Marketing is an umbrella field that encompasses advertising. Whereas marketing is broadly concerned with identifying and addressing the needs of customers, advertising is more closely focused on developing ads for paid placement.
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Approved and verified accurate by the Assistant Vice President of GCU Marketing on Nov. 19, 2025.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Grand Canyon University. Any sources cited were accurate as of the publish date.
Advertising is the act of paying for visibility of a company’s brand and messaging, such as on billboards or digital ads. In contrast, marketing encompasses all of the business practices that aim to identify and fulfill the needs of the company’s customers, as doing so can help bolster the company’s image and drive sales.1 Marketing includes practices ranging from understanding the buyer profile to shaping a business philosophy to developing consistent messaging.
Often, the terms marketing and advertising are used together or interchangeably. If you are interested in entering the field of business or pursuing an applied marketing and advertising degree, however, it may be important to understand the differences between these two concepts. Before diving further into the differences between marketing vs. advertising, take a closer look at these two concepts separately.
Marketing is a broad umbrella concept that includes all of the processes and strategies for accomplishing goals such as:
On occasion, marketing can overlap with public relations, such as when developing a marketing campaign designed to improve the organization’s public image and brand perception.
Marketing requires extensive research to develop an understanding of the company’s target audience, such as their demographics and pain points. The marketing team attempts to connect with their audience so that the product or service becomes more enticing.
Depending on the size of the organization, the marketing team may encompass other smaller teams within the broader marketing team. For example, at some companies, there may be a social media team, digital team, content team or any other variety of teams that all work under the umbrella of marketing.
Some of the steps that are taken in marketing include:
Marketers can use research to make data-driven decisions. Effective marketing necessitates understanding a product or service and its audience.
Marketers may develop buyer personas or buyer profiles to better understand their potential customers. They will consider many different aspects, such as age range, income level, education and gender, along with pain points that a product could solve. This allows the team to tailor aspects of their strategy to this specific group of people.
After conducting market research and getting to know the target audience, marketers create marketing strategies that guide the development and implementation of marketing campaigns. For example, if the target audience largely consists of overworked, cash-strapped single parents, the main marketing message may communicate how a particular product or service will help customers save time and money.
Once the marketing strategy and campaign has been planned, marketers can launch content designed to connect with their audience. They may use a multi-channel strategy, such as publishing many different types of content on multiple platforms.
Additionally, marketers must be able to review and analyze what strategies worked best and others that need to be adjusted. For example, a certain package design may have generated more sales, or a series of social media posts may have received more engagement than an email campaign.
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When considering the differences between advertising vs. marketing, it’s important to understand that advertising falls under the marketing umbrella. The goals of advertising are related to marketing, but it takes a specific approach.
Advertising teams work under the direction of the marketing strategies developed by a company's marketing team. Based on the marketing strategies, which include factors like brand voice and messaging guidelines, the advertising team develops advertisements intended for paid placement.
It is important that those in advertising know how to best reach their target audience and use the tools at their disposal, whether that be in the form of social media ads, billboards or print ads. Some of the steps taken in advertising include:
Similar to marketing, advertising requires collecting background information before starting on a project. Many advertisers will write creative briefs that detail information about the project or business. These creative briefs can help guide messaging development. Some common sections on a creative brief include the objective, target audience, company background, competition and tone.
Coming up with an original advertising message requires creativity and thinking outside the box to design an appealing ad that will encourage customers to buy the product or service. In addition to designing the ad, the advertising team needs to identify an appropriate placement for it. For example, ads designed to appeal to certain customers are best placed in the types of media and specific platforms that those customers are exposed to.
Launching an ad can require careful planning. Sometimes, an ad is best published at certain times of the day. For instance, a social media ad should be published when data shows the target audience is most likely to be online and on that social media platform. After launching the ad, the advertising team needs to evaluate its effectiveness and make adjustments accordingly.
Once you have completed your degree, there are many career options for you to consider. Some marketing and advertising jobs include:
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook estimates job growth for advertising, promotions and marketing managers to be 6% from 2024 to 2034, faster than average, accounting for an estimated increase of 26,100 jobs in the field.2
Marketing and advertising careers are often intertwined. That is, someone who works as a marketer might develop paid advertisements in addition to their marketing responsibilities. When these two roles are separated, however, there are noticeable differences between marketing and advertising careers.
For example, some of the typical responsibilities of a marketing professional include:
Some of the responsibilities of an advertising professional include:
Are you interested in pursuing a career related to marketing and advertising? Grand Canyon University offers a variety of online marketing degrees at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral levels. Explore our programs to see which pathway is best for you.
Should you become a marketing or advertising major? It’s important to note that at some schools, the two are intertwined. That is, you could earn a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Advertising. This bachelor’s degree explores foundational competencies in both marketing and advertising.
If you already have a bachelor’s degree, whether in marketing and advertising or in another field, you may want to consider earning a master’s degree. An MBA with an emphasis in marketing can allow you to explore advanced concepts and skills in the field. Fortunately, you can earn your MBA online so you can work and gain experience while furthering your education.
