A dictionary definition may have you believing that these two terms are similar, but let’s explore some of the activities/motives involved with each, as we discern some of the differences. Do you think having sales skills alone, is what will put food on the table? This may be true, but working in sales requires a lot of sweat equity to build and sustain momentum, and can leave you feeling burnt out. If you want to work smart or be long-term successful in literally any business endeavor, you will need to develop skills (or network with someone with them) in marketing. Marketing is how you get customers to come to you. Have you ever tried offering a product or service to make some extra cash when times were tough? Who do you target when trying a new business idea?
As Seen On This, That, and the Other Thing
Advertising, is laying out the meat and potatoes of what you have to offer the market, thru various forms of delivery, with direct intention of closing sales:
· Word of mouth
· Social Media
· Business Cards
· Shwag
· T-Shirts
· Classifieds
· Print ads
· Billboards
· Commercials
· Infomercials
It is rough watching talented people go unnoticed, just to give up on their efforts to develop an idea, simply because they were advertising to an undefined demographic. This is a pitfall that discourages many people from minding their own business, and becoming entrepreneurs. I’ve seen it many times on social media and have done it myself with some of my early business ideas. We try to sell to the wrong demographic, i.e. our family and friends! There are two things fundamentally wrong with doing this:
You will either receive no sales or you will receive a few faux sales (you are friend or family first so even though you may feel safe selling to friends and family, you will not be respected as a professional). If you launch a business and friends/family approach you for business, then that’s a different story. This exemplifies the reputation of your business or work ethic and how it precedes your “family/friend first” stigma.
Advertising requires you to have some fortitude to venture outside your inner circle (comfort bubble), and let it all hang out in the public eye. The market will let you know if your idea will produce the results you’re looking for, and virtually any idea will produce results nowadays, so long as you are able to identify your target demographic for advertising, and then understand how to market your idea to them. The catch twenty two of advertising is that no one is really going to care about what it is that you’re selling, until they see that people care about what it is that you are selling. Are you confused? Just think about the amount of different companies that sell similar products/services. In that instance it may not be the products or services that are attracting customers, but the story behind the brand/individual that is representing those products/services. In order to be successful at advertising your products/services, you must have some skills at marketing yourself and/or your brand.
I Can Relate to That!
Marketing requires bit more interpersonal skills than advertising, and it’s intention is to hone in on a target demographic and build customer support. Think of advertising as like a flashy piece of art. It may shock and amaze, but its sole purpose is to grab the attention of an otherwise oblivious individual. Marketing, in this context, is more like a novel or theatrical screenplay. Marketing is the art of telling stories that:
· Tie to your business in an ambiguous way, to reinforce brand awareness
· Creatively illustrate your business’s mission statement
· Romanticize your business for emotional effect
· Humble your business for public relation
· Flatter your business to create attraction
· Humanize your business to generate support
These are just a handful of examples of how marketing creates connections with your target demographic, so that relationships can develop/evolve. Marketing is a touch and go process that requires extensive research and continual effort in order to be effective long term (there is no way around this). Hard work and dedication is what is required to successfully campaign your business, but that doesn’t mean you need to go at it alone. If you have managed to bootstrap your business to some profits or have another stream of income to invest from, you could hire yourself an assistant to help you with your marketing. This individual can be worth their weight in gold to your business, and save you the time you would have invested marketing by yourself. Here are two quick key points to keep in mind when discerning the difference between marketing and advertising:
Advertising: is the action of seeking out/defining a target demographic, introducing your business, and to build/sustain brand awareness, and closing sales.
Marketing: is the action of storytelling to connect with your demographic in order to develop/evolve/sustain relationships with the consumer, and convert to customers/clients.
Advertising, is laying out the meat and potatoes of what you have to offer the market, thru various forms of delivery, with direct intention of closing sales:
· Word of mouth
· Social Media
· Business Cards
· Shwag
· T-Shirts
· Classifieds
· Print ads
· Billboards
· Commercials
· Infomercials
It is rough watching talented people go unnoticed, just to give up on their efforts to develop an idea, simply because they were advertising to an undefined demographic. This is a pitfall that discourages many people from minding their own business, and becoming entrepreneurs. I’ve seen it many times on social media and have done it myself with some of my early business ideas. We try to sell to the wrong demographic, i.e. our family and friends! There are two things fundamentally wrong with doing this:
You will either receive no sales or you will receive a few faux sales (you are friend or family first so even though you may feel safe selling to friends and family, you will not be respected as a professional). If you launch a business and friends/family approach you for business, then that’s a different story. This exemplifies the reputation of your business or work ethic and how it precedes your “family/friend first” stigma.
Advertising requires you to have some fortitude to venture outside your inner circle (comfort bubble), and let it all hang out in the public eye. The market will let you know if your idea will produce the results you’re looking for, and virtually any idea will produce results nowadays, so long as you are able to identify your target demographic for advertising, and then understand how to market your idea to them. The catch twenty two of advertising is that no one is really going to care about what it is that you’re selling, until they see that people care about what it is that you are selling. Are you confused? Just think about the amount of different companies that sell similar products/services. In that instance it may not be the products or services that are attracting customers, but the story behind the brand/individual that is representing those products/services. In order to be successful at advertising your products/services, you must have some skills at marketing yourself and/or your brand.
I Can Relate to That!
Marketing requires bit more interpersonal skills than advertising, and it’s intention is to hone in on a target demographic and build customer support. Think of advertising as like a flashy piece of art. It may shock and amaze, but its sole purpose is to grab the attention of an otherwise oblivious individual. Marketing, in this context, is more like a novel or theatrical screenplay. Marketing is the art of telling stories that:
· Tie to your business in an ambiguous way, to reinforce brand awareness
· Creatively illustrate your business’s mission statement
· Romanticize your business for emotional effect
· Humble your business for public relation
· Flatter your business to create attraction
· Humanize your business to generate support
These are just a handful of examples of how marketing creates connections with your target demographic, so that relationships can develop/evolve. Marketing is a touch and go process that requires extensive research and continual effort in order to be effective long term (there is no way around this). Hard work and dedication is what is required to successfully campaign your business, but that doesn’t mean you need to go at it alone. If you have managed to bootstrap your business to some profits or have another stream of income to invest from, you could hire yourself an assistant to help you with your marketing. This individual can be worth their weight in gold to your business, and save you the time you would have invested marketing by yourself. Here are two quick key points to keep in mind when discerning the difference between marketing and advertising:
Advertising: is the action of seeking out/defining a target demographic, introducing your business, and to build/sustain brand awareness, and closing sales.
Marketing: is the action of storytelling to connect with your demographic in order to develop/evolve/sustain relationships with the consumer, and convert to customers/clients.
