Sentence:  In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct <WSD>marketing</WSD>”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The promotion, distribution and selling of a product or service; the work of a marketer; includes market research and advertising.