As a business owner, it is vital that you know the difference between marketing and advertising firms. It is not difficult to see that the responsibilities of an ad agency are different from those of marketing agencies. However, just to make sure that you have explored all the areas of the differences, keep reading.
The question of advertising agency vs marketing agency usually arises for small businesses that are starting out in the industry. Both these type of agencies believe in providing solutions to help grow a business through increased sales. The difference however lies in their basic approach and the kind of results they deliver. Advertising is mainly associated with communication among the company and its clients to create brand awareness. The scope of work of marketing agencies covers a much bigger consultative approach to help develop a marketing strategy. Here are some of the areas, where the differences can highlighted.
1. Skills
One fundamental difference between marketing and advertising firms lies in their skill and expertise. A marketing company may have proper experience of working with the marketing departments of several companies. It may depend on procedures like market research, strategy development, product development and marketing programs. Read our blog on WEBSITE MARKETING COMPANY: ESSENTIAL QUALITIES YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR to know more about the skills of a good website marketing company. On the other hand, an advertising agency includes media planning and creative skills. It focuses on delivering a pre-constructed brand message to the customers.
2. Internal Resources
The internal resource availability is a major point of difference between marketing and advertising firms. The scope of work of marketing agencies is to form strategies and developments internally. While the roles and responsibilities of an ad agency rely on creating and delivering the ad campaigns that meet the internal strategy proposed by the marketing team, they both depend on each other for sustenance. Without advertising, marketing strategies cannot be implemented. Without marketing strategies in the play, advertising is wasteful and ineffective.
3. Outsourcing
When it comes to jobs like developing new products or selecting the right distribution channel, a marketing team will prove to be more worthy. In the difference between marketing and advertising firms, outsourcing your projects is a great way of being budget-friendly because you have the option of gathering the experiences of marketing experts and analysts who demonstrate best practices rather than to hire a full-time specialist. When it comes to advertising, it is prudent to invest in an agency because it comprises of a lot of teams and departments. Learn more about effective low-budget marketing at our blog BEST WAYS TO DO LOCAL MARKETING IN A LOW BUDGET.
4. Communication
The roles and responsibilities of an ad agency are to input the expertise and strategies of the marketing team into their communication channels, which may include press advertising, broadcast advertising, online advertising or direct marketing. It may include a more hands-on approach like exhibitions, seminars and customer relationship programs which maybe more successful depending the audience. Read BEST WAYS TO ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS USING SOCIAL MEDIA.
5. Usage
When it comes to the difference between marketing and advertising firms, another point to consider is usage. Advertising is used for a variety of purposes such as brand recall, product introduction, communications and so on. Whereas, marketing is used for objectives like researching new products and new markets, building brand equity and other research-related purposes. Learn more about DIFFERENT BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR DIFFERENT BRAND ORGANISATIONS for more insightful information.
No matter how big or small the agencies in concern are, these basic differences between marketing and advertising firms will remain as they are. Their approaches carry the essence of their scopes and roles. For your brand to succeed, you need both marketing and advertising services. You may choose to work with a full-service agency, an individual marketing/ advertising company or set up an in-house marketing/ advertising agency. The choice lies with you.
