For most people, advertising and marketing seem to be interchangeable. The fact is, these are two different concepts that happen to have the same goal: that is to make products and services attractive to consumers. Marketing and advertising have a lot of things in common, but they also have differences.
What is marketing?
Marketing is a management process through which goods and services move from concept to the consumer. It includes the coordination of the 4 P’s of marketing or the marketing mix namely: Product, Price, Promotion and Place.
Product – refers to the goods or service being offered to consumers. A product should answer a certain consumer need or be exciting enough to compel consumers to buy it. Marketers should understand a product’s life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, and decline) and have a plan for every stage of its life cycle.
Price – refers to the cost of product offered to consumers. It plays a key role in the marketing mix since it’s the source of revenue. To be successful in pricing, marketers must be able to determine the price of a product based on its real and perceived value. They must also consider the prices of competitors, cost of production, distribution and promotion. The price of a product can be manipulated to make it come off as a luxurious item or service, or the price can be lowered so that more people can afford it.
Place – refers to the process of moving a product to its target market. It’s the location where a product is being presented and sold to its target consumers. The right “place” delivers the product in front of consumers. It includes stores, product displays, as well as the web through product websites and ecommerce sites.
Promotion – refers to the many ways marketing agencies promote relevant product information to its target market. Promotion includes advertising, public relations, social media marketing, email marketing, search engine marketing, video marketing, events, and more.
What is advertising?
Advertising, on the other hand, is a subset of marketing. It includes TV, print, billboard, radio as well as promotions, direct mail, events, catalogs, and the Internet. While marketing shows the way to convince consumers to buy a product, advertising shows how this is executed. Advertising involves creating a strategy and a campaign based on the marketing plan. An effective advertising campaign makes use of different media to create a buzz about a product. For example, if the product is for millennials, then social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter might be the best way to reach them. Or if the product is for an older audience, traditional media like TV, print, and radio might work for them. These days, most advertising campaigns use a combination of traditional and digital media to reach the widest possible audience.
Marketing and advertising are two different concepts with different disciplines. Advertising is an important part of an overall marketing plan and the two should go hand-in-hand in order for businesses to sell their products effectively.
