This is lesson three. This is towards one of our missions. Education. You’ll learn everything about marketing — from the basics to the most advanced strategies — for free, thanks to VellumWorks.
Most people use ‘marketing,’ ‘sales,’ ‘branding,’ and ‘advertising’ interchangeably. But they’re not the same, and confusing them can hurt your strategy.
It is also important to mention that they’re not the same, but they are interlinked. Sales help marketing, marketing helps branding, and branding helps advertising. And not even in that order - they all help each other (and you need to use them all too).
What is marketing?
At its core, marketing is about value exchange: creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers in a way that also benefits the business. It’s not about pushing products. It’s about solving needs.
Marketing is also the process of creating, communicating, and delivering value through products and services, building exchanges that benefit customers, organisations, partners, and society
What is sales?
Sales is the process of converting interest into action, persuading a customer to make a purchase, donation, or commitment. It’s the moment of exchange where value created by marketing is captured as revenue, sign-ups, or support.
Persuasion is a good point to focus on because there are levels of persuasion that are needed to convert the person.
For B2B, if you don’t already have a connection, this can include cold calling or cold emailing, when you don’t know this person, making the conversation more difficult to achieve.
What is a conversion (or to convert someone)?
A conversion in marketing is the moment when a person takes the action you want, whether that’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, donating, or downloading a resource. To ‘convert’ someone means turning their interest into a measurable commitment.
What is branding?
Branding is the identity and perception of any organisation: the name, visuals, story, and values that shape how people feel about you. It’s not just what you say; it’s what people believe when they think of you.
What is advertising?
Advertising is the practice of paying to promote a message, product, or service through specific channels. From traditional media like TV, print, and radio to digital platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook, and YouTube. It’s one of the tools inside marketing, designed to capture attention, build awareness, and encourage action.
Although ‘advertising’ is usually referenced within paid media, advertising can be organic as well. It is a message to share your message and build awareness and attention, usually for an outcome - conversion, awareness, sale, etc.
A visualisation
Think of marketing, sales, branding, and advertising as a pyramid:
Base = Branding → Your identity and the trust people place in you.
Middle = Marketing → The strategy that creates and delivers value to customers.
Top = Sales → The moment of conversion, when interest turns into action.
Advertising = The Spotlight → It’s not part of the pyramid itself, but the light you shine on it so people notice what you’ve built.
What is a metric?
Before we get into specifics and explain more about the metrics that matter, let’s start simple and begin by explaining what a metric is:
A metric is just a number that measures how well something is working. It’s proof of progress. In marketing, metrics help you see whether your efforts are creating value, building trust, or driving results.
Think of metrics as the scoreboard for your strategy:
If you don’t track them, you’re just guessing.
If you track the wrong ones, you’ll chase vanity instead of value.
If you track the right ones, you’ll know exactly what’s working and what to improve.
Metrics that matter
Knowing the differences between marketing, sales, branding, and advertising is only half the story. To improve, you need to measure what matters. Here are the most important metrics for each:
Marketing → Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) & Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
Why it matters: Shows if your strategy is sustainable. If LTV > CAC, you’re building value.
How to track: Divide total marketing spend by new customers gained (CAC). Estimate how much each customer will spend over their lifetime (LTV).
Sales → Conversion Rate & Average Deal Value
Why it matters: Reveals how effectively leads become paying customers.
How to track: Leads closed ÷ leads generated = conversion rate. Total revenue ÷ deals closed = average deal value.
Branding → Brand Awareness & Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Why it matters: Measures whether people know you and if they trust you enough to recommend you.
How to track: Surveys, social listening, or tools like Google Trends (awareness). Ask customers “How likely are you to recommend us?” (NPS).
Advertising → Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) & Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Why it matters: Shows if your ad budget is working and whether people engage.
How to track: Ad revenue ÷ ad spend = ROAS. Ad clicks ÷ impressions = CTR.
Charity Lens: How to Improve Each Area
If you’re a charity or nonprofit, these distinctions are even more important. Here’s how to apply them to strengthen your mission:
Marketing (Strategy & Value Creation)
Focus on the value exchange: show how donations directly create impact (e.g., £10 feeds a child for a week).
Use newsletters, reports, and stories to communicate outcomes — not just asks.
Sales (Conversion Moments)
Make donating, signing up, or volunteering as simple as possible (fewer clicks, clear CTAs).
Test different appeals: urgency (e.g., emergency relief), community (“join 1,000 supporters”), or storytelling (“help Ana stay in school”).
Branding (Identity & Trust)
Create a consistent identity: logo, colours, mission statement, and tone of voice.
Share proof of impact (annual reports, case studies, testimonials).
Build emotional connection: people support why you exist, not just what you do.
Advertising (Getting Attention)
Use low-cost, high-impact channels like Google Ad Grants, Facebook Ads for Nonprofits, or local sponsorships.
Focus campaigns on one clear message at a time (e.g., “£5 = clean water for a family today”).
Track ROAS carefully to ensure donor money is well spent.
Why is this important to know?
Because this is where all of marketing begins, if you don’t understand value exchange, customer-centricity, and relationships, every other framework, from the 4Ps to AI-driven campaigns, will feel like scattered tactics.
When you see marketing as creating mutual value, you stop thinking about “selling” and start thinking about serving. That shift changes how you design products, run campaigns, and connect with people.
This matters not just for businesses, but for charities, communities, and society — because marketing done right builds trust, spreads ideas that matter, and makes people’s lives better.
At VellumWorks, we believe knowledge should be free. That’s why this series will guide you, step by step, through everything from the basics to the most advanced strategies in marketing: no jargon, no gatekeeping, just education that empowers.
