Vivian:
Today we are actually covering a very big misconception. I am so excited about this, Chelsea, because I cannot tell you how many times people use the words marketing and advertising interchangeably because they think it is the same and we are here to clear the air and to set things straight today. Marketing and advertising are not the same thing. They are completely different things and we're going to explain a little bit about that today. So Chelsea, where do you want to start the conversation?
Chelsea:
I want to start this conversation by saying this misconception, we brought it upon ourselves. I think marketers have a really bad habit of saying marketing and advertising and using them interchangeably. It's not the same thing, and we're going to try to keep the analogies to a minimum, but a really great analogy that I want to start off with is; a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square. A square has to have equal sides, but a rectangle doesn't have equal sides, right? Just like the square and the rectangle, advertising is marketing, but marketing is not advertising.
Vivian:
Yes, I love that you brought this up. If any of you out there are like me and you love a good definition, because I'm old school and I remember a time when you had to actually open these books and flip through the pages and find the definition. I don't think Chelsea remembers those days, do you?
Chelsea:
No, I just Google the word.
Vivian:
Yeah, see, they made us do hard work back in the day. So according to the American Marketing Association, marketing is a business practice that involves identifying, predicting, and meeting customer needs. Advertising is a business practice where a company pays to place its messaging or branding in a particular location.
So this is the analogy I'm gonna use throughout this episode and y'all please bear with me. If any of you have ever been in a relationship, or you've dated someone and if currently you aren't dating someone, you can email us and Chelsea and I can become little matchmakers for you guys.
Chelsea:
I didn't consent to that. Don't email me. You can email Vivian.
Vivian:
So if you've ever dated somebody, you know that first and foremost, you go on a date first, right? So you have your first date. Now, the way we equate this is advertising is going to be equal to asking somebody on a date. Essentially that is kind of what you're doing for your business. You are paying to put feelers out there to get people interested in your product or service or your business overall.
So advertising is the first step in that relationship. Just like dating, going on that first date is the first step in a relationship. If you want a long-term relationship, if you want it to go from dating to actually being boyfriend, girlfriend, or girlfriend, girlfriend, or boyfriend, boyfriend, whatever you're into, then it requires massaging that relationship. What I mean by that is then it's going to include, how are you guys communicating, right? How are you ensuring that that person is getting their needs fulfilled? In marketing, you are essentially doing the same thing. You are going to your customers, you're checking in. It's in the way that you communicate with them. It's in the way that you put surveys out together, feedback to ensure that you are delivering on what you promised. So marketing is going to be the overall relationship.
So just think of it like advertising is like you're asking people on their first date, hey, would my business try? See if you like it. Marketing is the overall stuff you are doing to keep them in the relationship and to keep them there with you.
Chelsea:
Vivian, I don't want to say that I doubted you, but I was really nervous about this analogy because I didn't fully understand. You explained perfectly. That makes perfect sense. I'm going to try to sum it up in one little sentence. Advertising is just one small piece of what marketing can be, but creating ads is not "doing marketing".
Vivian:
I think the reason this discussion is so important is because if when you're having a conversation with somebody and you're talking about your business growth, your business overall, and you're saying,
"yeah, my marketing is good. I'm doing good on my marketing", and they ask what are you doing for your marketing? If your response is basically I have ads everywhere. That's not marketing, that is just your advertising. You need to be paying more attention to stuff like, what does your brand voice say about you? How are you approaching people? How often are you checking in? Do you have an email that you're sending once a month so we can nurture that relationship? How many different avenues are you giving people to give you feedback? Do you send surveys out once a month? Are you asking people for Google reviews? Those Google reviews could be extremely valuable and they could give you insight into how your restaurant staff is treating people or new services that you need to add on. That is all part of that marketing function.
I just want to be sure that when you guys are having these conversations and that you're not confusing one portion of it. I want to be sure you're not saying you're in a relationship with people when you actually just went on one date. Okay? That's what I want.
Chelsea:
I love it. Can we also talk about how when it comes to marketing and advertising, your goals are very different. They're very different because advertising is about optimizing that initiative, getting as many clicks as possible, as many eyeballs on it, that sort of thing. Your goals when it comes to marketing are going to be broader. A marketing goal is going to be, I want to increase new patient visits by 30%. An advertising initiative and your advertising goal is going to be, I'm going to get this many clicks so that I can convert these people. Your goals are very different. Also think about what goes into creating your marketing goals and your marketing plans. It's going to be your SWOT analysis. It's going to be in analyzing your target audience as well as understanding what your abilities are when it comes to marketing. Advertising put simply is a marketing tool and initiative. It's a way to reach your marketing goals.
Vivian:
Yes, and I think what it also does is when you correctly know how to identify an advertising function versus a marketing function, it allows you to do the touchy feely stuff, right? Chelsea, you and I both know this because we do come from healthcare marketing where we give credence to some of that touchy feely stuff that sometimes you can't attach hard numbers to it. I'll use a perfect example.
When I was a young buck and I was working at the chamber of commerce locally, we had a local state farm agent who's very well known around here. I remember he would hire these reps or marketing coordinators. At the time he had one who would come into the chamber once every two weeks, and bring homemade cookies. Not homemade, but they had bought a little oven for their office. So she would bring a fresh baked batch. I remember at the time I was scoffing at it, as a 20 something year old, I was like, what the heck? What does that do for your business? Besides like dropping money on cookies, give me a break.
Chelsea:
Okay, can I say real quick as a 26 year old now, I'm thinking marketing genius. I'm thinking she is in a whole other level because we tend to forget that people are emotional. People want that connection. I just saying as a 26 year old now, I love it.
Vivian:
Yeah. If you guys ever want to sway Chelsea in any way, give her cookies apparently. No, but you're right. As a marketing function, what that does is - let's say one of your marketing initiatives is to grow your customer base within this specific county, right? By X amount. This could be a function of that marketing initiative because what she's doing is for one, she's making consistent visits into these businesses. She's bringing something they look forward to and enjoy, and she's dropping off some type of material every time she's doing it. So there's always some type of promo or marketing material that promotes his name as a State Farm agent when she's doing that. It is giving her a touch point and an opportunity for open conversation to get to know these people and to get to know the gatekeepers. Back in the day, I hate to say it, but they had it figured out whenever they would obviously swoon the front desk people, the secretaries to the people that had the big positions. They knew at the end of the day, they're the ones kind of controlling the calendar and they're the ones that are closest to that person. Therefore if I can get myself in her/his good graces, then they will mention to their superior, to their boss, you should really give this person a chance. I think it was genius on her part. In my twenties I didn't see that because I was 20. I thought I knew everything, like whatever that isn't marketing.
It really was a great way for him to expand his brand recognition within those small businesses, the businesses that ultimately would need insurance at some point, right? Interestingly enough, I'm now in my 40s, and he still does this.
When you put things in perspective, if you were looking at that as just an ad, a function of an advertising opportunity, he would have probably pulled the plug way too soon because it takes time to build relationships.
Chelsea:
Vivian, I loved that example. I have an example that's kind of the same thing, but it's healthcare marketing. When I worked for the allergy office, one of our marketing goals was to bring in more referrals from other physicians. So what I would do as the marketing director is I would actually coordinate lunches with these providers. So I would bring a provider with me. I would bring a nurse practitioner or an actual doctor. We would go to the office and sit down and have lunch with them. We would provide lunch for everyone in the office. That did more bringing in new patients than any advertising could do because you're creating that relationship. You're building a bond. Also, if there is a problem, you can hash it out right there. I had a provider once say to me, "I would feel more comfortable if I knew for a fact anyone I referred to you guys had to saw this specific doctor." I said easy, I can just write that down. Anyone who's referred from this office has to be put with this doctor. That's simple. I can do that. He had never gotten the chance to talk with someone to say that. So he just didn't send any of his patients to that office until I could make sure that that happened for him.
Vivian:
I think that's where the feedback part of it comes in. When I was using that comparison of keeping a long-term relationship, the marketing part of it is that overall relationship, doing things like this. You're going and figuring out, what is the roadblock? Why is this particular practice or this doctor not referring patients to us, because he sent us zero in the last four months, and what's up with that? That gives you that avenue for feedback to learn, it's just because either there's a misconception of something we're doing or they have a preference in the way one doctor practices versus the other, whatever it is. The same can be done across the board for all industries. We do this here at The Seasoned Marketer. At the end of every year, and also in June, we send an email that's a very brief, three minute survey. It basically asks people, hey, where are you in your small business marketing? What would you like for us to cover more of? Some of those are actually very surprising to me because what I would think is the holdup, is not mentioned. Last time we sent that survey out, they were identifying things like, "I don't know how much of a marketing budget to invest in throughout the year?" Or "I don't have a marketing budget and I need to figure out other ways to be able to promote my business on a tight budget". These are important conversations and things to know if that's your target audience. If our target audience is small business owners, which it is, I need to hear from small business owners, I can't make assumptions.
Chelsea:
I also want to say, why does this matter? Right? Why are we even talking about this? It can be such a big disservice to you and to your small business if you're only focusing on advertising when it comes to marketing your small business. We just explained why networking is such a strong tool when it comes to marketing. Let's think of community events. Being a part of your community and actually engaging with other people, that's not advertising. That is still a part of marketing, and that is a strong initiative when it comes to marketing. Let's think about ribbon cuttings. Ribbon cuttings aren't advertising, because you're not spending money to put your business in front of other people, but it's still such a powerful tool when it comes to getting your small business in front of other people.
Vivian:
Yeah, and just to go back to the definition, because I'm a girl that constantly has to look at this stuff. If we're thinking about, advertising versus marketing, advertising is going to be specific. Facebook ads, Google banners, billboards, radio spots. There's an exchange of money there where you're exchanging money to tap into an audience. Right. The marketing is everything that you do to attract and to retain your customers. So your branding, your social media presence, customer service, how your business looks, the PR part of your business. What people associate your business with. You cannot minimize those things. I think that's the part where if you're using those terms interchangeably, then you're short changing yourself in one of those areas, right? You're probably thinking of either marketing, that you're still advertising, or you're thinking advertising, marketing. And either way, it's like you're listening to more than one ear. Yes, absolutely. Is there anything else we need to say? I can do the TLDL. Zoe!
Vivian (26:39.14)
If you're using those terms interchangeably, then you're shortchanging yourself in one of those areas, right? It means you're probably either thinking of marketing but you're saying advertising, or you're thinking advertising and saying marketing. Either way, it means that you're missing the mark in one area.
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