The Difference Between Marketing and Advertising
why successful companies have strategic plans for both.
Many people are confused by the terms “marketing” and “advertising.” Some think advertising is any activity that promotes their business. Others think marketing is interchangeable with sales, probably because the terms are often lumped together, as in “sales and marketing.” And often, the terms marketing and advertising are used interchangeably, even though they are definitely not the same activity.
To have a successful business, though, you need to use both to your best advantage, so it’s critical that you understand what each term really involves.
Difference Between Marketing and Advertising
No one can deny the fact that the survival of the business, mainly depends on its customers. And so the concern should plan its marketing strategies in such a way that it can turn shoppers into buyers. While marketing refers to a process of promoting or selling products and services with the help of tools like marketing research and advertising.
There are many who think marketing is equal to advertising, but the thing is that marketing is a discipline, while advertising is just a branch of it. Advertising is a paid form of communication for the people, which aims at imparting information, create needs, and instigate action, that is beneficial to the sponsor of the advertisement.
There are a number of ways in which these two terms differ from one another, which are discussed in this article. So, come let’s take a look at the difference between marketing and advertising.
Definition of Marketing
Marketing is a long-term business activity, which starts right from the market research to customer satisfaction. Marketing is a pivotal activity that is not all about promoting the product, but it is meant to understand the market conditions, identify customer needs, designing a product as per the requirement, selecting the best media for promoting the product, advertising it through various channels, determination of price, distribution & selling the product, creating public relations, providing after-sales service in order to satisfy the customers.
Definition of Advertising
Advertising is a part of the marketing process and the most expensive one. It is a monologue activity done with the aim of persuading more and more people towards the product or service. It is a technique through which one message can reach a large number of people within seconds. Therefore, the company uses this way to promote their product or service to grab consumer attention.
Advertising can be done through various channels like ads on radio, television, website, newspapers, magazines, journals, hoardings, banners, social media, sponsorships, posters, banners, neon signs, etc.
Target Your Market with Advertising
One of the big benefits of advertising over other types of marketing is the ability to reach your prime audience more precisely. For example:
Print ads and advertorials can be placed in specific local newspapers if you want to reach a local audience. Or ads can be placed in trade magazines, such as “Food and Beverage Magazine” if you want to reach people who buy restaurant supplies and products, or “Digital Photographer” if you sell to consumers who aren’t professionals but are interested in digital photography.
Digital ads can now be highly targeted by advertising on specific websites related to your products, and even “pop up” on search engines when people search for a similar product, or on Facebook when they express interest in something by “liking” it.
Outdoor ads can be placed near a specific location, and transit ads can run on vehicles whose routes go where your market lives and works.
Advertising on radio and television can be expensive, but you can save by advertising only on stations that are popular with your market, or at times of day when your audience is likely to be tuned in
Marketing Spreads Your Message Further
As a small business owner, you don’t have an unlimited budget to spend on advertising. Other types of marketing can capitalize on your advertising by getting attention for your products or services.
Press releases, which are part of public relations, can announce your new advertising campaign or new products. Send the press releases to editors of specific publications that cover products or services like yours, and encourage them to write articles about your news. You pay someone to write the release, but you don’t pay for the article to be published.
Tell customers and those on your email and mailing lists about your news. You can also buy lists of people or companies in your target market.
Hold an event to show your products to your market up close, such as a fashion show to announce your new retail line, or a food tasting of your new and popular products for restaurants.
Advertising
Advertising is just one marketing strategy, but there are a ton of different ads you can use to reach your target customers, both on and offline.
Banner ads
Banner ads are a lot like digital real estate; you pay the owner (whatever website you’re advertising on) to “rent” space (the place where you show your banner ad, which is typically on the top of the page or in the sidebar). Whenever someone visits that website, in addition to seeing the website’s content, they’ll also see your banner ad — and, if they click it, it drives them back to your website or landing page.
Social media ads
Social media is one of the most popular mediums to advertise on; not only is just about everyone is active on social media, but most social media platforms (including Facebook and Instagram) offer unparalleled targeting options that let you get extremely specific with who, exactly, sees your ads.
Billboards
If you’ve ever driven down a highway, chances are, you’ve seen a billboard or two. And, at the core of a billboard’s significance? It’s just a big ad. If banner ads take up digital real estate, billboards take up actual real estate — and if brands can place their billboards in a place their ideal customers are likely to see them (and see them often), they can be great at driving brand recognition
Marketing
So, now that we’ve seen what advertising looks like in action, let’s take a look at examples of some of the many other marketing strategies you can leverage to promote your brand.
Content marketing
If you’re a marketer, unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few years, you’ve heard the term “content is king.” And it’s true. Content marketing — which includes everything from ebooks to blog posts to case studies to whitepapers to infographics — is one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience, establish yourself as an expert within your industry, and provide real value to your customers —
Email marketing
An engaged email list is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal. But the keyword there is engaged. It doesn’t matter how many people you have on your email list — if you’re not regularly engaging your list through thoughtful and strategic email campaigns, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to drive sales for your business.
Sales presentations
Part of marketing is getting the word out about your business. But another huge part of marketing? Is actually selling your business.
Depending on what industry you’re in, sales presentations might play an important part in your marketing strategy. A good sales presentation can help you get investors interested in your business, close large deals, and overcome any objections potential customers may have by breaking down the benefits of your products or service.
Social media posts
We already covered how powerful social media advertising can be — but that’s not the only marketing opportunity social media offers. Creating a brand presence across social media platforms and regularly posting relevant content and images is a great way to build a relationship with your audience, expand your reach, and drive engagement — all of which can have a huge impact on your brand’s success.
