Marketing vs. advertising: Will it make you earn more money than the other?

Nothing is more aggravating to the business owner than to spend the time, money and energy to create an exceptional advertising campaign, just to review the data and realize that it was not successful!

Nobody saw your awesome ad. And he did not see the increase in business he was anticipating. What went wrong? It can be a case of confusion when it comes to the differences between marketing and advertising!

Marketing vs. advertising: Is there a difference?

Owning a business often means that you will find yourself raffling off a constant barrage of buzzwords and suggestions on how to successfully navigate the stormy waters of entrepreneurship. Phrases such as "social strategy," "sales funnels," "content marketing," and "click-through rate," while important, can begin to blend into a great combination of marketing jargon.

Our team at LYFE Marketing is here to help decipher all of these terms and more. (And for a quick update course, check out our cheat sheet with the main digital marketing terms you need to know)

In the midst of all the noise, a series of words seems to appear again and again: marketing vs. advertising. What is the difference between the two? There is a difference? Does your business need one more than the other?

Marketing is generally defined as "the action or business of promoting and selling products or services". In general, marketing is the global umbrella of all the things you do to spread your business.

This may include researching your target market, setting up social media channels to make it easier to reach your audiences, create graphics to use in all your different marketing channels and ... advertising!

What is the publicity?

That's right, advertising falls into the broader category of "marketing." In fact, it is silly to think in terms of marketing versus advertising as a business strategy. Instead, think of your business's overall marketing strategy as a complete puzzle: it is made up of lots of smaller pieces. Advertising is just one of these pieces.

It is defined as "the act or practice of drawing public attention to the product, service, need, etc." Essentially, advertising acts as the "promoter" piece of the puzzle.

Traditional advertising may involve a radio or television advertisement. An ad placed in a magazine or newspaper. Or maybe a billboard placed along a busy highway to advertise your business. However, in the era of digital marketing, an advertising strategy should also include placing paid ads on social media platforms and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Advertising on social networks

Social media advertising takes advantage of the broad reach of social media channels and the data that these platforms can collect to identify one or more audiences of users who are likely to want or need your product or service.

These social networking sites allow a company to create dynamic and attractive ads and send them to these audiences. At LYFE Marketing, we offer services to help our clients make the most of their advertising budget and connect with their audiences on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn.

This type of advertising, when done correctly, leads to more traffic to your website, higher participation rates from your target market and more money in your bank account!

PPC advertising

Also known as pay-per-click advertising, PPC advertising uses search engines such as Google or Yahoo to directly advertise to people who are looking for something related to your business.

Unlike social media ads, your business will only charge a small fee when someone clicks on the link in your ad. This type of advertising is largely based on keywords and a good understanding of your target audience.

A great advertising strategy is one that combines both types of advertising to obtain optimal results. Having a deep understanding of your target audience is key. Knowing things like where they shop and what social media platforms they use can help you plan your advertising strategy. Reach as many customers as possible with the least amount of money possible when you implement the right strategies.

Putting them together

So, is it possible to have a successful advertising campaign without doing any other marketing work? No, if you want to make the most of your budget and reach your audience efficiently!

Instead of deciding between marketing and advertising, combine these two essential elements.

Here are some additional marketing solutions that can help ensure your advertising efforts are successful:

Build brand recognition

You can provide the best possible service, but is it difficult to get a loyal following if no one can recognize your logo or remember your name?

The brand does not need to be elaborated to be effective: something as simple as using the same colors in your ads and including your logo in marketing materials can make a big difference in the way your customers remember it.

Brand recognition

One of the simplest but often overlooked aspects of marketing and brand recognition is your website! We will help you design a website that is easy to navigate, with the information your customers are looking for and the elements that match your brand so that visitors recognize your work immediately.

How well do you know your target audience?

Market research, such as surveys and product testing, can help you better understand what your customers are looking for, what they are willing to spend, and where they are looking for it.

Advertising without doing any market research is like dressing in the dark; I could accidentally put together something that works, but it is more likely to end in disaster. No business owner wants to waste money, and taking the time to do your market research before launching any advertisement can save a lot of money in the long term.

What good is an amazing ad if nobody sees it?

In today's ever-changing digital marketing landscape, your existing followers on social media platforms are the key to unlocking larger and "similar" audiences. These are audiences that have buying habits, social and demographic habits similar to people who are already big fans of your business. Follow

Do not get caught up in paid advertising that you forget to participate with your followers on social platforms.

Posting relevant and useful content, answering questions, comments and messages, and sharing reviews and records will help you create an online community that will be a great step for larger and more qualified audiences.

Diversify your channels

How many social network applications have you downloaded to your phone at this time? And how many other places do you see or hear advertisements every day?

Hulu, YouTube, Spotify, not to mention "traditional" advertising formats, such as radio and television ... these are all services or platforms that most people interact with almost every day. Your customers are not spending ALL their time in one place, why would they do that with their marketing budget?

This is another place where the aforementioned market research is useful. Learning which channels you use most of your target market will help you develop a marketing plan that reaches as many potential customers as possible.

No two businesses are the same. Our LYFE marketing specialists can help you decide which digital marketing channels will give you the best investment!

Be a customer service professional

We have all heard the old saying: "The customer is always right". While many may discuss this feeling, one thing is certain: happy customers are customers for life.

Training your team to be aware of customer service is one of the best things you can do for your business, and it is more important than ever that the same level of service be extended to online customers.

Responding to reviews (positive and negative) in a friendly and respectful manner, responding to emails and questions in a timely manner, striving for ever elusive 5-star ratings ... all this is essential to the success of your marketing efforts and your business as a whole.

Focus all customer interactions with customer service in mind, and it will surely turn those customers at once into ambassadors for your brand, the best type of marketing that exists.

Creation of a marketing strategy

Each business must have a marketing strategy to inform decisions when it comes to advertising and other aspects of marketing. When creating this strategy, business owners should consider the 4 P's: product, location, price and promotion:

Product: The first "P" is the easiest. Your "product" is whatever your business is selling, be it a tangible product or an intangible service. No business can succeed without a product that is in demand, fulfilling a desire or need of its target audience. The key to successfully marketing your product is a solid understanding of what makes it unique and desirable for your customers in order to create advertising that shows the best you can.

Place: this second "P" goes back to the concept of diversity in its marketing channels. If your product is not advertised in the right place at the right time, you may not be advertising anything. Bring the best possible audience to your product with a well-placed marketing that takes into account the habits of your desired customers.

Price: many factors intervene in the choice of the price of a product or service: production costs, labor and the current market price of similar products are taken into consideration. Market research is especially useful in this area because it helps your company to have a better understanding of how the market looks for your product and its price accordingly.

Promotion: This is where advertising really comes in! The fourth and last "P" is the promotion: how will you make sure that your audience gets all the relevant information you need to decide to buy your product or service? If your company can decipher the code to promote your product, you are on your way to a successful marketing plan!

Integrate advertising into your marketing strategy

Once you have identified and explored the 4 P's and created a marketing strategy, it's time to get to the details and integrate the advertising campaigns into your marketing strategy.

Successful advertising campaigns must be memorable, informative and create an exposure for your business that ultimately drives traffic and profits.

This is the reason why a strategy that puts marketing against advertising, especially when it comes to budgets, often does not succeed. Without doing the work required for a marketing strategy, such as investigating your audience and choosing the right social channels, your ads will not reach anyone!

Use your marketing knowledge to determine which type of advertising will have the most visibility and the greatest reach.

That could mean a series of videos distributed through social channels for an audience that is always online. A campaign that revolves around a great annual sale for customers that you know are always on the hunt for a big business. Or maybe an Instagram ad that shows incredible photos of your followers using your product.

Whatever you choose, you will know you are ready to succeed when you develop a plan based on the research, knowledge and understanding of your target market that you obtained from all your previous marketing efforts!

A successful marketing strategy includes well-researched advertising executed on various platforms and media, and the best advertising campaign in the world cannot reach its full potential without preliminary work with a comprehensive marketing strategy and for the best results I will suggest you to contact to an online digital agency