People often confuse advertising with marketing or vice versa. Both are important, but very different. Understanding the difference between each term can put a company on the road to a desirable growth. Here is a rundown on the how marketing and advertising differ:
Advertising. This is a non-personal structure of promotions that communicate through selected media outlets. Under most circumstances, this requires a paid marketer to convey the message.
Marketing. Logically planned out and the utilization to control a mixture of business with the intention to bring together buyers and sellers. This is an equally valuable exchange or transfer of products.
Now that we got the definitions out of the way, it is easy to see why both terms get confused for one another. In that case, let us continue breaking it down further.
Advertising is a specific part of marketing. It is the ingredient that involves getting the word out concerning products, businesses and/or services. In addition, it includes the method of developing strategies such as ad placement, reach, frequency, etc. One can find advertising almost anywhere possible.
Ads can most commonly be found in such mediums like billboards, direct mail, mobile phones (apps and text messages), newspapers, radio , television and of course the Internet. It is the largest expense in the majority of marketing plans. Public relation expenses follows in at second. Third place is market research.
The best way to understand the difference between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing like a cake. Inside that cake, there are many slices such as:
- Advertising
- Community Involvement
- Customer Support
- Distribution
- Market Research
- Media Planning
- Product Pricing
- Public Relations
- Sales Strategy
Advertising is equivalent to one piece of that cake in the plan. All of these essentials must not only work autonomously, but they also must work collectively towards the bigger purpose. Marketing is a method that takes time, and can occupy hours of research for a plan to be successful. Imagine marketing as everything that a company does to make possible in an exchange between the business and client.
