There is a difference between advertising and marketing.

Many people have a misconception about marketing. They think that if they are boosting a post on Facebook, or even run a dedicated ad, they are marketing their brand – but that is not the case. Boosting a post on Facebook or running any kind of ad (digital or print) is advertising, not marketing – there is a difference.

The Marketing Audit

When a client contacts us for advertising help the first thing we do is a marketing audit. What is a marketing audit? A marketing audit is when we look at your brand as a whole – your logo, your website, your social media pages, content, and your ads. We then go through and break down the things that are great and the things that need some work.

Why do we do this? The main purpose of the marketing audit is so that we can see the bigger picture when looking at your brand.

Your marketing should be more than ads.

The misconception that ads are marketing is a mistake that businesses cannot afford to make. Many business owners seem to forget that if their ad is successful and they drive traffic to a website, blog post, landing page, or product, that they still haven’t actually acquired the customer. Your marketing efforts should encompass anything and everything that a potential customer will see – from your logo, to your copy, to the design of your website, and the content (blog posts, etc.) that you provide. We like to call this ‘customer experience marketing’ because each of these pieces fit together to form your perfect marketing plan and ensure that your customer’s experience is amazing.

A well-oiled machine.

Think of your marketing department like a computer. When everything is compatible, coherent, and built/designed to work together you have limitless potential and the world at the tip of your fingers. However, if your processor doesn’t work with your motherboard the entire computer is useless.

Your advertising is your processor and your brand (logo, copy, website, blogs, product pages, landing pages, email templates, promotions, etc.)  are your motherboard. You could have a great adset running, but if the other aspects of your marketing funnel are poorly developed the ad can fall flat. On the other hand, you could have a well-developed marketing funnel and terrible ads and your marketing funnel could fall flat. Your marketing plan should be “big picture aware”, meaning that as you develop each portion of your strategy you keep in mind the master plan of your brand. When you do this, your marketing funnel from ad to thank you email and everything in-between will be one coherent machine.

Build a coherent brand.

Building your brand is perhaps the most valuable marketing thing you could do. Having a modern, user friendly, and informative marketing funnel, in conjunction with a well-run ad campaign can solidify your brand in the marketplace and propel your business into prosperity.

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