What’s the Difference Between Marketing and Sales?

SEO Hub
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Sales depends on laser targeted marketing. This article will let you go through effective marketing strategies

You are likely to hear both sides of the argument when it comes to sales and marketing. Some people tell you to focus more on sales and creating a team dedicated to reaching out to prospects. While others will suggest you create marketing strategies that will help reach your target audience.

Although if you are new to the business world, you must be thinking that aren’t they the same thing? The answer is no.

There is a major difference between marketing and selling a product or service. But don’t worry, as we are here to tell you all about it.

In this blog, we will help you learn the difference between sales and marketing and how each is employed for the success of a business.

Differences Between Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing differ in the sense that sales focus more on working directly with the clients in order to get them to try out your service or product. While marketing focuses on generating consumer interest in whatever you are offering. In essence, marketing is the initial stage in piquing a lead’s interest, while sales are responsible for nurturing that interest.

Breakdown of Sales vs. Marketing

We have listed down a few factors that give us a deeper insight into how sales and marketing differ from one another.

1.    Process

When it comes to sales vs. marketing, the major difference is the process of them both.

Marketing is sort of a predecessor for the sales team. In the process of marketing, your main goal is to establish fundamental information regarding your brand identity, what you offer, and the price of your products. You focus on establishing how the product you are offering solves problems or is beneficial to the consumer.

In the sales process, on the other hand, you focus on delivering the already established information while also providing additional information where necessary. The process also entails answering any questions the consumers may have about the product. All in all, the focus is entirely on providing personalized solutions, strong selling points, and also pitching to potential customers.

2.    Goals

The goals of both marketing and sales are quite different from one another.

When we look at sales, the goal is entirely on earning conversions. The sales team works on persuading prospects into becoming customers of the brand.

The goals for marketing are quite different from that. Although marketing is done to promote sales, its main goal is to promote the business and brand, its product or service, and to communicate its value.

While communicating this value eventually does help you generate sales, you must first build brand trust through marketing.

3.    Strategies

Strategies of both marketing and sales are also quite different.

The sales strategy is to make direct contact with the prospects and create a connection with them. The sales team can make use of phone calls, networking, promotional events, and other tools to carry out this strategy and engage with potential customers in order to increase sales.

Marketing strategies, on the other hand, are for a completely opposite purpose. They focus on getting the leads to reach out to you. Here, strategies like social media, paid ads, SEO along with other approaches are used so that the prospects gain awareness of your brand and reach out to you about it.

4.    Prospects

Prospects, also known as potential customers, are another difference between sales and marketing.

When you go out to promote sales, you know who your prospects are. You know who is likely to be interested in your products or services, as you already have a list with their contact information. So, you can get in touch with them and no time and provide them with information about your products or services in order to further your business.

Marketing, however, is all about discovering who your potential customers can be and capitalizing on that. You conduct research and scope out the market to develop a target audience on whom you’ll be focusing.

Should I Focus on Sales or Marketing?

If you are wondering, “should I focus on sales or marketing,” the answer is to go for a blended approach. You should not think about the aspect that requires more attention but instead, should focus on how to best use them together. Only then can you help your business thrive in today’s challenging market.

Now, the lines have become quite blurry when it comes to sales and marketing. However, if we look at it objectively, both are equally important. Marketing helps initiate the process of acquiring prospects while sales assist in turning those prospects into customers. You can’t have one without the other.

Hence, it is vital that you go for a blended strategy for your business to maximize its success.

How To Create an Effective Marketing and Sales Strategy?

Now that you know the major differences between marketing and sales, it is time to create effective strategies utilizing both to maximize the revenue for your business.

Here are some tips on how to best use them together for the ultimate success of your brand.

1.    Know Your Market

In order to have a successful strategy for marketing and sales, you need to first know the people who are a part of your target market.

This information must be established so that the marketing team exactly knows who to target and the sales team knows enough about your target market to offer them the information they require. You can examine your typical clients to determine your target market.

You’ll need to pay attention to the traits they have in common. Look for details, such as:

  • Gender
  • Age
  • Occupation
  • Family status
  • Income
  • Buying Habits
  • Hobbies
  • Interests

You can also pinpoint other details that you deem relevant for your brand’s marketing.

Having a basic customer profile can assist you to figure out who you’re attempting to contact and what is the best way to reach out to them. It allows your marketing and sales teams to give the most up-to-date information to your target market.

2.    Establish Your Position in the Market

You must first define your market position in order to have a unified sales and marketing plan.

What do you have to offer to your customers, and why is your service or product the best option? This information should be established so that your sales and marketing teams can offer an integrated message about your goods and services. It aids in the formation of the identity of your brand and the identification of what distinguishes you from your competitors.

Some of the great examples of this concept are Apple and Microsoft. Just compare their advertisements and you’ll see how they have created a unique position for themselves in the market. You’ll also be able to identify what their main focus points are. They are the aspects that essentially get people to purchase their products.

3.    Verify Pricing

Imagine a person browsing your website and eyeing up your product after seeing different ads and reading the content on your site. They see that you are offering first-time subscribers a discount for a limited time period. Excitedly, they call the sales team in order to get further information. However, they discover that the price they are being quoted is the full price for new customers. This causes confusion and makes them wonder whether the product is actually on sale or not.

So, if you are not consistent with the pricing across all channels, including marketing and sales, this scenario is likely to happen with your brand too.  If you have made it a point to offer discounts on prices or give added bonus, you’ll have to make sure that both sales and marketing teams are on-board and notified so that they can include it in their messages.

If you fail to use an integrated approach and your sales team ends up giving out the wrong prices to the customers, they are likely to feel much less confident about your business. So, to avoid that, make sure both teams have the correct and the most up-to-date pricing model so that the operations keep running smoothly.

4.    Keep Both Teams Informed

Keeping your sales staff informed about price and sales is only the start.

A good sales and marketing plan keeps both parties up to date on every single thing about the brand. When your marketing team is campaigning for your brand, your sales team should be aware of the nature of those initiatives. This is because some prospects may contact them to inquire about the campaigns.

If your sales team is familiar with the campaigns, they will be able to create an immediate link to what the prospect saw.

It also aids in the consistency of your sales team’s messaging.

Your sales team should also work on communicating with your marketing team. They are the ones who know exactly what works and what doesn’t work for leads because they interact with prospects one-on-one. They should share this information with your marketing team so that they can better tailor campaigns to your target demographic.

A solid information flow across both teams will help you promote more effectively and sell more.

Now, if you are looking to improve your sales along with your brand identity, you should get in touch with SeoHub. We will help create effective SEO strategies that will ultimately help your business flourish and increase your number of prospects and customers. So, get in touch with us now to learn more about our exceptional services.