Marketing vs Branding. What’s the difference between these two overarching terms? You’re not the only one to ask this question.
These terms are usually thrown together hand in hand but there are some key differences that you should be aware of when you’re crafting a successful business strategy.
As a business owner, it is essential to understand the nuances when it comes to branding vs marketing.
At eAccountable, we’ve been pioneering digital marketing strategies for years, helping businesses elevate their online presence and drive growth.
Let’s dissect the differences between marketing and branding while exploring how to craft successful strategies for each.
Definitions: Marketing vs. Branding
Let’s start with definitions of the two before we get into the nuances.
Branding is defined as the process by which a business makes itself known to the public and differentiates itself from competitors.
Marketing is defined as the activity or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.
Think about it this way…
Marketing is when you go out into the world and say, “I’m a great business because x, y, and z!”
And when people start flocking to your business and say, “I heard you’re a great business because of x, y, and z…” that is the result of effective branding.
In short, branding is who you are—the very identity and character of your business, while marketing is how you build that brand awareness in the first place.
Key Differences Between Branding and Marketing
Now that you understand a little bit about what branding and marketing are, let’s dive deeper into the key differences between the two:
1. Purpose and Focus
- Marketing: The primary purpose of effective marketing campaigns is to promote and sell products or services. They involve activities aimed at attracting, engaging, and converting customers to drive sales and generate revenue.
- Branding: Branding campaigns focus on shaping perceptions and building relationships with customers. It encompasses the overall image, values, and personality of a business, setting it apart from competitors and creating a lasting impression on customers.
2. Short-Term vs. Long-Term Goals
- Marketing: Marketing efforts are often geared towards achieving short-term e-commerce objectives, such as increasing sales, driving website traffic, or launching a new product. It involves tactical, results-driven strategies aimed at generating immediate revenue.
- Branding: Branding is a long-term endeavor aimed at building brand equity and fostering customer loyalty with your target market. It involves establishing a strong brand identity, creating emotional connections and lasting relationships with loyal customers, and making your company’s value proposition clear.
3. Tactics and Strategies
- Marketing: There is a wide range of effective marketing methods, which include ad campaigns, social media marketing, email campaigns, PPC, search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, and content marketing. These tactics are aimed at reaching target customers and driving sales.
- Branding: Branding strategies focus on defining the brand’s mission, values, and personality, as well as creating consistent brand messaging and visual identity across all touch points. It involves building a brand guide with consistent color schemes, fonts, and images that appear in all marketing collateral. Establishing a visual identity is a branding strategy key to a seamless user experience as well as fostering brand loyalty among customers.
Creating a Successful Marketing Strategy
Now that we’ve clarified the key differences when it comes to branding vs marketing, let’s explore how to craft successful strategies for each:
1. Define Your Goals
Start by outlining clear, measurable objectives for your marketing plans. What are your key performance indicators (KPIs)? What channels are you going to focus on?
Whether it’s increasing return on ad spend, increasing your reach, getting more website traffic, boosting sales, or expanding your target market, having key performance indicators will guide your overall marketing strategy.
2. Know Your Audience
Who are your potential customers? Who wants to hear your message?
Conduct thorough market research to understand your target audience’s demographics, interests, and behaviors.
Once you know how to engage with your audience, you can tailor your marketing messages and campaigns to resonate with them.
3. Choose the Right Channels
Selecting the appropriate marketing channels is crucial for reaching your target audience effectively. First, ask yourself – where can you find your target customers? Where would they want to interact with your business?
For example, let’s say you’re a B2B business selling a service to other businesses. To get your message out there, you should run ads on LinkedIn and establish yourself as a thought leader through a content marketing campaign on your website’s blog.
If you’re a B2C e-commerce business selling products to consumers, it might be wise to invest in a B2C email marketing platform like Klaviyo as well as running paid search ads (PPC) on Google.
Creating a Successful Branding Strategy
While marketing campaigns are more focused on short-term goals and KPIs, building a strong brand is the long game. Your brand is your reputation—it is what people think of when they hear your business’s name.
Think Apple, Nike, Starbucks, and McDonalds—these are all brands that evoke feelings and sensations of their unique customer experiences just by bringing up their names. At one point, these were small businesses. When you hear Starbucks, you think of warm, roasted coffee, a comfortable coffee shop, and free Wi-Fi.
As you can imagine, it took a great deal of care and years of work to build these brand names to where they are now. So without further ado, here’s how to craft a successful branding strategy:
1. Define Your Brand Identity
Defining your brand identity is the foundation of successful brand management. Start by asking yourself these questions:
What are your brand’s values? What does your brand stand for? What is your brand’s voice?
Brand values are key to your brand identity, and are a big part of building trust with your target market.
Let’s look at some examples of strong brand personalities.
Momcozy is a company that sells nursing products, so their brand identity is built around supporting moms. This is made clear through their authentic, warm tone, their clearly stated values, their Momcozy Care Program, and their educational content meant to support breastfeeding moms. Their brand values cultivate a uniquely authentic and supportive customer experience and community.
A very different example of a great brand identity is Liquid Death. This company sells water in cans, and their tongue in cheek brand identity and values can be summed up by their tagline, “Murder Your Thirst.” Their about page reads: “We’re just a funny beverage company that hates corporate marketing as much as you do. Our evil mission is to make people laugh and get more of them to drink more healthy beverages more often, all while helping to kill plastic pollution.” As you can see, their brand voice is direct, funny, and tongue-in-cheek, and it works in their favor. Plus, they stand for ending plastic pollution.
What is the lesson to learn from both of these brands? Be authentic.
Consumers can see right through an inauthentic brand identity, so whatever you do, just be yourself, and your target audience will engage.
2. Develop Consistent Brand Messaging
Ensure that your brand messaging is consistent. If your business is serious on LinkedIn but is posting unserious memes on Twitter, it could confuse your target audience and hurt your brand reputation. Make sure to be consistent across all channels and touchpoints.
The key to consistent brand messaging is a brand guide. Create a comprehensive brand guide with brand fonts, color schemes, images, voice, and values, and make sure anyone running your marketing has a deep understanding of your brand guide.
This will ensure a consistent visual identity and brand voice across all marketing collateral, which can lead to strong brand awareness and brand recognition across all channels.
3. Foster Brand Loyalty
Focus on building long-term relationships with customers by delivering exceptional experiences and consistently exceeding their expectations. Offer rewards programs, free giveaways, personalized communications, and exceptional customer service to foster brand loyalty and retention.
Work With An Expert Team
Marketing and branding are two interconnected elements that play crucial roles in the success of any business. Marketing is more focused on short-term goals like boosting sales or increasing website traffic; branding is focused on long-term goals like the perception of your business and the customer experience. The two are forever intertwined – consistent marketing over several years is what builds up a strong brand identity, and marketing campaigns rely on branding for their messaging, voice, and values. By understanding the differences between marketing and branding and implementing successful strategies for each, businesses can strengthen their online presence, drive growth, and cultivate loyal customer relationships.
At eAccountable, we’re committed to helping businesses navigate the complexities of digital marketing and branding to achieve their goals. If you’re interested in learning more, drop us a line here for a free consultation with our team.