Marketing vs Selling? What's the difference?

I agree that they are very different. Marketing, to me, is putting your content/product/blog/website in front of the right people that may take action.

Selling is putting more pressure on someone to buy. I used to be in sales and I had no idea how to market myself, but I could certainly sell.

I think if you market whatever it is you have properly you will not have to worry nearly as much about selling because it will happen. Of course, this is assuming you have decent sales copy.

Benjamin Ehinger

For me, selling = marketing, but marketing not= selling.
It's cause with marketing you don't necessarily sell a product, you could be just branding yourself or building a relationship with your customers. Sort of like PR. Oh course the goal here is to build up for "selling"
Selling is just pushing your product to make money.

Marketing = referring products.
Selling = pushing products

Marketing = referring products.
Selling = pushing products

All semantics really. Technically you're selling when you're marketing.

I think that the answer is the same as with most things like this....

It depends.

Marketing covers many disciplines. Selling is part of a marketing mix.

Some companies have separate departments/people for separate tasks, like Marketing Communications (MarComs), Copywriting, Event management, Branding, Partner management etc.....

Some companies do not.

How you perceive the terms is related to the structure and workflow of your business.

Andy

To me...

Marketing is more focused on getting your message/branding/offer out there.

Selling is more focused on getting the decision of "Yes" to buy.

If you want to put boxes around the terms you could just say something like:

Selling is directly focused on getting orders for your product/service.

Marketing is about communicating the value of your proposition/position/products.

In Marketing people only do promotional work, to only promote products and services. Here, there they never work on follow-ups.

In Sales people not only do promotional work but also follow-ups is necessary to continue sales.

zaheera

So here's my take - not that my views are any more valid than any of the great comments here.

But yes, marketing is all about creating a perception, an expectation, around a product. It includes a lot of various elements - the overall branding (there are entire books written about this, of course, the the best, simplest definition I've ever heard is that a brand is a promise), copy and design (which communicates implicitly and overtly about a product), style and attitude, etc.

Marketing, if done well, makes selling easier. So in that sense, marketing supports sales. (At the end of the day, after all, it's the sale we want.)

But as others have pointed out, if you are selling effectively, you are also branding.

I guess the one thing I see missing (in the IM world) is an obvious understanding of how the two interrelate and work together.

I see a whole lotta selling going on, but not a whole lot of effective marketing. There are many strong exceptions, of course. But there is an overall sense of "frantic salesmanship" (sorry for the non-PC gender reference) going on. Very much like what used to be the case in network/multilevel marketing.

Obviously there's a big segment of unsophisticated buyers who respond to that - for awhile. But sooner or later nothing rings true anymore and it's hard to distinguish one huckster from the other.

Thanks for the great discussion, all. Hope to hear more thoughts.

Alan

Well it depends on what side of the table you sit or for whom you actually do work for.

For most clients marketing doesnt really have something to to with selling. Its more like telling people who they are, what they do, what they can offer, what they actually have or where they can find "something". The goal of "client marketing" is actually only to keep "something" in the mind of customers. So if they have a need for "something" they remember the company, product name or where they can get "something". Products are not really "offered" direct to customers.

Selling is more like taking a product and throwing it at a buyer! You take "something" hype it an convince people to buy it.

In IM marketing is more like a combination of both. You promote a place where people can buy and also take a product hype it and offer it direct to the customers (and hopefully convince them to buy it).

My interpretation

Since entire books have been written on each topic, here's a short verison:

Marketing is about creating awareness; creating a product/service that is focused on providing a specific target market the features and benefits it wants; educating the target market about features and benefits that are relevant to it; positioning what you are marketing in a specific, often unique way; and answering the silent questions in the prospect's mind. You do this through your promotions, pricing, and placement, as well as public conversations (in the age of social media).

Selling, on the other hand, involves a specific buyer. If your marketing is effective, the buyer is already "Sold" and selling is asking how the buyer wants to pay for the purchase. If not, selling can be either a process of conversation to find out the buyer's needs and then education to show the buyer the benefits of your product/service (focused on the buyer), or it can be a process of pushing what you are offering on the buyer (focused on you).

Product - attention/traffic - sale

For me everything besides the first step is marketing. I know it's a loose definition but the way I see it, effective marketing is going to optimize sales.

If marketing is putting your product out there, why not spend money on putting yourself out to those most likely to buy? In that sense the traffic and sale steps are working in tandem.

So making a sale strictly speaking may not be the same. But they both work to the same goal.

The simple answer is:

Marketing= 1 to Many
Sales= 1-1

Marketing beats sales everyday of the week.
If you match the right target market with the
perfect solution you don't need to 'Sell' them because
it sells itself.

Hope this clears it up.

marketing is the bigger picture to what sales are about!

meaning sales is "part" of marketing

Marketing is a process and it includes bringing desired product to prospects. We as marketers often use valuable product to entice prospect to look at our offer. It is a much detailed process than sales therefore it requires more training and experience.

Selling can be done virtually with less training and experience. You can be a great salesperson and not do well with marketing however a great marketer has the ability to do it both through just marketing.

Part of the problem is in IM the amount of marketing vs. selling differs according to the type of business you're running. In offline consulting, marketing is making the phone ring, selling is closing the deal. On the opposite end of that spectrum, say an AdSense site, it's all about marketing--getting the eyeballs on the site. Very little selling. You're just playing the numbers. Marketing is also more like strategy. Selling more like tactics.

Marketing = getting people to raise their hands.

Selling = getting people to open their wallets.

Marketing is make noise or to get noticed.

Selling is to convince.

Let's just say that if you want to do well, you need to develop both skills.

To me it's simple...

Effective Marketing is the art of presenting your product or service in such a way that people want to buy it without you ever having to "sell" it to them. Marketing appeals to emotions and desires that trigger a subconscious response of interest and intrigue.

Selling is the actual process or exchange of goods for currency.

Example: Marketing for a car company is the advertising that shows a fun car with a vibrant color and a single guy with an attractive gal on his arm having a blast, etc...

Selling is the act of negotiating the price with the dealer...

In another manner I look at marketing as being subtle influence whereas selling is direct to the point.

In the online world, in my opinion, an example of marketing would be the banner ad that you place on someone else's site to bring the visitor to yours. You're trying to stir up interest and emotional appeal. But when they come to your ecommerce product page that is purely a sales effort.

In essence, marketing is about lead generation and sales is about creating customers.

I would agree with the above sentiments on the idea that marketing when done awesomely is less to do with selling and more to do with informing someone about a product or service. In those terms once someone has been through a marketing funnel they should be:

A) Fully aware of the product, its advantages and how it fits into their lifestyle
B) Pre-sold/Pre-warmed to the idea of buying - Their appetite for the product should already be visible

I would however say that the lines between marketing/selling are not as clear cut as the above and that in reality as online marketers we often too often try to actually make the final sale rather than concentrate on warming the prospect and allowing for instance the final sales page to actually make the sale.

Marketing is the skill of getting people to the site, with a either a sense of curiosity or a pre warmth for your product or service

selling is the art of converting them when they get there

It is finding the right people to sell to by testing, testing, and testing. It is the act of selling by showing people what they want.

Marketing is all about planning and putting the word out to the public. It 's a way to make the consumer remember and what you are trying to convey across to them.
Selling - no matter if the product is crap as long you can manipulate your customer to buy.

Marketing is like fishing...

you can either jump in AFTER the fish to catch it...
or put a little bait on the hook and let it catch you.

Selling is like *reeling it in*...

if you leave the bait in the water and HOPE the fish
pulls itself into the boat...eventually it breaks free...

In my opinion Marketing leads to Selling. You market something to sell it. They are both very different.

Marketing is selling through devices, selling is usually in person.

Marketing is done by the commercial on the TV and selling is done by the person trying you to convince it to buy it.

At least at an elementary level.

Lots of great responses in this thread - thought provoking to me, at least.

Here in the IM world, do you think more emphasis is put on marketing or selling?

As I've said in earlier posts, my sense is that a lot more effort goes into selling prospects than into marketing products effectively to those prospects. Again, there are some exceptions to this.

To give an example, I know the difference between a Volkswagen commercial and a Mercedes commercial in an instant. I also know what each of those brands "stands for," what their cars promise to me as someone who might buy them.

When I get to a showroom, the sales tactics of most car salespeople are pretty much the same. Change the name of the car and the place you're sitting in, and the experience is very much the same.

This is the difference between marketing and selling. And I believe there is a lot less of the former going on in IM, and a lot more of the latter.

Any thoughts?

mentor once taught me, you need to sell the sizzle not the steak itself.

You can do that, and you become a true marketer I think.

1) What is in it for them?

2) Why is your product better?

3) what Is your unique edge?

Your ultimate goal should be answer all the questions in their mind they are asking.

That is marketing. Selling in my opinion is just selling a physical product to make money, but with little benefits for the interested prospect.

marketing is promtoe other products OR refer other products.selling is pushing products

Im gonna tell you what i think,for me marketing its something different then selling because,i think it has different rules than selling.But its almost the same thing

market is more extensive than selling, in this fierce market, the strategy of market is more important than that of selling

marketing is analysis and based on that formulating a strategy. That marketing strategy is then used in selling the products to your prospects. Pretty simple, really.

Marketing = Getting the leads

Selling = Closing them.

Getting the leads is only 10% of the strategy. Because that's the easy part. What you do with them is the REAL marketing. And what makes all the difference. And to do so you need to understand your market and then formulate a strategy. That is true marketing.

I do agree on the selling. It's basically closing them.

Selling is part of marketing. But marketing encompass so many things, such as branding, positioning etc.

Marketing="Have you heard of blue widgets yet? They are great, they can solve your "insert niche" problem by "insert what products does and how it can benefit them, here""

Selling= "Would you be interested in purchasing a blue widget?"

Marketing comes first by informing, selling comes after by asking the person if they want it.

Marketing is a big waste of time promoting your products everywhere.

Selling is your reward for spending your precious time marketing your products.

When you are MARKETING the right way you'll never have to sell, as people hate being sold to don't mind being recommended.

Marketing is a set of processes for creating,
communicating and delivering value to a
customer.

Selling falls under the communication set of
processes. Good selling is about identifying
customer needs and communicating the
solution in a way that prompts action because
the customer sees the value on their own.

I don't know who proper attribution belongs
to but "The aim of marketing is to make
selling superfluous."

Meaning, great marketing doesn't require
high pressure selling at all - great marketing
doesn't even require a sales pitch.

X

Marketing is identifying a group of people to whom you might sell a product or service, and an approach to selling that product or service which is specifically appropriate to that group.

Selling is actually taking that approach with members of that group.

Basically, a marketer would say "This blender is particularly good for restaurants, because it has a large capacity and is both hard-wearing and long-lasting."

Then he would hand it to a salesman, who would go to a restaurant owner and say "This blender has a large capacity and is both hard-wearing and long-lasting."

If they both do a good job, then more blenders get sold.

Marketing is describing the client's product and establishing the need.
Selling is convincing the visitor to take some action to satisfy that need.
Therefore you need to creatively execute both.

Fork and spoon. Butter knife, steak knife, etc., etc. All cutleries. Used for different purposes at different times at a banquet.

Champagne, caviar, steak, sizzle, sauce, chili, etc., etc., etc.