Marketing vs. Advertising
People often confuse Marketing for Advertising,
when in reality, Marketing is much more than that.
mar-ket-ing [mahr-ki-ting] -noun
1. The total of activities involved in the transfer of goods
from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including
advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
One must first have something that people want. Marketing starts
with the product or service. Development of the packaging or
creating a diversified list of quality services are just a couple of
examples where the "Product" portion of marketing comes into play.
Price is equally as important as your product. Obviously, you don't
want to price yourself out of the market, nor do you want to
undercut yourself to the point where your business can't be
profitable. You have to find the right price point to ensure your
success.
Place, or placement of your products can make or break the sale. One
of the best examples of placement is the checkout isle at your
grocery store. If these items were placed in the back corner, or
worse, at a completely different type of store, they would most
likely never sell. Are your products in the right place?
Promotion is where the advertising comes in, but it can be so much
more than that. Couponing, cross promotions, contests, and sales are
just a couple of ways that you might promote your product or
service.
As you can see, Marketing is comprised of many things, all of which
are designed to increase your sales and support the success of your
business.