What is the Difference Between Marketing and Advertising?

There is a lack of understanding and much confusion about what is marketing and what is advertising within the Lagos (Algarve, Portugal) business community. As we progress with our community empowering program, we have realised that many local business people still do not know when to use an advertising strategy versus a marketing one; what are the various components of both; and what differentiates them.

Now, it is important to understand what both components mean. Although, this article targets the small business owners in Lagos (Algarve, Portugal) it can in fact be applied in many business communities across the globe. There is no doubt that knowing and understanding the difference, can let any business owner manage and direct his business towards substantial growth.

There is no doubt, that in today’s current economic environment, it is imperative that you have a good marketing and advertising strategy if you are to survive not only the economic downturn but also grow. Let's start off by reviewing the formal definitions of each and then I'll go into the explanation of how marketing and advertising differ from one another: Advertising: Is the paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing as well as potential customers.

 Marketing: is the systematic planning, implementation and control of a mix of business activities intended to bring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchange or transfer of products or services. After reading both of the definitions it is easy to understand how the difference can be confusing to the point that people think of them as "one-and-the-same".
So, lets look at them a bit more in detail. Advertising is but a single component of the marketing process. It relates to the actions that you take to get the word out about your business, product, or the services that you are offering. It includes such actions as creating an advert, placing an ad, how long to place an advert for, the frequency and repetition of the ad, etc.

Advertising includes the placement of an ad in such mediums as newspapers, direct mail, billboards, television, radio, and of course the Internet.
Advertising is the largest expense of most marketing campaigns, with public relations following in a close second and market research not falling far behind.
The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have various slices - advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. But advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the global marketing strategy.

All of the above elements must not only work independently, but they also must work together towards reaching your ultimate objectives. Marketing is a process that takes time and can involve months and months of research, thinking and deliberation - if your marketing plan is to be effective. Think of marketing as being all the tasks that an organization does to facilitate an exchange between the company and the consumer or as it is the case of the I Support Lagos program (www.isupportlagos.com), between a town, its communities, its businesses and infrastructure and its clients or potential clients.

Posted in: Marketing