A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN ADVERTISING, PR AND CONTENT GENERATION – 3 OBSERVATIONS In the context of marketing, many people equate communication with advertising. Indeed, many equate marketing with advertising. While this is becoming less common with the advent and popularity of modes of communication such as social media, communication still means ‘advertising’ to many […]

A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN ADVERTISING, PR AND CONTENT GENERATION – 3 OBSERVATIONS In the context of marketing, many people equate communication with advertising. Indeed, many equate marketing with advertising. While this is becoming less common with the advent and popularity of modes of communication such as social media, communication still means ‘advertising’ to many business people. Clearly, this is not the case. Indeed, I would argue that strictly defined, advertising is not communication at all, while social media is most often about communication. By definition, communication involves the two-way flow of information – something which generally happens with social media, and, almost never occurs with advertising. Strict definitions aside, there is an important point here. Most businesses benefit from high conversion rates, high repeat business rates, high cross-selling rates, and high referral rates. Maximising the potential of all four involves much more than communication (starting with the product offering).…