Advertising and marketing? confusion

[newmusic11]

hello, i am starting a business and wondering what i would put after the name,

would it be "...." Advertising & Marketing..... or Advertising & Promotion....

I am doing business services - advertising, marketing & promotion but don't really know how to categorize it cuz i think promotion may be a form of advertising, so I leave that out...would i just keep it at "Advertising & Marketing" or are those basically categorized the same as well?

[Steve B]

Welcome to the forum.

It depends on what your are actually doing. Give us some additional details on what you plan to provide for your customer and we can give better input.

[huggytree]

the words marketing and promotion are similar, but different.....its something you need to decide on depending on what your actually doing....i dont know if anyone here can really TELL you which is better.....unless you write a 1,000 word post about the fine details of your business...

id figure which word will bring the desired customers into your business

[vangogh]

Marketing is the most general term. Promotion would be a part of marketing and advertising would be a part of promotion. Which you use as a tag line is really up to you and would depend on the specific of your business. It's actually a marketing question that only you can decide.

I would ask though, if you're having such a hard time deciding which terms to use, are you honestly ready to provide marketing services to others. I apologize if that comes across rude, but I think it's a fair question. These are very basic terms and it's going to be hard to convince someone to hire you to provide marketing services if you're not sure what the definitions of a few very basic marketing terms are. Wouldn't it make more sense to learn a little more before offering the services?

Again I apologize if I'm coming across harshly, but substitute the words surgery, physical, and examination for marketing, advertising, and promotion and ask your question again. Would you allow that person to operate on you?

[TimPiazza]

Here's the way I would define the distinctions, based on my professional experience. Marketing incorporates both Advertising and Promotions, but these are discrete disciplines that do not require some of the more specialized practices of marketing.

Advertising is the activity of buying space on billboards, on radio, on television, in magazines, etcetera.

Promotions is the activity of mass distributing a brand identity through means other than purchased advertising.

Good marketing is based on a holistic interest in the business, getting into the customer's psyche, creating a brand identity, and developing the message that communicates the benefits of the product or service. The result of marketing activities is often advertising, but it can be other things, such as creating packaging, logo and identity development, and other activities that really don't fit into the definition of advertising or promotions.

--Tim

[lucas.bowser]

Marketing is so much more than that. It's defining and designing the entire customer experience from end to end. That includes product and service design, warranty, advertising, promotion, support, etc... Advertising is not just purchasing. It's about determining what communication vehicles your client's customers are most likely to be looking at, what will get them to act and how can I entice that action in a cost effective manner. Promotion, in an academic sense, includes advertising. It is every aspect of communication with your potential customer base. It could be advertising, a contest, a seminar, PR, press releases, etc... The key is communication.

So in my mind, moving from general to specific it is marketing (defining the total customer experience) -> promotion (communicating with the customer) -> advertising (a specific type of communication with the customer).

[vangogh]

Welcome to the forum Lucas. Good point about marketing being so much more. I agree completely that it's about defining and designing the entire customer experience. I'll add in brand to that as well. Agree too about the order from general to specific.

I think a lot of people equate marketing to either advertising or promotion and miss out on the rest. Marketing needs to be a central ingredient in any company from the moment the company is conceived. It's going to happen even if you aren't consciously aware of it. When you choose a company name it's marketing. When you choose a physical location for a store it's marketing. When you decide what product to build or what service to offer it's marketing. You're going to do those things anyway and better to do so with some thought in mind.

[greenoak]

i would just go with marketing...thats simple and about covers it..... the fine points and different definitions are subjective and fun to argue about but not what you want to project.......as a store owner i see marketing as my ads, my communication with the customers and instore signs and all my media etc....is that what you offer? thats what marketing would say to me...
i wouldnt expect a marketer to try and cover all the other things it takes to plan and run a business...you can get so broad that the word becomes meaningless...if it covers everything...which in a way it does...but thats not how businesses see marketing imho... especially if they were loooking for marketing services...
kiss is always good...keep it simple

[HoodLaw]

It's a bad sign that someone in marketing couldn't answer that question for themselves. What positions yourself better in the market? What is your target market looking for?

Personally, a promoter sounds like they work with bands...