What is the difference between marketing and advertising?

Digital Marketing / April 19, 2022

While marketing and advertising have the same function: persuading customers to buy products and services, understanding the difference between the two can be helpful in the long run. Read on to find out more from Strand360.

Marketing includes advertising and more

Let’s start at the very beginning: advertising is an important component of marketing. Marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses several activities that are used to promote products and services. These include advertising, public relations, social media, email marketing and much more. The messaging that is used across these components is the same, but how it is communicated is based on each individual platform or activity.

According to a good marketing strategy, a business must use advertising along with other components to reach the target audience and persuade them to buy products or services.

What advertising is and isn’t

Now that you know the primary difference between marketing and advertising, let’s understand what advertising consists of. Advertising comes in many forms and the most popular ones are:

1.     Print ads
2.     Print advertorials that are presented as articles but in reality, are paid ads.
3.     Digitals ads on social media platforms, news sites or other related sites.
4.     Outdoor banners and ads that appear on buildings, poles and road signs.
5.     Transit ads that are found in places of travel such as trains or taxis as well as bus stops.
6.     Radio and TV ads

While these are the straightforward means of advertising, there are other avenues of communication that are often misinterpreted as advertising. For example, direct mail or email marketing is not a form of advertising, even though they are trying to promote products and services.

Target your market with advertising

The reason why advertising is one of the most popular components under marketing is that it has the power to reach the target audience effectively. For example, if you have a food business, you can have specific ads in print magazines related to food or online to people who have an interest in a similar food. 

Similarly, if you are looking to target people in a certain state or town, you can have ads showing up in local newspapers and magazines or tailor them to be seen by people online living in the vicinity. You can also use outdoor advertising or transit advertising in these locations so your key demographic sees them along their home and work routes.

Marketing spreads your message further

If you are a small business owner or start-up, chances are you do not have a large budget to spend on various elements of marketing. In such situations, use other marketing channels to bring attention to the advertising of your products and services. For example, sending out press releases to industry-specific newspapers and magazines and encouraging them to write about your products and services can help you reach the right audience.

Another great marketing tool to push your advertising efforts is the organisation of events. If you are a retail company, you can showcase a fashion show of your products in your city to promote a new line.

Thus, understanding the difference between marketing and advertising can help you promote your business more effectively. For more information, contact Strand360 today.