Last Updated on October 27, 2025 by Dave Schoenbeck
What is the difference between sales and marketing? Don’t rely too much on selling and very little on marketing, or vice versa. Marketing and selling each bring value and balance to a business’s success. Here’s what you need to know to have both selling and marketing working together.
How is Selling Different from Marketing?
What is the difference between sales and marketing? To put it simply, selling is marketing, but marketing is not selling.
According to Carl Gould and Caryn Kopp in their book Biz Dev Done Right, “a marketing message is created to appeal to the masses, while a sales message must excite genuine interest during a one-on-one interaction.”
The main difference between sales strategy and marketing strategy, then, is the audience. With your marketing, you’re trying to cast a wide net. You’re building trust, creating brand recognition, and sparking interest in your business. However, sales are what close the deal. You interact with someone who is aware of your business and appeal to them personally to make the sale.
Sales messaging must be custom-tailored to each prospect to achieve results. While marketing should also be tailored to specific audiences, you can still target large groups rather than individuals (and should, for efficiency).
When you ask yourself, “What is the difference between sales and marketing?” there is more than just the audience to consider.
Marketing requires a certain degree of planning that sales must follow through on. When thinking about marketing, you’re considering what you want to sell, how to sell it, and who you want to sell to. All of these factors go into creating a marketing campaign. However, you don’t yet know who will bite.
Sales turn those plans into reality. Once you have a lead, sales drives home all the points raised initially in the marketing process while personalizing them for each customer.
Sales also contain a relationship management aspect that’s not present in marketing. While marketing does rely on multiple touchpoints for maximum effectiveness, that contact is aimed at maintaining brand awareness.
On the other hand, with sales contacts, it’s about maintaining a connection with your potential customers. Salespeople must keep track of names, companies, and contact information to strengthen their relationships with each lead. It’s a more personalized process with a more specific goal.
So, what is the difference between sales and marketing? Both are strategies to increase revenue, but they take different paths. A good business needs both to function, and you should not devote too many resources to either. It’s all about balance.
What is the difference between sales and marketing? A business coach can help you sort this out, and I’m happy to learn more about the topic. Sign up for my email list to receive my sales and marketing blog posts straight to your inbox.
Coach Dave
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