Are marketing and sales the same thing?

Answers.com says:”Marketing and sales have … a close relationship, so close in fact that many have confused the two as being the same. Marketing is the method of bringing customers to your business as well as making others aware of your business, product, and brand. Sales is selling the product your company offers.”

So marketing and sales are not the same thing. An interesting question that can arise is: If the search engine marketing (SEM) is working in getting more people to the website but there is no increase in sales what’s happening?The first reaction some people have is to think that the marketing is not working and should be ended. This is not usually a very useful interpretation. The truth is much more complex.

There are many possibilities that must be explored before thinking that there is something wrong with the search engine marketing. In fact, the marketing is clearly working because more people are visiting the site looking for keywords that make sense for the goods and/or services offered. Some of the things that may be happening are:

  • The website doesn’t make a clear call for action like “Buy Now!!!”
  • The website doesn’t make a clear case for the benefits to the client or customer of the goods/services offered.
  • The purchase path on the website gives the potential customer the feeling that it is not secure.
  • The product or service may be miscategorized with seemingly similar but lesser items. A Hyundai Accent is not a Bugatti Veyron although both are cars.
  • The most used search phrase has a hidden but fatal flaw that needs to be identified (after all, lots of people are looking but not buying which means they really didn’t find what they were looking for)

At Search Engine Marketing Chicago, Inc. we analyze the performance of our marketing to help improve your sales approach in all of the above scenarios. We perform search engine marketing from a data-driven viewpoint rather than the guesses that many providers foist off on their customers. Our work is marketing, not sales but we do everything we can to fine tune the relationship. We know that science is more effective than sleight-of-hand magic.

Contact us to discuss effective search engine marketing for your business or tell your friends that we can help their business show up in Google and the other search engines.

Have you seen the latest feature of Google+?

Google is now including search returns that are influenced by their social network as a part of each search that you do.  What this means is that sites that are recommended by people that you know appear more prominently in Google searches. This means that your search returns are being tailored to you personally.

This makes your ability to create and promote a page on Google+ a really good idea. You can visit our page at Search Engine Marketing Chicago on Google+ to see what it looks like.  Once you create a page you can put a badge on your website to solicite +1’s from your visitors. You can see an example of one of the badges on our website Search Engine Marketing Chicago, Inc.

Bing has announced plans to make their returns influences by your social network contacts as well so this is clearly a trend in the major search engines.

Constant Contact has now made Facebook campaign tools available, too. Visit ours at Search Marketing Chicago on Facebook!
Contact us for additional information about how social networking can positively influence your business’ online marketing profile.
Got questions? Call, click or Google… you’ll reach us.