What is the Difference Between Marketing and Advertising?

Advertising is a piece of marketing

To start, it’s important to understand that advertising is just one component of any overall marketing process. Ads are paid, public announcements with a persuasive message from an identifiable sponsor of a company, organization, or person to a customer base. When it comes to the marketing process, advertising takes care of getting the word out about your business to the audience you want to reach the most. To reach your audience, advertising includes placing ads in newspapers, magazines, direct mail, billboards, TV, radio, and the web. As the days of print are waning, marketers have to be more creative with how ads are seen by your audience. Advertising is the most expensive element of the marketing process because it involves so many layers. You have to consider the costs of art, design, ad placement, frequency, video production, and duration of the ad.

Marketing is the overall process

Marketing is the pie, whereas advertising is merely a slice of that pie. Advertising serves a specific function within marketing, while marketing is a systematic plan of a mix of activities that are intended to unite the buyer and seller. It’s a step-by-step process that begins with a unique selling proposition and ends, hopefully, with a new customer. Each piece of the marketing pie has to operate independently, but they also need to work towards the bigger picture of a unified marketing campaign with a common message. At the end of the day, marketing is everything your business can do to facilitate an exchange between your company and your consumers. It takes time and hours of research to be truly effective, but it’s something that every company needs to be successful.

Do you need help differentiating the advertising and marketing processes? Contact our team at Marketing Eye today!