Advertising versus Marketing, A Simple Truth

Before I started this article I Googled, Advertising vs. Marketing, and came up with several quotes. 

Before I share them, here’s my simple truth that I live by:

Everything that you do is an element of your marketing.

Advertising is the paid portion of it designed to bring in new or retain current customers.

When you run a restaurant and you have pictures of your food on the menu, consider that marketing.

If there is actual food residue from previous customers on the menu and it is sticky, that is also marketing.

Marketing is both the good and bad impressions that influence someone about your business. It goes beyond the stuff most business owners think is marketing and encompasses nearly everything that presents your business to the marketplace.

Here’s what others say about Advertising vs. Marketing:

Advertising: 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 and potential customers.

Marketing: 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.

I disagree.  Advertising can be made personal and marketing is usually messy and unsystematic.

But here’s where it can really get confusing to the business owner who has to deal with people who earn their money selling advertising and/or marketing.  There are a number of titles we give ourselves and they sometimes don’t fit.

Here are some titles from people I know in Fort Wayne, Indiana:

• Account Manager
• Senior Account Manager
• Integrated Marketing Manager
• Marketing Consultant
• Integrated Marketing Specialist
• Account Executive
• Integrated Marketing Consultant

All of these people do basically the same thing but they have different approaches and skill levels. These titles include my coworkers on the WOWO Radio Sales Team and other Federated Media Fort Wayne stations. The reason Integrated is included is because we have more than just radio ads we offer as advertising solutions, there is a whole host of digital products and events we can integrate.

Here’s my title:  Advertising Sales & Marketing Consultant  

I added the word Sales recently to clarify what I do.

I earn money from the advertising solutions that I sell and people buy.

However the Marketing Consulting is the bigger picture and what I spend most of my time doing.  I do not charge for the the marketing consulting.  I could and at one time I did have a business set up to do that.  But ScLoHo Marketing Solutions as a formal for-profit business is dormant and instead I provide those services at no charge.

I get to choose how deep I go with the marketing consulting because it is an investment of time and resources.  For those who really want help, I jump in with both feet.  We’ll talk about the marketing and advertising aspects of their business and come up with a Marketing Strategy Plan that makes it easy to decide if an advertising option fits or is just someone tying to sell them something.

I advice my marketing consulting clients to buy services from others besides me. I am always looking for advertising and marketing partners that are trustworthy and can provide value to my clients.

That’s the way I work and also the simple truth of the differences between Advertising and Marketing.  Contact me with questions or for help.