I was asked this morning to consider writing a blog post about the marketing strategy differences between Entrepreneur 5.0 and the general Social Media Marketing approach Roger focuses on.

It's an interesting question that I don't have the answer to, but perhaps a good start is to share my thoughts and encourage others to share theirs so that we can all get a better understanding. For my part, I'd like to highlight the difference between marketing and sales to help focus on the "marketing" part of strategy.

Marketing vs sales

The best explanation I received about the difference between the two is that with marketing, you're sharing your message to people without names. With sales, you have a name attached to the message.

This is best illustrated in the good ol' offline business models where the marketing team and the sales team are two entirely different entities. Whether telesales, television, print media, or radio, the people in charge of putting together the ads and making sure the marketing messages reached the right people were not the same people going out to make the sales. In offline marketing, it is that call to action - the "call this number" or "visit our store" - that either inspires engagement with the brand or not.

In simple Internet marketing terms, marketing is getting the lead, sales is converting that lead into a customer.

Herein lies the crux of every marketing strategy: if your content is not inspiring engagement from those you're targeting, chances are you're not going to get any sales.

The above image, which illustrates this process better than I am able to articulate in words, defines marketing as a PROCESS of bringing PEOPLE to a PLACE where they PERFORM AN ACTION that leads to the selling of a PRODUCT OR SERVICE at a PROFIT.

The marketing process starts by "bringing people to a place where they perform an action that leads to..." The rest is sales.

Marketing asks the following questions:

1. What people? Are they entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, mothers, youth...?
   Which place? Is it on Facebook, an online forum, an offline networking event, a membership, or your own website.
   What action? Is it a download, share, join, subscribe, quiz, survey, or video?

That's what engagement's all about. If the point of engagement transforms or inspires an action, you're one step closer to making a sale.

So in answer to your question - or at least, my interpretation of it - is that each strategy is simply speaking to different people in different places with different calls to action. With Entrepreneur 5.0, the emphasis is on making it rain, which means creating calls to action that consistently inspire, transform, build trust, and is part of a bigger vision than simply trying to sell.

And whether you use social media, email marketing, offline events, online networking or word of mouth; whether you use quizzes, videos, chatbots, or downloads; it all comes down to you asking:

1. which people
   in which places
   with what actions

can I consistently inspire, transform, and engage with my product offering?

And that's my bit! I look forward to hearing some insights from some of the other GeniusU members.