Which is more important, sales or marketing? Should you focus your energy more on marketing your business, or invest your time and money into making sales?
This conundrum has been around as long as the old “chicken or the egg” question, and the answer can be just as ambiguous.
You’ll find it difficult to sell something if you don’t market it first. But good luck trying to conduct any marketing activities if you aren’t making enough sales to break even!
The reality is that marketing and sales are intertwined throughout your customer journey and beyond. If you’re marketing, you’re also selling, and if you’re selling, you’re also marketing.
A successful business blends marketing and sales into a perfect mixture, and you can too.
Read on to find out more.
How Do Marketing And Sales Work Together?
What’s The Difference Between Marketing And Sales?
As digital marketing continues to evolve, the line between marketing and sales has become increasingly blurry. Larger companies that once had separate marketing and sales teams are now blending them– and experiencing much higher success rates as a result.
Of course, there’s still a technical difference between the two: put simply, marketing leads people up the garden path to the doorstep, and sales get them through the front door.
In technical terms, marketing has the job of attracting quality prospects and building their trust to transform them into leads. These leads are then nurtured and converted through a sales process.
Where Does Marketing Stop And Selling Start?
If your marketing stops as soon as you’ve made a sale, you’re missing out on some valuable opportunities for business growth. Effective marketing should continue throughout the rest of the process – from delivery of the product or service right through to after-sales support.
While they may target slightly different stages of the buying journey, marketing and sales ultimately share the same objective: to turn potential customers into paying customers.
Let’s take it back to the marketing funnel concept with its various stages. Marketing occupies the widest part of the funnel and is used to build awareness, create interest, and draw potential customers to consider your offerings.
The narrow base of the funnel is more focused on buyer intent and nurturing your customers through a decision-making process to (hopefully) make a purchase. At this stage of the funnel, marketing and sales are working in unison to convert your customers.
But here’s where things get interesting. The funnel doesn’t just spit people out the other end, never to be seen again. We have another set of targets around repeat customers, long-term loyalty, referrals, and ultimately, advocacy – and all of those are reliant on effective marketing.
Essentially, we learn that…
Marketing Is In Everything
Successful businesses understand that sales isn’t a “wham bam thank you ma’am” proposition. We’re not looking for a one-night stand – or a one-off sale – we are looking for long term relationships with loyal customers.
That means that marketing must remain a focus throughout the sales phase. We want our customers to be impressed, satisfied, aware of what else we can offer them, and eager to come back and purchase from us again and again.
We can achieve this in a variety of ways, using a range of marketing techniques, such as:
● Automated email sequences tracking deliveries
● Personalised post-purchase surveys requesting feedback or offering extra information or support
● Thoughtful packaging and marketing materials to enhance their experience with your products/services
● Incentives for referral and return purchases, such as discounts and loyalty programs
What Comes First?
When it comes to marketing and sales, which comes first? Marketing is where it’s at.
Effective marketing is the foundation of your business. It helps build a positive brand image, attract the right customers, and connect them with your product. If you’re nailing that part, your products and services will pretty much sell themselves.
Need some help creating an effective marketing strategy? Then, get in touch with us today.