As technology continues to evolve, businesses are having to advance their marketing and advertising techniques to continue engaging with ever-changing consumer demands and needs. Digital marketing has seen a steep incline over traditional marketing methods, purely down to the fact that it is easier to track and measure the return on investment via digital channels. Advertising has also had a shift to digital space for similar reasons.

The definitions of ‘Marketing ‘and ‘Advertising’ have been used interchangeably for decades, however, there are some distinct differences between the two disciplines. Read on to learn what sets marketing and advertising apart.

What is Marketing?

Oxford Languages Dictionary defines marketing as “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.”

I think the definition above is too broad and could be clearer. 

In basic terms, marketing is the process of identifying customer needs and determining how best to meet those needs. In contrast, advertising is the exercise of promoting a company and its products or services through paid channels. In other words, advertising is a component of marketing.

At its core, marketing is making your product or service interesting to potential buyers, which is a very involved process.

The main marketing goals are to: 

• Increase brand awareness 

• Enhance customer relationships

• Generate high-quality leads

• Grow and maintain thought leadership

• Increase customer value

• Retain existing customers

• Track, measure and improve your marketing initiatives

I am a huge fan of education-based marketing. As Forbes put it:

“Education-based marketing is the sharing of knowledge with the purpose of building trust. It is a strategy that establishes credibility and trust with your customers by using educational messages. ... Education-based marketing is the direct opposite of traditional marketing, which is done through selling-based messages.” 

The statement above is exactly how I understand marketing. My belief is that promotional activities should be done in such way that your audience does not feel like they have been sold to, but leave your social media channels/website feeling empowered, educated and wanting to learn more. (I will be sharing more articles about education-based marketing soon, so make sure you check DCM blog regularly).  

Business marketing is a lot more than just advertising. Too many small business owners focus on buying local ads as the only way to generate new business and forgo other aspects of marketing.

What is Advertising?

The definition of advertising as per Wikipedia (I know, it is not the most credible source for a definition, but it is worded well!) 
“Advertising is a marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are typically businesses wishing to promote their products or services”

The use of the phrase ‘non-personal message’ sums it all up for me. When you are using ads to generate leads, you are just putting a message to the big wide world. The message is not aimed at anyone in particular and does not evoke any emotion. It’s like fishing - you cast the net, but have no idea what /whom you will be pulling out. When using marketing and sales techniques of identifying your ideal customer, you will know exactly whom you are talking and thus you’ll be able to better predict your advertising campaign success.

The main advertising goals are to:

• Influence consumer purchasing decisions through ads

• Build brand awareness

• Attract first-time buyers

• Prompt immediate action

• Replace lost customers 

• Build sales and profits

• Remind of your product/services 

As you will see, the main difference between marketing and advertising lies in customer segmentation, dwelling deeper into data and learning about the customer and then finding a way to communicate with them. Marketing is aligned with a long-term business sales performance strategy based on consumer satisfaction, where’s advertising is focusing on immediate results. If aligned, both disciplines can be very successful at driving the bottom line and increasing business profit, however, individually, they are different from one another. 

Conclusion 

In today’s commercial landscape that is increasingly digital and on-demand, expect marketing to continue to change and evolve. By extension, the way companies advertise will change, too.

And, try to refrain from using advertising and marketing interchangeably. They’re related, for certain, but they’re not twins.