The Important Difference Between Marketing and Advertising

One of the most common misconceptions in the marketing world is that marketing and advertising are the same thing. They are not. This misconception can lead to confusion and a marketing plan that is not as effective and thought out as you may think it is. Here’s what you need to know when it comes to the difference between marketing and advertising.

 

Advertising is Marketing – Marketing is NOT Advertising

 

Remember in elementary school when teachers explained that, while a square is a rectangle – a rectangle is not a square. A square has opposite sides that are equal and parallel and 90 degree angles (which is the definition of a rectangle). However, the added necessary property that all sides are equal makes the square different from the rectangle. So while a square can be defined as a rectangle, a rectangle cannot be defined as a square.

The difference between marketing and advertising is the same concept. Advertising is a form of marketing, a type of marketing strategy and initiative that can be included in your marketing plan. However, marketing is not a form of advertising, because it comes with added stipulations and differences.

Think Larger

Marketing is the whole picture. Marketing includes the process of studying your target audience, creating a SWOT analysis, defining your goals, mission, vision, creating clear branding, and so much more. Advertising is just a small piece of marketing, and not necessarily required in your marketing plan. 

 

What’s an Example of Marketing that is NOT Advertising?

 

When Chelsea worked for an allergy practice as the Marketing Director, a large part of her job was to lunches between physicians. This was the most powerful marketing strategy for this practice, simply because it allowed for one on one interaction between physicians who might want to send referrals, and the allergists. 

 

This was NOT advertising. If anything, this would be classified as networking. These lunches were so effective that they took up a majority of the marketing budget each year, cutting out many advertising opportunities. 

 

What types of goals do marketing and advertising have? 

 

Goal setting is extremely important in marketing. Tracking the success of your marketing strategies will allow you to decide if these strategies are worth your continued effort. 

Your marketing goals are broad. “I want to increase my small business’s customer loyalty by 20%” or “I want to increase website traffic by 30%”. When you are deciding how to actually go about reaching these goals, you may find your small business turning to advertising. 

 

Your advertising goals will be specific to your campaign and will be more specific than your larger marketing goals.

 Let’s focus on the marketing goal of building customer loyalty. One way you could try to do this is with an advertising campaign that focuses on retargeting past customers. To track the success of the advertising campaign your small business will need a more tangible goal. Let’s say “I want to see at least 10 sales directly correlated to this ad campaign”. 

While it is easy to track whether your advertising campaign met your goals, how can you tell if your marketing goal has been achieved? Not all marketing goals are hard to track, but they can be. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.

Maybe you create a survey asking your customers how often they shop with competitors, or you track how many of your consumers are new repeat customers (this is only their second time purchasing from you).

 

Why does the difference between Marketing and Advertising matter?

 

Understanding the full picture will help you make educated marketing decisions – and not rely solely on advertising as a marketing tool. Creating clear marketing goals is the first step to effective marketing. For example, “I want my website traffic to increase by 20% in the first quarter,” is a clear goal that you can track. Yes, advertising may be the strategy you use to achieve this, but maybe not. It could be that simply adding a blog could increase your website traffic. Play around with different initiatives and track your success so you can find what works best for your small business.

 

Still a little confused on the difference between marketing and advertising? Check out the video below for a deeper dive!