If forced to choose a single common trait amongst marketing people, it is the inclination to overcomplicate everything. While some nuances of marketing are justifiably complex, much of the important stuff is not.

Yet, the instinct for complexity extends to all aspects of marketing, including its definition.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing using 27 words, and a bunch of phrases like “society at large” and that sort of thing.

Yawn.

Sadly, that is one of the more concise definitions you’ll find.

Let’s try to beat it.

Marketing can be boiled down to this essential definition: Marketing is every message sent by your business.

Simple.

The reason that definition works is because it covers both the intentional and unintentional messages sent by your business.

Intentional messages are the stuff you put time and money into. Intentional messages include every traditional, digital, and new media message you send… from your print and radio ads to trends like content marketing and fads like Twitter (more on why Twitter is a fad another time).

It’s important to get these messages right. After all, you’re spending time and money on both creating and distributing them. They are an investment, and you control it.

A mistake some marketers and business leaders make, however, is losing sight of the unintentional messages your business sends. What’s the danger? These unintentional messages are usually the loudest.

For example, the cleanliness of your store is a message your customer always hears.

That rude email response you shot off to a customer at the end of a long day is as strong of a brand message as a dirty floor. Every invoice and receipt you publish as a business is a message. Every sign and sticker inside your store is a message as much as every page of your website is.

These unintentional messages are the body language of your business. Not only is it vital to get them right, failing to do so has real consequences. If your intentional messages signal that you have a great customer experience, and whoever answers the phone is rude, you will not be known for a great customer experience.

Here’s your challenge for the week – examine your business’s body language. Write it down. Study it. Make a plan to improve it.

It’s still early in the year. Make a resolution.