Marketing versus advertising? We break down the difference.
While both marketing and advertising are designed to promote specific products and services to a targeted audience, they are not the same thing. Understanding the difference between these two tools for promoting your business can help increase sales, raise customer awareness, and add to your business’ success.
Starting with simple definitions, advertising is a part of the marketing process – an advert can take a number of formats (print, video, radio, sms etc.) and is a paid for, public announcement of a service, product or offer, designed to get potential and current customers to buy. Adverts use a specific logo and message to get the word about your business out there in the world. Depending on the form it takes, adverting can be expensive but it is also an effective way of connecting with certain target markets. Marketing, on the other hand, is a wide-ranging process (and we think digital is simply the best!) with the aim of supporting the goals of a business while advertising is an activity specific to brand communication (getting your brand out there).
Five ways in which marketing is bigger than just advertising
1. Marketing is the systematic planning and implementation of a range of activities designed to connect buyers with sellers in a beneficial relationship.
2. Marketing is focused on the best possible ways to align a business’ products with its ideal customers.
3. Marketing activities include market research, media planning, public relations, and sales strategies. All these elements working together are part of a targeted marketing strategy designed to achieve the business goals of attracting customers and increasing sales.
4. Marketing involves creating campaigns to target specific buyers. Advertising can be part of these campaigns, working independently and in tandem to achieve marketing goals.
5. Marketing is every way in which your business makes contact with customers – from the way your employees speak to customers to paid advertising to social media blogging, and more.
Want to know how to make effective use of marketing elements like advertising and how to put in place a marketing strategy that works to support your business goals? We can help! As a group of creative and strategic experts focused on digital marketing strategies, we can help you manage your brand and develop and execute an effective marketing strategy. In short, we can help you achieve so much more than just advertising. Just tell us what you need and let’s get marketing together.