Whats is the difference between marketing and promotions?

Answer 1

Marketing and promotions are related, but they aren’t the same thing.

Marketing is the bigger picture. It’s the overall strategy a business uses to understand its audience, build awareness, create value, and grow over time. This includes things like market research, product positioning, pricing, branding, and communication across different channels. Good marketing starts long before a sale—and continues after it—to build long-term trust.

Promotions, on the other hand, are just one part of marketing. Promotions are short-term activities designed to push attention or drive quick action. This could be a discount offer, a limited-time campaign, or a special feature announcement. Promotions are often used to create urgency, boost visibility, or support a new product launch.

To put it simply:

Marketing is the plan. Promotions are the push.

For example, a business listed on a B2B platform like Pepagora might build its marketing through clear listings, strong category presence, and trust signals like certifications. But when they want to introduce a new product or reach more buyers fast, they might run a short promotion or feature to increase visibility.

Both matter—but without a solid marketing foundation, promotions can get ignored. And without occasional promotions, even great marketing can go unnoticed.

Answer 2

Marketing is used to merge a promotion into an advertisement. The promotion is the sale, rebate, free offer, etc. being advertised. Marketing is the deployment and creation of the advertisement with the promotion being offered in it.