When you think of marketing, what comes to mind? Do you think about creating glossy brochures, if a television ad campaign would work or if a newspaper ad is better? If so, you are confusing marketing with advertising.

In reality, advertising is only a small part of the activity called Marketing. Marketing encompasses the complete conceptualization of a product or service from research, design, creation and refinement of the product, advertising, sales and delivery. Each of these phases operates independently, but collectively, to achieve success in the sale of the product or service and improve the reputation of the company.

Hopefully, you’ve seen that advertising is just one component of the marketing process – it’s the delivery of the message through various means to promote and sell the product. Done right, the advertising process involves reviewing market research and developing and analyzing strategies to create ads that appeal to your target audience.

The advertising strategy consists of determining the appropriate medium to use, the times and the frequency. When considering where to advertise, most companies immediately think of newspaper, magazine, television and radio campaigns; However, there are many other advertising channels available, including mailboxes (flyers), flyers on community billboards or bulletin boards, community group sponsorships, sms or text messaging, and of course online and internet marketing (email, ppc, banner ad, social media).

Possibly the most important factor in developing an advertising strategy is determining the best (and most effective) channels for reaching your target audience (the people who will buy your product or service). It is the marketing process that will define your target audience and their preferences and it is the advertising strategy that details which medium to use to convey the message.

By understanding the difference between advertising and marketing, you can determine the best place to spend your time and money to get the most out of it. For example, initially branding the product may not be as important as communicating with the customer to educate them about your company’s unique offerings and discover what your customer is really looking for.

Savvy business owners will take the time to develop a marketing strategy so they can understand their target audience, what benefits their offering should deliver to the customer, and the best places to reach the target audience, among other things.

Armed with this information, effective and powerful advertising campaigns can be developed.