Marketing and advertising seem to be words that are used in conjunction, and often mistakenly in place of one another. I would define advertising as the putting of message about a product or service out in front of those individuals that you think might have a desire to buy the product.
Advertising can be further defined as relatively non-personal in nature. Marketing could be considered a more personal, relationship building approach.
The role of advertising in today’s business is important, but is changing. With the addition of technology to the market place, especially on the internet, the rules that existed, I feel, are being re-written at every turn. The ability to get a message out to the public exists. What once took huge ad campaigns and budgets can be twittered and turn viral in an instant. The new mix includes both advertising and marketing simultaneously, with even more technology.
The options available for businesses today are almost impossible to fully comprehend. The internet, you tube, twitter, radio, print, television, search engines, and more. A target audience for a product, service, or idea can be defined and found in all of these areas. The pricing structure that existed to get a message out has grown, and gotten smaller, all at the same time depending on the media and the message used. Online technology such as twitter has the ability to get the message spread even more quickly and widespread than any large campaign.
With so many choices, companies and service providers have incredible option and opportunity. It is important to take the time to find out where to put the time needed to share messages, and continue to develop campaigns that take advantage of the media available.