What's the difference between business development & marketing?

[Daniel Smith]

Hi there,

I am with this company that is providing web services. I am recently named head of business development. I want to know the difference between being a head of business development and manager of the marketing department. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Daniel Smith

[f5mtadas]

business development includes management too. Marketing goal is for targeted audience nothing more
for your business.

[napoleonwill]

I think business development means you are bringing in more business and making the system more efficient. You are making the company more money by creating new business and using less resources to accomplish the same product/service.

[Curtis_Szajkovics]

bizdev! Think sales and marketing combined.

Marketing alone consists of researching who your buyers are, how to target your pitch/advertisements/etc to reach the people you want to reach. napoleonwill is right the marketing department generally works to make sure that your aiming for the right group of people and doing so efficiently and not wasting time on people who won't buy your product.

Business Development, aka biz dev, is usually the expansion of the business. Its exact role might be a little different from company to company, but I've usually seen it as the guys going out and talking with the people buying your product, or building relationships with business you work with.

I know they sound a lot a like, and they are, but marketing is a lot more of "studying" who you are trying to reach and how to do it well, and business development is the actual outreach to the market.

At least that's usually been the role as I have seen it, I would just talk to whoever hired you and find out what they need you to do :-P. A title is just a title and the actual role can change a lot from company to company, just find out what it is they will need you to do.

Best of luck!

-Curtis Szajkovics

[jingles]

Marketing is all about buyers and Business development cover management and business issues also.