On Twitter Sarah Evans asked what the difference was between marketing and public relations to be answered on twitter in less than 140 characters. Here are some answers:

• Marketing is what gets people through the door, PR is what keeps them coming back.
• In my world? Marketing connects people to me as a service or brand. PR connects me to people as a person.
• Marketing gets people to the dance. In sales, you have to do your own dancing. PR makes sure there are people to keep dancing with.
• Marketing=first thing people see.  PR=showing what’s underneath
• On a cynical side, marketing is selling face – PR is saving face

Since I started in sales and moved to marketing, I wouldn’t agree with all of these answers, but I can see how PR people would.  To me: PR is media spin.  Marketing is messaging and buzz to your target audience. Sales is actually getting dirty to pay the marketing and PR people.

All too often, people in marketing, social media, PR, lead generation (SEO and SEM), and advertising have espoused how they deliver. I have to tell you: until the salesperson closes the deal, nothing happened.

Brand Autopsy has visual representation of the differences among marketing, PR, advertising and branding. It boils down to: Advertising is when you tell people how great you are. PR is when someone else says how great you are. But in PR the person saying it is usually a paid spokesperson. Referrals, testimonials, and customer reviews are truly the best sales tool.

Lexus has a new commercial featuring a child talking about the best Christmas present ever: the Big Wheel. To me this commercial works because it connects with emotions.  (Obviously not all agree – see here.) People buy based on emotion – and rationalize the purchase later (or not which brings buyer’s remorse).  This Big Wheel commercial is part of a series that includes the Atari for Christmas and the pony for the girl. (I thought the pony one was garbage, but I can relate to the Big Wheel and the Atari as great Christmas gifts).

An excellent article on Cincinnati.com about Cincinnati based P&Gand its marketing of Pampers via purpose-based marketing.

The purpose of Pampers, conceptualized through cross-department meetings and P&G’s vaunted consumer research, is to be a partner with mothers in the physical, social and emotional development of their children.

Marketing must begin with a purpose, Stengel says, and it should be more than just improving sales. It should be a long-term strategy focused on consumers’ needs that influences all other work involving the brand.

Once P&G figured out it wanted to be a partner with parents in childhood development, that led to the creation of diapers that feel better, to research that found babies sleep better when wearing diapers (significant in some developing countries where children go without diapers), to a rich Internet site that features articles and other information from childhood experts and to new products such as Pampers Stages.

It also led to a partnership with UNICEF in which, for every package of Pampers sold, P&G donates the cost of one vaccine to combat tetanus, still a big problem in developing countries.

Tying your small business to a cause, like a charity, is a great way to brand your business.