Marketing has certainly evolved over the last 20 years, to the point where, as a marketer, I don't know what I'd do without tools and channels. I've always believed that marketing and sales are like "kissing cousins" and that they work hand in hand, almost interchangeably.

Years ago, when I was a sales consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics, I read a few books by Zig Ziglar and remember a quote sticking in my mind. "Nothing happens until somebody sells something." I am not sure if it originated with Zig Ziglar, but the point is that it is a profound statement.

You can have the world's greatest product or service, but if you don't market it (or sell it), what good will it be to anyone? Your website can be visually stunning, engaging, informative and optimized for search engines, but if you don't do something to market it, it will most likely not be found.

So whether you're using social media platforms, placing online ads, creating TV, radio and/or print ads, or even knocking on doors, you must "market" or "sell" in order to see any results. And, by the way, marketing is not a "once and done" task. I always explain it to my clients in this way in regard to building their website. I tell them, it is not like the movie "Field of Dreams" where, "if you build it, they will come".Once you build it, you must drive traffic to the website through marketing.

What works best? It depends on a lot of different factors. My approach for my clients, is to define their ideal market, determine where that ideal client can best be found, prioritize their marketing strategy, and then implement. Along the way, you can double down on what works, trash what doesn't, and explore new marketing opportunities as they arise.