In digital marketing, it helps to understand the terms, the strategies, and how to use them. One of the most important ideas to grasp is the difference between marketing and advertising.
Below, we describe the differences according to the digital marketing experts. We also give examples and strategies for each. These principles help you create a comprehensive customer journey that grows your business and widens your online footprint.
According to Investopedia, marketing means the activities a business uses to promote the buying or selling of products or services. Marketing can include selling, delivering products to customers, advertising, social media, and more.
Advertising is part of marketing. But marketing is a far broader term that covers many activities used to promote a business. So marketing includes everything tied to business promotion, such as market research, marketing strategy development, and marketing communications.
According to the digital marketing experts, here are the 5 types of Marketing you should be aware of:
Word-of-mouth marketing is likely the oldest form, and you probably do it daily. It happens when you give or receive a recommendation for a product or service from another person. If you've ever tried a restaurant or seen a movie purely on someone's recommendation, you've taken part in word-of-mouth marketing.
Word-of-mouth marketing can be highly effective. That is why so many businesses chase high ratings on Google and Yelp and focus on customer satisfaction. If a business treats customers poorly, word gets out despite its best marketing, and the business fails. This is proven by the fact that 83% of people trust recommendations given by friends and family.
Like word-of-mouth marketing, affiliate marketing is when a person promotes a product or service on behalf of a company. If you've ever bought a product or done something because you saw an influencer do it on social media, you know the power of affiliate marketing.
Affiliate marketers earn a commission based on metrics that vary by business or industry. Affiliate marketing is a powerful tool. It lets you reach audiences already built by influential people. Understanding it can help your business become a strong content creator in any industry.
Inbound marketing is when you engage your audience with relevant, valuable content. Outbound marketing grabs the consumer's attention first, then shows the value of a product or service. Inbound marketing lets the product or service do the talking.
For instance, outbound marketing is someone handing out cookie samples. Inbound marketing is someone walking into a cookie store, where the smell convinces them to buy a cookie.
Content marketing is likely the most familiar form of marketing. It includes blogs, podcasts, videos, books, infographics, and more. When it comes to creating a brand story, content marketing is the perfect tool. It engages your audience and explains what your business is and how it improves people's lives.
Much of marketing happens behind the scenes, away from what people see about your company. Competitive analysis is one of the most important of these activities for any digital marketing team. If you don't understand how your competition succeeds, you may lose to them.
Competitive analysis can cover a wide range of activities, including the following:
As described by the EconomicTimes, advertising is the paid promotion of products or services through various forms of communication. Marketing is a broad term. Advertising focuses only on the paid part of marketing communications.
Whether you're crafting a social media strategy or looking to engage your local community, here are some basic advertising forms to know:
Sponsorship advertising is a widely used way to promote products. If you've been to a concert, sports game, or other major event, you've likely seen brands handing out free merch. This isn't so you can have a new pair of Pepsi socks. It's advertising. Remember, if the product is free, you are the product.
Out-of-home advertising covers all the ads you see out in the world, such as billboards and bench ads. It is a great way to reach a specific audience by geography or by consumer behaviour, like where people shop or what activities they do out in the world.
Some people love commercials. Most people don't. Either way, commercials are seen as highly effective ways to reach an audience. However, TV advertising is in decline as more people stream their tv-shows as of 2022.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising means online ads that appear on websites, search engines, social media platforms, and more. It is an effective method because businesses pay only for users who click the ad. In other words, you pay only for what works for your business.
Display advertising is similar to pay-per-click advertising as both methods are online. Display advertising covers the banners and large pictures that pop up on websites. The main difference is how they are paid for. Display advertising is usually paid by impressions, or how many people see the ad. PPC charges only for the number of clicks the ad receives.
The main difference is simple. Marketing applies to any activity that promotes a business. Advertising is only the paid communications that promote a business. Advertising does not include the strategies behind ads or their creation. That would be marketing development. So when you discuss advertising, you discuss only the paid part of marketing on billboards, tv, social media, or any other communications platform.
When you plan how to promote your business, let your marketing strategy guide your advertising. Depending on what your competitors do in your industry and region, you may choose to advertise differently.
Lewis Banks
Founder & Director, Byter Digital · 7+ years experience
Lewis is the Founder and Director of Byter Digital. He launched the agency in 2018 and has spent the years since building marketing programmes for London restaurants, members clubs, hotels, dental practices, and consumer brands. He writes about agency operations, hospitality marketing, and how SMEs should think about modern channels.
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