Marketing Terms - What do they mean?
Patrysha Korchinski
Katherine commented on my first post with a question about the what terms like marketing, promotions and advertising mean. I was stunned. Like most people who get passionate and deep into one particular topic, I tend to forget that the terms I’m familiar with might not be as “common knowledge” as I think.
Before I begin, I’d just like to say - you don’t have to understand all the terminology and get to the bottom of how everything works before you start taking action. A general understanding and a good team of supporters (whether paid consultants or an unpaid mastermind group) is all you need to develop a successful marketing plan for your business.
So diving right in, what is marketing? Marketing is the entire process of selling your product (or service) to ensure satisfied customers.
The dictionary definition of marketing is rather bland when you sit back and really think about everything marketing covers. From packaging, placement and delivery to promotions and customer service. They all play a part in the marketing of your business. Most people think marketing only covers the tail end of the process, attracting the attention of the buyer - but that is more properly called Promotion.
I once read a rather good analogy illustrating the differences between promotion, marketing and advertising using a circus. I vaguely remember there being some discussion about whether the story was completely accurate in it’s depiction on a Public Relations Professionals list that I used to participate on through Yahoo, but I don’t remember the exact details and am sure that it’s a fairly good starting point towards really understanding the differences between each of the disciplines.
Promotions is the small category of marketing that relates to getting the customers attention. Essentially this covers all the methods of spreading the word about your business. This includes the sub-categories of advertising and public relations.
Advertising, of course, comes in an increasing number of shapes, colors and sizes. It takes a very short time to come up with a lengthy list of possible media to communicate your sales message to your target market in this day and age. Between traditional and new media, there are countless ways to promote your business through advertising. Ultimately, you’ll choose the methods most likely to provide a healthy return on investment.
Now with Public Relations, you are using some of the same media to get editorialized coverage of yourself or your business. It’s often referred to as free advertising, but it’s much more complex than that. Though it can be very inexpensive, it’s not free. (I could go on a long rant about the use of the word free in relation to publicity, but I’ll save that for a rainy day. It’s much too nice out to spend the entire evening on the computer!).
It’s putting these things together that create your marketing plan and make the decisions that will guide your business.
Patrysha Korchinski @ May 7, 2008
Patrysha Korchinski