What is the difference between advertising and sales promotions

It is one of the four key aspects of the marketing mix. Advertising may be one form of promotion. Promotions are time specific and may be short term while advertising may be generically long term.

For example: ABS company may start a promotion of giving free drinks at a mall for a day during the festive season, while the same company may advertise much before about their drink at the start of the festive season and extend it during and beyond the season.

Advertising is aimed towards the long term building of the brand while Promotion is aimed at the short term tactical goal of moving ahead in sales. Typically promotions are directly linked with sales while advertising is an assumption that it may lead to sales. Promotions are directly linked to sales and hence for small companies it may be easier to use promotional methods. Advertising may be more expensive for small companies and it may not be feasible for them while in advertising it is being assumed that adverts will lead to sales.

Share this comparison:. If you read this far, you should follow us:. Diffen LLC, n. This definition is confusing. If Advertising is a subset of Promotion, then how can advertising be long-term while promotion is short-term? Advertising vs.

A Promotion usually involves an immediate incentive for a buyer intermediate distributor or end consumer. It can also involve disseminating information about a product, product line, brand, or company. Price Expensive in most cases Not very expensive in most cases. Suitable for Medium to large companies Small to large companies Sales Assumption that it will lead to sales Directly related to sales.

When you receive a bill for advertising, debit your advertising expense and credit your accounts payable account. When you pay the bill, you would reverse the entry and debit accounts payable and credit cash.

If you pay for the advertising directly with cash, debit advertising expense and credit cash. Classification of Advertising Expense Advertising expense is classified as an operating expense.

It is not part of the cost of goods sold. If a company pays advertising fees in advance, these fees are first recorded as a prepaid expense, which is a current asset.

Direct expenses can be directly traced back to a particular product or cost object. Depending on the business you run, wages or salaries may also be viewed as direct expenses. Direct expenses are most often variable costs. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Social studies What is the main difference between advertisements and sales promotions?

Social studies. Ben Davis February 2, What is the main difference between advertisements and sales promotions? What is the difference between advertising and promotion? What are examples of sales promotion?

What are examples of advertising? How do you write a short advertisement? Advertising can involve a number of indirect methods to create the desired effect in a target audience, whereas sales promotions are not subtle or meant to be hidden in any way.

However, if the skateboard company was involved in sales promotions, it would focus on the price of the board, and the discounts available, if consumers buy more than one board. Sampson Quain is an experienced content writer with a wide range of expertise in small business, digital marketing, SEO marketing, SEM marketing, and social media outreach. He has written primarily for the EHow brand of Demand Studios as well as business strategy sites such as Digital Authority.

By Sampson Quain Updated March 07, What Is Clearance Discount Marketing? What Is Non-Product Advertising?