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Marketing vs. Advertising

by Danielle Myers | Apr 30, 2021

Wait… there’s a difference? 

You know the terms Marketing and Advertising, but what do they really mean? And what do they mean for your business plan? Well friends, that is EXACTLY what we are diving into below in our Marketing Minded blog. As your hotline for all things Marketing, we want to help so that you too are knowledgeable on the subject.

Digital Marketing Resources

What is Marketing

Companies market to their target customers. Whether you realize it or not, as you come across marketing campaigns, ads, magazines, posts and more that all feed into your brain tiny little messages. These messages can then alter your decision making process. 

For example, if you are scrolling through your Instagram feed, you may see a pair or shoes or the latest camping gear that catches your eye. Although you weren’t thinking about it before, now you have the desire to shop for shoes or go camping with your new gear. 

This example shows you what the consumer sees from their side of the screen. What they don’t see is the hours of idea, strategy, design, content creation, and purpose that goes behind each one of the photos you see. 

As a Marketing firm, our purpose is to walk through the process of identifying consumer needs and determining how to best meet those needs in order to reach your business goals. 

Creating thumb stopping, box-busting and creative messaging comes when you start at the beginning, brainstorming personalized messages through the Marketing process. So where does Advertising fit into all of this? Well often Marketing includes Advertising, but Advertising doesn’t always include Marketing strategy. 

Companies market to their target customers. Whether you realize it or not, as you come across marketing campaigns, ads, magazines, posts and more that all feed into your brain tiny little messages. These messages can then alter your decision making process. 

What is Advertising

Have you ever seen the little word “sponsored” underneath an Instagram handle on a post? This means that a business is paying to have their post be shown in front of potential buyers that fit their market. YOU! 

So in short, Advertising is the exercise of promoting a company and its products or services through paid channels. 

When Advertising a company will create an advertisement – such as a photo, graphic or video – and then pay to have it shown on billboards, magazine ads, flyers, TV stations, social media, blog posts, mail outs and more. The goal of these advertisements is to gain customers for a certain product or service in an amount of time. 

Should I be Marketing, Advertising or both?

No matter if you are a B2C or a B2B your answer should be both! But before you move on, let us explain. 

Whether you’re sitting down with a Marketing firm like Myers Marketing Management or your in house Marketing team discussion about your marketing strategy is vitally important. By identifying your customers needs, we can then create a strategy that incorporates your company values and set our objectives to reach your goals. In order to do this properly we have to take in market research, set 1, 5, and 10 year goals, and know your target market.  

This is why you should be doing both – Before you can truly send out an advertisement that will get customers into your sales funnel, you must develop a purpose behind your message. 

Without a marketing strategy, your advertisement will most likely fall flat or not reach its full potential. 

Should I be Marketing, Advertising or both?

  • Know your business plan
    • In order to grow your business through marketing, you have to know your business goals! 
  • Create a Marketing Strategy
    • Evaluate your goals and transform then into obtainable marketing campaigns, projects and advertisements. 
  • Your Marketing Plan
    • After you have created your Marketing plan it’s time to get to work creating unique content that conveys your message. 
  • Execute your Marketing Plan
    • Once your content is complete, it’s time to show the world what you are made of! Schedule posts using platforms like Hootsuite or Eclincher so you are prepared for a month in advance rather than having to remember to post every day. Send out emails to client lists and secure your spot on a billboard in the middle of town. Don’t for those targeted paid social ads!
  • Analyze your Marketing Plan
    • Now that the world has seen your new product or service, it’s time to let your Marketing plan take its course. Each week, review your sales funnel, check the insights for your social media ads to see your demographics trends. It’s important to take in this information and use it to plan your next Marketing strategy. 
  • Do it again! 
    • Now that your Marketing Campaign is over, it’s time to do it all over again. Create a new graphic, show customers a fresh product or service and keep your logo in front of their eyes so when they need your product or service, they know who to turn to. 

What can Myers Marketing do for YOU?

  • Here’s the deal, brands can talk all they want to the market, but it won’t result in much of an impact unless they’re ready to hear your message. We develop creative communication approaches that lay the foundation for a reciprocal relationship between our partner’s brands and target market. When you are a growing company, marketing can easily fall at the wayside if you are not careful. Inconsistency sets in and your brand image isn’t representative of the AMAZING service and products that you provide your customers.  Once upon a time, the act of marketing was predatory. It involved brands seeking to exploit customers’ weaknesses or insecurities to make a sale. Today the dynamics of marketing have shifted, and consumers are more likely to be unwilling to do business with brands they don’t like, respect, or trust. We believe that you should celebrate your customers and values of your company and products.  We are here to help you do it. Want to lead your market in the next 5 years? We’re on it. Want to have the top selling product in your region within the next year? Let’s do that together!  Our winning process is set up to give you a continuous development of clear brand standards, communication and marketing strategies, and, most importantly, relationships. We are committed to providing a positive ROI in a market that is increasingly crowded. To be successful, every organization should, of course, approach their marketing in a way that suits their brand, market, and customers. Our talented, experienced team of 7+ full time employees has the skills and vision to help you develop strategies for YOUR company.  Want to schedule a discovery meeting to see if we’re a good match? We can’t wait to hear from you! Learn more about Marketing from Myers Marketing Management and find more resources and free information here!