Difference between Advertising and Marketing

Key difference: Advertising is mainly about selling the product or services, as opposed to marketing, which is the entire process of developing, branding, designing the product or service to bringing it to the market.

Many think that marketing and advertising are synonymous; however, they are two different concepts. One way to distinguish them is to realize that advertising is a part of marketing, and that marketing is much bigger in scope than advertising.

Advertising is about making both repeat customers and potential new customers aware of an individual product or service. It aims to sell the product directly to the customer. It involves the process of developing strategies such as ad placement, frequency, etc.

Marketing, on the other hand, is about developing, branding and designing the product or service, doing research on the target customers, advertising the features and benefits of the product or service; and to bring an idea to the market. It involves improving product design, benefits, pricing and expected performance of the product, media planning, strategies to associate the product to the public, and customer assistance systems. It doesn’t just end with selling the product. It goes a step further, tries to figure out what the consumer like about the product, what he dislikes, and tries to incorporate these into the product. Marketing is about creating a recognizable brand, which is longer lasting than a just a sell.

Further differences include:

	Advertising	Marketing
Definition	The paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers.	Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
Purpose	Getting the word out about the business, product, or the services.	To identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer.
Aim	To sell the product directly to the customer.	To create a relationship between the buyer and seller.
Methods	radio and television, commercials, newspaper and magazine ads, flyers, brochures, emails, web advertisements, cold calls to potential clients	Research, advertising, sales, public relations, customer service and satisfaction