Businesses use marketing in order to increase sales in the long-term. While marketing and sales are related in business, they are not the same thing. They both play a crucial role in the success of most businesses and as a business owner it is important to understand how they work together.

Marketing

Marketing is all about bringing people into your store, to your website or getting them on the phone. This discipline involves grabbing the attention of your customers and getting them to act. Marketing is about reaching a target audience and promoting your brand or products. Marketing does not actually sell any products but it does get the process started. This process involves getting your business message out to the public.

Sales

The sales process involves closing the transaction after marketing begins the process. With many companies, this part of the process involves a highly-trained sales staff. The sales staff may work with customers who come in the door or who call over the phone. This process could also be automated if you are dealing with an online business. The process of sales involves getting the customer to actually part with their money in exchange for a product or service.

Branding

One of the most important components of marketing is building a brand name for a company. If you have a brand that you want to promote, marketing can help your customers become aware of it. Marketing can create brand awareness through repeated advertising campaigns. As consumers become more aware of your brand, they will feel more comfortable purchasing it in the future. This is one of the beginning steps in the marketing process.

Direct Relationship

Even though many advertising agencies calculate many statistics on the direct relationship between marketing and sales, it can vary greatly. Just because you spend more money on an advertising campaign, that does not necessarily mean that you will make more sales. You might end up spending a lot of money on a marketing campaign that does not work. It is important to target only the customers who you have a better chance of closing the sale with.

Considerations

As a business owner, it is essential to get your marketing and sales efforts on the same page. If you have separate departments that cover marketing and sales, each department needs to work with the other for best results. The sales staff needs to know what the marketing department is telling the public. The marketing department needs to know which ads work the best at bringing traffic.