, not the end result.

Sometimes you may fall short. That’s OK. If you know where and why you fell short, then you can address it.

And you will know the difference between activities that are moving you closer to your goal, and activities that are preventing you from ever reaching them.

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

Is spending 5 hours a day on Twitter really helping you reach your goals?

Should your Klout score be in the 70s?

Or should you get back to work on the hard, but important stuff?

The actual day-to-day tasks you do needs to fit your overall strategy, which should align with your business goals.

So before rushing to the next shiny social network or latest tactic, think about how it fits with your goals.

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself”

Marketing isn’t advertising, or social media.

Marketing is everything.

It’s everything from the solution you provide, to the way you provide it.

Online, it starts with getting attention and building trust with people. After that happens, your product will sell itself.

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.”

Nonverbal cues give you a better idea of what someone is actually thinking.

Verbal feedback isn’t always reliable, because people aren’t always rational.

Instead, focus on how users behave on your website.

What are they clicking? How far are they scrolling?

These interactions tell you exactly what people care about, and what they don’t.

Now you can make smart changes that will improve conversions.

In summary: work smart, not hard.