Branding vs. Marketing: What’s the Difference?
While running and developing a small business, you are probably quite familiar with the terms branding vs. marketing. The difference between these two terms can be confusing.
For example, when you have your business logo and you’re actively promoting your business online through a blog, social media, and emails, are you branding or marketing? It may be difficult to tell the difference between branding vs. marketing.
To be honest, I didn’t really understand how marketing worked until I started my own design business. Branding and marketing are different concepts and have different roles but they are connected, and both are absolutely essential to grow your business.
This post will help you understand the differences between branding and marketing and how to leverage these benefits for your small business.
What is branding?
Branding is the process of actively shaping your brand so that it conveys who you are, what you do, and why you exist. Branding establishes how your brand is different from your competitors and it creates an emotional connection with consumers based on their experiences with your brand. The main goal of branding is to create positive thoughts, emotions, and perceptions in the minds of your audience.
Your brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room.
- JEFF BEZOS
Branding is a significantly slower and more gradual process. Attempting to influence how your company is perceived in the consumer’s mind is not usually achieved in a single sale. Rather it is developed and reinforced through repeated experiences with your brand.
If you are successful with your branding efforts, your brand will be easy to recognize and your audience will know what sets you apart from everyone else. They will know exactly what to expect from your products and your company.
Ultimately, this bond between you and your client continues to build as they have consistent, positive experiences, eventually turning your customers into brand advocates. Brand advocates are clients who will not only tell their friends about you, but they will come to your defense if you ever get a negative comment on social media or if you receive some sort of negative publicity.
This is what you can achieve with a well-planned and executed branding strategy. If your branding strategy is not generating the results you were hoping for, it may be time to re-evaluate your original plan. If you need help building a strong brand foundation, my free Brand Clarity Workbook can help you to organize your thoughts and gain a thorough understanding of your brand.
What is marketing?
Marketing is defined as the set of tools, processes, and strategies you use to actively promote your product, service, and company. You can think of marketing as the specific set of actions your company takes to get your audience excited about your products or services with the ultimate goal of boosting sales.
"You can't sell anything if you can't tell anything."
– BETH COMSTOCK
Marketing strategies have a shorter duration than branding strategies, with a clear beginning, middle, and end. This makes sense since marketing tries to generate excitement with fresh ad campaigns. Even the most successful ad campaigns must eventually change or run the risk of getting stale.
Marketing is typically divided into two categories: Inbound marketing and outbound marketing.
Inbound marketing basically creates a breadcrumb trail that leads to your company. In other words, your ideal clients come to you rather than you having to go out searching for them. This is done through your content marketing (blogs, podcasts, ebooks, etc.), SEO efforts (search engine optimization using targeted keywords), and your activity on social media platforms.
Outbound marketing consists of what many people consider to be traditional marketing: TV ads, billboards, print ads, email blasts, etc. In outbound marketing, you are reaching out and trying to find your ideal clients.
Many people feel that outbound marketing is dead since technology now provides us with many ways to reach niche markets. But before you write off outbound marketing, keep in mind that there are forms that have proven to be effective. Pay-per-click ads are considered part of outbound marketing. When done strategically, they can be fine-tuned to reach exactly the demographic you’re looking for.
What is the difference between branding and marketing?
• BRANDING COMES FIRST. MARKETING COMES AFTER.
Your brand strategy establishes not only who you are and why you exist, but it also identifies who your ideal clients are. Your brand will best appeal to a specific group of people. The more clearly defined your target audience is, the easier it will be for your marketing department to reach them.
• BRANDING DRIVES RECOGNITION AND LOYALTY. MARKETING DRIVES SALES.
Early in the process, branding builds awareness, but as the brand strengthens over time, customers will trust you. When you can develop this level of trust with your clients, not only will they continue to purchase from you, but they’ll refer their friends to you as well. People don’t just send their friends to anyone - they only send them to companies that are reliable and trustworthy.
• BRANDING LIVES FOREVER. MARKETING IS SHORT-TERM.
Your marketing efforts will change frequently as you try fresh ways to reach your target audience. Your branding strategy will also change over time as your brand grows and evolves, but it changes at a much slower rate. To use a running analogy, you can think of marketing as one of those fun 5K races and branding as a marathon.
Conclusion:
I hope this post helps you to understand the difference between branding vs. marketing. Both are essential to grow your business. When your brand strategy is clear and well-thought-out, it provides a springboard for the rest of your organization. Your marketing efforts can be fine-tuned, and you’ll have an easier time reaching your target audience. When you utilize these two effectively, your business can grow healthier and faster.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions or thoughts.
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