Marketing vs. Communications: What's the difference?
Author: Natalie Pastuszak
Date: May 21, 2021
Marketing and communications. They’re the same thing, right?
Well, sort of… but that’s not the whole story.
Popular notions of marketing and communications usually look a little something like this:
Marketing is sales; communications is positioning
or
Marketing IS communications; communications IS marketing
These perspectives aren’t necessarily wrong, but they don’t account for the subtle differences between the two. Knowing the difference and taking a balanced approach to both marketing and communications will help you better organize the needs and activities of your service or stakeholder-based business.
Let’s explore the similarities and differences between these two siblings and identify how they work together.
What is marketing?
The American Marketing Association updates its definition of marketing every few years. Its most recent definition: “the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large.”
To further focus for the purpose of this post, we define marketing as activities that “package” and “deliver” a product, service or offering to the targeted customer.
Customer-centricity
The emphasis in marketing is on the target customer. Marketers keep this customer in mind throughout the life cycle of the product, service or offering, from conception, to development and then through to the final transaction or delivery.
Marketing is about ensuring that what your business is selling or creating is valued by, and optimally delivered to, your target customer – whether they are investing money or time, and whether or not they are receiving something tangible in return.
Marketers narrow in on the needs of their target customers, their habits, what they respond to, how much they are willing to pay or allocate time, how they perceive value and what attracts them.
A transaction with the target customer is the goal, or the conversion metric.
Marketing efforts are most often developed around a clear program and objective, with a definite timeframe.
Marketing tools
The “marketing mix” is a model that was established in the 1950’s, but it is still widely used today, providing a set of tools to help businesses meet their marketing objectives.
Defining the four Ps
Product: the product, service or offering you’re selling. What need does it fill? What is your value proposition? How will you package it?
Price: the cost or quantified value. Considering the competitive landscape, how much do similar products, services or offerings cost? What price point generates a healthy return and provides the customer with the expected benefit?
Place: where you sell a product, service or offering, and how you deliver it. Where do your prospective customers spend time? Where can your value be best communicated?
Promotion: how your target customer becomes aware of your product, service or offering. What do your customers respond do? How do they best perceive value? What will attract them?
Intersecting with communications
Product, price, place and promotion are all vehicles that communicate a message. When determining how to “package” and “deliver” a product, you are inherently determining what to communicate.
So, what IS communications, and how can we differentiate it?
What is communications?
In a corporate context, we define communications as the dissemination of messages to the company’s targeted internal and/or external audiences in order to reinforce its position and values.
While marketing is “customer-centric,” communications is all about the “audience.”
Audience-focused
“Who is the targeted audience?” is one of the first questions any communicator will ask.
Communicators’ main goal is to ensure the targeted audience understands the message. They do so by working to understand this audience: What are their needs? How could they perceive the message? What information do they need? What do they value?
Understanding, acceptance and buy-in by the audience is often the goal, or the conversion metric. Communications are developed around a clear program and objective, but definite timeframes are a challenge, as the conversion metric is more arbitrary and therefore more difficult to measure.
Beyond a defined program, communications efforts are also dedicated to the continual process of reiterating the company’s commitments, mission and values, and reinforcing the company’s reputation and position in the market.
While the marketing mix has four P’s,
Traditionally, communications follow four C’s and five W’s
Messages should be:
Clear,
Concise,
Captivating, and should
Convey information to your targeted audience
by explaining
Who,
What,
Where,
When, and
Why.
The toolkit of the communicator is thinking through how your message communicates the five W’s.
Communications is rooted in marketing insight and strategy.
While communicators deliver brand messaging, rather than products, services or offerings, the delivery and packaging of their messages often follow the strategies of sound marketing.
Examples:
Product: What is the message? How is it branded? How do we package it?
Price: What is the competitive landscape? What messages are we competing with for target audience time?
Place: Where do we message? Internal or external? With what platform (presentations, website, etc.)?
Promotion: How do we create awareness? How do we deliver the message (public relations, word of mouth, community relations, social media, etc.)?
Marketing and communications interweave strategy, but are distinguished in delivery.
While marketing is all about getting the product off the shelf, communications is about ensuring the customers believe the store has the product they need.
It’s up to you to determine what is the product and what is the store.
Superman and Clark Kent. Beyoncé and Sasha Fierce. Marketing and communications.
Marketing and communications are alter egos. They’re two different activities, but fundamentally, they have the same purpose: converting someone to believe in the value of your offering.
To achieve that goal, you need strong marketers and communicators working in tandem.
Want to know how? Read Part 2 of this Blog Series on what to consider when hiring marketing and communications professionals.
Want to better articulate communicating the value of your business? Check out our self-starter Business Discovery Deck.
