Although sales management and marketing management are closely interlinked, each has its distinct features that set them apart.

What is marketing management?

Marketing management involves choosing target markets, acquiring and retaining customers through creating excellent customer value. The products and services offered need to design as per the requirements of the target market. Effective pricing, communication, and distribution are used to carve a niche in the market. A definite program is chalked out keeping in mind the existing and future market situations. Marketing management is concerned with the ultimate execution of these plans with the ultimate aim of achieving the organization’s goals. It essentially revolves around planning, implementation, and control of marketing campaigns or programs.

What is sales management?

The process of evolving a sales force, synchronizing sales operations, and executing sales techniques that assist a business to consistently achieve its sales targets is called sales management. Precise sales management processes are essential when it comes to boosting sales performance for any size of the operation or any industry. the sales management process can be the difference between surviving and flourishing in an increasingly competitive marketplace. There are three aspects of sales management within the sales process:

• Sales Operations
• Sales Strategy
• Sales Analysis

Also Read: Introduction to Marketing and Sales Management

Sales Management vs Marketing Management

Sales management mainly deals with managing an organization’s sales operations. It is mainly concerned with the actual sales of the product or service. The entire gamut of activities like hiring and training sales personnel, meeting sales targets, preparing sales reports, etc. come within its purview.

Marketing management, on the other hand, builds the brand. It makes the market aware of the products or services available. Marketing resources and activities are used to create demand. Sales  management vs marketing management is more apparent when we compare the two on various parameters:

• Orientation: Marketing management ascertains human needs and satisfies them by providing products/services required. Sales management is concerned with inducing customers to purchase the offered goods/services.

• Focus: Marketing management focuses on market needs while sales management primarily deals with the needs of the organization.

• Scope: Sales management is related to the product and the flow of the product to the customer . Marketing management includes all activities which facilitate the flow of goods to the buyer like advertising, sales, research, customer satisfaction, after-sales service, etc.

• Objective: Marketing management seeks to identify the needs of the customer to create products to satisfy their needs. The objective of sales management is to convert shoppers into buyers.

Sales vs Marketing Roles

Sales and marketing are business functions within the organization. The sales role and the marketing role are very different in their scopes.

Also Read: What are the Various Steps of Brand Management?

The job responsibilities of a sales manager include:

• Meeting the customer’s requirements
• Assessing sales performance
• Sales budget forecasting
• Dealing with suppliers and distributors
• Representing the company at exhibitions and events
• Quantity and quality control of goods before sales.

The Marketing Manager’s role includes:

• Coordinating between various stakeholders like customers, investors, competitors, suppliers, etc.
• Designing and reviewing marketing campaigns.
• Conducting market research.
• Organising various events.

Although sales management and marketing management are very different in their scope and areas of focus, their objective remains one, which is, to favourably impact lead generation and revenue.

The next big conundrum comes with the terms of “Social Media Marketing” and “Email Marketing”. While they are not used interchangeably as was ‘marketing and sales’, the former two terms are looked at as going hand-in-hand. However, that is not the case.

Also Read: The Beginner’s Guide to Brand Management

Is there a Winner?

No, marketing management initiatives should have a mix of both Email and Social media marketing, so that the business can stay on top of the competition. Both of them have their own share of advantages and disadvantages.

Apples vs. Oranges – That is what email marketing, as opposed to social media marketing, is all about. Each of them serves their own purpose in the company’s marketing and brand management strategy. It is pretty hard to ascertain which one is better.

Social media has risen to become a major fixture of the online digital marketing landscape. It is easy to see why many are using social platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and it helps to increase brand visibility.

On the other hand, Email has been around for a long time now. It might be less intriguing than social media, but hey, old is always gold! Email is still very much alive and is not going away. It can be as effective as its charismatic social media cousins.

Here’s a rundown of how social media and Email marketing compete with each other:

Reach

Social media has one significant benefit than Email: It provides the possibility of going viral. The content and posts are shared extensively on social media. Sky’s the limit when it comes to the exposure of social media as opposed to Email.

However, going viral is not an easy thing to do. Companies should understand the potential of social media’s reach and deliver high-quality content in order to gain deeper exposure.

Click Rate

As a marketer, you want results. So, which one drives more ‘click-throughs’ – email or social media? You might be surprised to find the answer is actually Email. If you don’t believe us, statistics show us that one out of five marketing emails is opened with a click-through rate of 3.57%. Comparably on Facebook, one can expect a ‘click-through rate’ of only 0.07%.

Also Read: What are the Tasks Performed by Brand Managers?

Why is this? People tend to check and open their Email content. With Facebook and other social media, the content can be ignored amidst all the hustle and bustle of scrolling down continuously.

Conversions and ROI

Again the winner of this segment is Email Marketing. Email tends to be more effective as it has a well-segmented target list. Paid social media ads also let you tweak your audience according to demographics, however, with Email you can deliver highly targeted messages to a specific group of subscribers.

With a good conversion rate, the ROI with Email marketing is also cost-effective. If design and content are efficient, Email marketing is less expensive to deploy and yields good conversions. In fact, the median ROI according to a study by US marketers in 2016 has concluded that Email yields 122% and social media come at a distant second place of 28%.

More Information:

Executive Development Program In Digital Marketing

Executive Development Program In HR Analytics From XLRI

Professional Certificate Program In Marketing And Sales Management

Advanced Certificate In Managing Brands And Marketing Communication

Executive Development Program In Project Management For Senior Professionals

Executive Development Program In Human Resource Management From XLRI Jamshedpur