You mean they’re not the same thing?
Nope, advertising and marketing are two very different animals. The whole world is full of adverts; they are everywhere you turn, on the TV, radio, on buses, the Tube, in magazines, in newspapers, everywhere. Wherever you look there’s a company somewhere trying to grab your hard earned cash from you with their incessant “buy now, buy now” messages.
But is that really the most effective way of selling?
The problem with that method is that you’re thrusting your product or service at someone without actually knowing what they want.
These days the buying public are far more canny and want to be wooed rather than ordered to buy.
The subtlety of marketing
There are far more avenues available to today’s marketers through which they can reach their potential customers.
Social media, video, article marketing and blogging offer valuable ways to reach out to customers and engage with them by offering information and advice.
Now if you think that sounds like a lot of work and giving away stuff without getting anything in return, you’d be right up to a point.
Your customers want to know that you value them and want to build a relationship with them. They don’t want you to just walk up to them, take their money and then walk off again. Now, they want you to stop and chat, find out what they want, give it to them and then ask if everything is OK.
Marketing is all about getting to know and understand your customers. It’s about building relationships with them.
It is far more subtle and, done well, will lead to long-term relationships with customers who will keep coming back.
The Difference Between Advertising and Marketing
