Marketing (Terms) 101
I recently sat in the office of a VP of Sales as he went over his ideas for “PR.” It turned out nothing he was suggesting had anything to do with public relations, and further, he was using incorrect, confusing terms for the types of tactics he did want help with.
This is not an isolated incident. One of the things I specialize in is working with growth-phase brands that don’t have any marketing expertise in-house. Sure, a CEO might have once run sales and marketing, or a Product Manager might have partnered with marketing enough in a past life to throw out some tactics. But the truth is marketing is a broad term that can include a lot of different elements, and the nuances can be tricky.
To help break it down, I’ve created this simple cheat sheet and included in-depth definitions below. I hope this helps give you a starting point for understanding the different types of marketing and how each can help drive your business forward.
Note: If you haven’t read our article on how we define Brand, we suggest starting there.
Though this is a Marketing Lexicon Cheat Sheet, I want to make sure you understand what is traditionally referred to as “brand” or “branding” – that is, having a consistent look and feel to your visual images and consistent messaging related to all of the marketing disciplines. Again, we think of brand as much broader and more encompassing than simply your identity – more on that here.
Most companies have a CMO or brand manager who works with a third-party agency or in-house team of designers and writers who help manage this consistency and create general materials such as company brochures, business cards, and signage.
Ok, on to the marketing terms:
#1: Marketing
Definition: The process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service. Traditionally, marketing included the “Four P’s”: Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. That meant marketing teams had influence over product design and innovation, pricing, distribution (as well as in-store placement), and promotion that includes advertising, PR, and more.
What It Means: Today, I’ve heard marketing used to refer to everything from field sales to public relations and everything in between. Marketing in its broadest term includes all of these disciplines and is constantly evolving and new technologies and platforms emerge. For example, social media marketing wasn’t a thing when I started helping brands in 1997. Also less common today, but companies who integrate the four “P’s” of marketing to let creative teams influence product innovation and customer experience departments enjoy many benefits.
Why It Matters: Marketing at its core is essentially about storytelling. Why does your product or service exist, how will it benefit your customers, and why should they choose you over someone else?
#2: Advertising
Definition: The act of calling attention to something.
What It Means: Advertising traditionally referred to paid media placement such as TV, radio, newspaper, and magazines. Today, advertising also includes things like social media, YouTube, podcasts, web ads, search engine ads (i.e. Google ads), and more.
Why It Matters: Advertising requires some level of spend. The medium and audience determine the price, and to be effective, you need to run an advertising campaign across multiple outlets repeatedly (a concept known as reach and frequency). The idea is that you get your message heard/seen by as many people in your target audience as many times as possible.
#3: Sponsorships
Definition: Financial or in-kind support of an event or activity by a business to increase its brand awareness.
What It Means: Sponsorships can include providing goods or services or financial support in exchange for some level of brand recognition such as your logo being placed prominently somewhere, or a product being featured during an event. Sponsorships are a great way for businesses to build awareness and sample their products (if applicable) and are usually part of a company’s advertising budget.
Why It Matters: Sponsorships are generally employed by larger companies with significant marketing budgets and mainly result in brand awareness. They can be effective for smaller companies when used in targeted ways such as sponsoring lanyards at an industry event but should be used for the purpose of getting your company’s name out there versus expecting a direct sales ROI (return on investment).
#4: Public Relations (PR, Media Relations)
Definition: The business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution
What It Means: Here’s where things can get tricky. PR includes “media relations” because there is an element of forming relationships with and dealing with media outlets which result in “earned media.” This is not to be confused with advertising where you are paying to have an ad placed (also known as a media buy). Instead, PR seeks to tell your story either first hand (i.e. through a press release) or ideally by a third party (i.e. a news station, editorial news article, etc.). PR is a great way to build brand awareness and even improve your SEO (how high your business shows up in a Google search).
Why It Matters: Third parties or media outlets have journalists and producers who determine what stories are interesting and relevant to their readers/viewers/listeners, so you want to build relationships with them (usually through a PR agency), educate them on how you’re making the world a better place, and offer them story ideas that keep their audiences engaged.
#5: Digital Marketing
Definition: The use of digital mediums including websites, mobile phones, search engines, and social media to promote products or services to target customers.
What It Means: Digital marketing is a broad term that encompasses other disciplines such as website marketing, SEO, and social media marketing. Each of these has its own definitions broken down below.
Why It Matters: Having someone focused on digital marketing is essential for today’s companies because most people now consume information and entertainment online, on their mobile phones, via social media, on apps, etc. That means brands need to promote their products where their target audiences are – digitally. The world of digital marketing is also constantly changing as new platforms emerge and existing platforms change their algorithms.
#6: Website Marketing
Definition: The act of driving relevant audiences to your website and getting them to take action.
What It Means: Website marketing includes everything from content strategy (the info, messages, videos, blogs, etc. on your website), UX (user experience, how they navigate around your site), and SEO (see more specific definition below).
Why It Matters: Websites are one of the more important tools you can employ today so it’s important to invest in having a site that clearly communicates what you offer, is easy to navigate, and provides a clear incentive for your desired call to action (i.e. sign up, get a quote, etc.).
#7: SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Definition: The process of improving your website’s ranking in search results.
What It Means: SEO is part of website marketing and optimizes the keywords, metadata, backlinks, and more to improve where your site shows up when people search terms related to your product or service. There are front-end SEO tactics such as keyword optimization and backend technical aspects that affect the ranking of your site in search engines.
Why It Matters: Having your website show up on the first page of search results greatly improves the traffic to your site and the potential for your target audience to take action. Keep in mind, SEO is a long-term strategy that organically improves your search rankings over time. There is no silver bullet to suddenly have your site show up on Page 1. The most important thing to do is make sure your site clearly articulates what you do using popular keywords.
#8: Social Media Marketing
Definition: Using social media platforms to promote your product or service.
What It Means: Social media marketing is becoming more important as a growing number of consumers use social media to stay connected and informed. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitter are the most common while more emerging platforms tend to pop up every year. Social media marketing includes the strategy behind determining what platforms you will use to reach your target audience, how often you’ll post content, what types of content you’ll post, and how you’ll engage with comments, questions, etc. This could include having a regular cadence of posts, paid promotions, or a combination of both.
Why It Matters: Social media marketing can be highly effective IF the platforms are relevant to your target audience. For example, B2B businesses might not need to invest in Instagram or Facebook posts, while they might opt to spend time on LinkedIn. Social media strategies take at least time and effort to post consistently, and many companies underestimate the investment needed to be successful here.
#9: Email Marketing
Definition: Sending emails to a group or individuals to promote your goods or services.
What It Means: Email marketing is exactly what its name implies – using email to tell your story, share your latest news, and offer discounts. Email marketing includes drip campaigns – having a series of emails triggered by events such as signing up for a list, putting an item in a checkout cart, purchasing a product, etc.
Why It Matters: Email marketing is an easy way to build a list of loyal fans, keep your brand top of mind, and alert them about important events and promotions.
#10: Content Marketing
Definition: A type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of material such as videos, blogs, and social media posts that is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.
What It Means: Content marketing is tied to your website, digital, SEO, social media, and email marketing since it involves the act of creating content to be used in those mediums. From blog posts that help drive traffic to your site and improve SEO to creating video, photo, or text posts for social media, content marketing is a broad term representing all the ways to get your message out to your target audience.
Why It Matters: Content marketing is key in today’s digital marketing landscape. To stay relevant, you should invest in some form of content marketing, even if it’s as simple as a monthly blog post.
#11: Event Marketing
Definition: Hosting or attending an event to showcase your product, speak, or hold in-person meetings.
What It Means: Event marketing can include everything from speaking engagements to tradeshow exhibits to sponsorships. If you have a product or service you want to get in front of a specific audience, events can be an important way to introduce your brand and meet potential customers, especially in the B2B world.
Why It Matters: In today’s world of virtual meetings, in-person interactions are more important than ever. Event marketing gives you an opportunity to meet with multiple prospects, customers, and partners in your industry over the course of a few days and can be very effective. On the other hand, it is labor intensive if you have a physical booth presence and can be expensive since it almost always requires travel. Event marketing should be reserved for prioritized events you have ample resources for.
#12: Channel / Partner Marketing
Definition: Working with a third party such as a supplier or retailer to take your product to market.
What It Means: Channel/Partner marketing includes using the “channels” of your suppliers, distributors, and more to get your message out. From having point-of-sale (POS) displays at partners or dealers to using field sales teams to train retail associates about your product or service, channel marketing can be an effective way to increase sell-through.
Why It Matters: Channel/Partner marketing is an effective way to increase the chance of having your message heard by the right audience. It is most common for businesses selling physical products through retail environments, but can also be used by service providers when partnering with technology vendors or other third parties.
#13: Direct Mail
Definition: Exactly what it sounds like, direct mail involves sending a physical postcard, letter, flyer, or other to a mailing list.
What It Means: Besides paying for the list itself, you need to budget for the printing of the actual marketing piece and postage.
Why It Matters: The ROI can be relatively low – 1%-2%. How often do you pay attention to your “junk mail.” That said, this tactic can be effective when paired with a specific promotion, i.e. grand opening, product launch, sale, coupon, etc. I see this most often used by brick-and-mortar retailers and/or e-commerce businesses.
The Intersection of Marketing & Brand
While it’s important to know these terms so you know what tactics are being proposed to you, one of the most important things to invest is in a marketing strategy that is aligned with your brand. A brand alignment process looks at all the different variables of your business, identifies gaps and opportunities, and proposes ways to close the gaps and capitalize on those opportunities.
Interested in learning how we help businesses align brand and marketing strategies? We’d love to chat with you!