Marketing vs Advertising
Whether you’re new to the digital advertising world or a seasoned marketing vet, you may use the words “marketing” and “advertising” interchangeably. That’s what everyone does, right?
The truth is, these two concepts are actually quite different. They both involve one another and in many ways depend on one another, but they are different concepts that should really not be used synonymously, especially in the world of digital promotion.
Luckily, the two concepts aren’t all that difficult to understand. In this guide, we’ll look at the similarities and differences between marketing and advertising in the context of online and digital business.
Marketing vs Advertising: What Are the Differences?
There are numerous differences between marketing and advertising.
Marketing is a process that includes different elements such as creation, research, design, planning, and data mining. All of this is done in an effort to understand how a business can properly align the concept of a product or service with the designated target audience for that brand. Marketing is useful because it helps brands define the actual product they want to sell even more than the actual product itself. A vast majority of businesses out there will utilize marketing in some form. Marketing without advertising is the practice of promoting products or services without using traditional advertising channels like television, radio, or print media. Businesses have increasingly recognized the necessity of alternative marketing techniques that focus on developing true connections with consumers in today’s fast-paced and digitally connected society.
Advertising, on the other hand, is the actual process of making a brand’s product or service known to the target audience (and audience in general.) Advertising plays an important role in the overall marketing efforts of a company. Advertising can be seen as the description brands will use to present the product or service to the public. There are various types of advertising, each has its own purpose. Advertising will usually involve campaigns through media, and such campaigns will use creative positioning to improve product reach. In-feed ads are another widely used type of native advertising examples. These ads are displayed directly in a user’s feed, such as their social media or news feed. Advertising has numerous time limits and many advertisers will utilize specific strategies for advertising effectively.
So what are the main differences here between advertising vs marketing vs branding?
In the field of business and promotion, advertising, marketing, and branding are three different yet interconnected ideas. While they both have the same goal of raising awareness, attracting customers, and driving sales, their techniques, and strategies differ. Marketing strategies need to be developed by businesses in the modern digital market in order to bring a product or service to the market. An effective branding strategy is an essential component of business success. Furthermore, advertising is a vital part of that marketing strategy — as previously said, these concepts are not mutually exclusive. The difference is that advertising is often a part of marketing. Other parts of marketing that work alongside advertising include media planning, researching the market, public relations, distribution, sales strategy, pricing, and much more. Marketing and advertising techniques are different and hence used for different purposes. To put it simply, advertising gets “the word out” about a brand or perhaps one of its newest products or services. Marketing will involve the necessary research and analysis of the market in order to make more informed decisions about the creative side of the marketing plan, which almost always includes advertising.
Advertising vs Marketing: What Are the Similarities?
Despite being quite different, there are some similarities between advertising and marketing. Marketing involves a lot of research and practice. Advertising involves almost exclusively practice. Thus, both concepts utilize practice in similar ways.
Other than this similarity, there aren’t many similarities between the two concepts, other than they work hand in hand for the same goal– to release and sell a successful product or service. Marketing will involve things like consumer behavior and research of the market. Advertising will often involve more creative processes like design and production. Both work in tandem to establish brand presence and sell products.
Advertising with Gourmet Ads
Now that we know the differences between marketing and advertising, it’s time to think about the steps to take to improve your marketing and advertising endeavors for your business. Luckily, Gourmet Ads is here to help.
At Gourmet Ads, we focus on display, mobile, video, and native advertising to get the right potential customers to view your particular products. The food and wine industry requires specific advertising techniques to turn those leads into conversions. Our program at Gourmet Ads takes a programmatic and targeted approach, and uses strategies to pair specific product ads with specific recipe lists and blog pages.
Want to learn more about how Gourmet Ads can take your marketing plan to the next level in the realm of food and drink? Contact us today to start a conversation with our trusted team about what options are available for you. You’ll be glad you took the plunge!
