Knowing the Difference Between Marketing and Advertising

Although used interchangeably, advertising and marketing are two very different words. An average person with little or no background about Internet marketing or marketing per se may view the two terms as one and the same. But if you are into an online business or you plan to put up one, it is a must that you be able to tell the difference between the two.

What Is Advertising?

Advertising is a common yet effective way to market a particular product or service. It is one of the essential aspects of marketing wherein a sponsor pays the services of an advertising firm just to promote or popularize his product or service to reach as many target clients as possible. The advertisers simply endorse the product for mere purposes of endorsing the product and is no longer concerned of its outcome or if it would gain the intended sales and profit of the sponsor for as long as it was able to deliver its advertising job. Advertising can have the following medium:

* By way of direct mailing
* Newspapers and broadsheets
* By using billboards
* By online advertising
* Radio
* Television

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is looking at a particular business on a larger scale. Marketing largely focuses on strategies in making a particular business a successful one. It involves various aspects that operates independently but has to work together with the other marketing elements to achieve a wider and a much bigger goal. The usual marketing goal is to determine which product or services is suitable to particular target clients, what strategies can be effective, and how the company would develop and grow through these strategies. Some of the most essential elements of an effective marketing involve any of the following:

* Advertising
* Customer support
* Sales strategies
* Product pricing
* Market feasibility study and research
* Economic analysis
* Distribution of products
* Public relations
* Involvement of community
* Media planning strategies

Marketing and Advertising Applications

Both marketing and advertising are beneficial when it comes to making an online or offline business successful in terms of popularity among its intended clients. A simple smile from a waitress can be considered a marketing strategy, while talking about a particular spa service during a girls' night out is a form of advertising. Essentially, both marketing and advertising can be effectively applied anytime and anywhere as long as a product or a service is patronized. And when it comes to marketing, the hottest form comes in "Internet marketing" where the online technology is applied to come up with better advertising techniques and more effective marketing tools. Among the advantages that Internet marketing gives are the following:

* It elicits immediate response regarding product concerns.
* It encourages faster and better communication between suppliers, clients, and customers.
* It provides hassle-free and more convenient commercial transactions for all involved parties.
* It provides an inexpensive way for customers and clients to access the products and services.
* It provides measurable outcomes and outputs.
* Traditional working hours are not followed.