Why + How Marketing is Different than Sales

Too often, we don't take the time to really think about the difference between marketing and sales, but it's important to know the distinction. Understanding the nuance here between marketing and sales can help you create a plan to have both work well together. Having one without the other won't work. They need each other to create a flywheel of momentum for your business.

So, what's the difference? Simply put, marketing focuses on building awareness of your brand and sales is the process of converting interested parties into paying customers. When we think about awareness vs. conversion, we start to realize there's quite a big difference.

Marketing fills the pipeline with people who are paying attention or noticing your brand. Awareness comes from "top of the funnel" presence. What do we mean by top of the funnel? There are phases of the journey that a customer walks through as they're interested in your brand, and each phase of that journey takes them to a "narrower" place, where they're more likely to convert.

Think of the top of the funnel as an Olympic sized pool, and the bottom of the funnel as a hot tub, you now have an image of how the funnel narrows as a prospect gets closer to conversion. Top of the funnel mechanisms may include Google or Facebook ads, social media posts, direct mail campaigns, and traditional advertising. Each of these let consumers know you exist. The net is wide at this point, you're grabbing a megaphone and saying "Hey, we're here!".

As you move customers through their journey, you want to pique their interest with awareness, and share opportunities for them to start engaging. This will invite them to consider your product or service offerings. Workshops, emails, free trials, case studies and more can invite them to learn more. This phase of marketing focuses on the "middle of the funnel". The goal here is moving them from the Olympic sized pool to the backyard pool.

This is where the marketing and sales teams need to communicate. It's the marketing team's job to generate consumer awareness and interest. It's the sales team's job to convert them. We now want to take them from the backyard pool to the hot tub! They've engaged with the brand, and we have their contact information. At this point, we have an excellent opportunity for the sales team to reach out personally. These are bottom-of-the-funnel activities. Critical at this stage—a well-crafted sales process that walks prospects through features and benefits, shares testimonials, and answers any questions. If these steps are not well executed, prospects are more likely to drop off.

The importance of individual marketing and sales teams collaborating with each other is the synergy you need for a successful conversion process. If you're looking for a tool to help you work through your entire marketing and sales process, we recommend beginning with our Marketing Engine eCourse. This course walks you through everything you need to know for developing a solid marketing strategy along with your whole team.