“Aren’t they just the same thing?”
I can’t even begin to explain how irritating that question is.
It doesn’t just apply to these two topics either! I’m sure you’ve been asked this at least once in your line of work and it’s usually two things that are very different but have a close relationship and are often confused between people outside the industry.
And that’s what Branding and Marketing are!
They both require creative solutions.
They’re both very broad
They both grow businesses. (Yep, really.)
And to an outsider, it’s not very clear what the difference is!
So what is the difference?
Marketing is what you say it is.
That’s all your paid adverts on Facebook and Google, all your flyers, and local publications. Basically, everything that you say about your business.
Branding is what your customers and potential customers say or think about it.
That’s your loyal customers telling their friends what a great job you did!
Now you might be thinking ‘what about logos? They’re branding right?’
And yeah sure! They’re part of it!
A recent study showed that 75% of people recognise a brand by it’s logo. And 60% recognise it by it’s visual style. (Renderforest, 2021) https://www.renderforest.com/blog/brand-statistics
These elements are part of a brand identity. That’s the bit you need a designer for. But a brand identity alone isn’t a brand.
A brand encompasses everything about how your business is seen by your customers and potential customers.
So that’s your logo and visual style as mentioned before, but also your customer service, how your website looks and works, and how your business speaks! From the type of text you put on flyers and the language you use on social media, to how you answer the phone to speak with potential clients!
Branding is huge!
And marketing can stop. Maybe it’s the end of a campaign or maybe you’ve decided to pause an ad because you’re not getting the results you wanted.
There’s no pause button for branding.
It happens 24/7, 365 days a year.
So, you might be wondering, how come we see more efforts put into marketing than branding?
One word.
ROI
(Well, 3 letters… But you get my point)
You can see the ROI of most marketing, especially digital marketing. Every ad platform shows you exactly how many impressions and clicks you’re getting while also showing you how much you’ve spent, what your cost per click is, and so on!
Because of this, choosing to run a number of marketing campaigns over-investing in branding seems like a no-brainer!
And this is where branding comes in and can sometimes pull the rug from under the feet of business owners.
If you don’t invest in marketing, no marketing happens. Facebook ads don’t run, Google ads don’t run, leaflets don’t get printed, none of it!
But, if you don’t invest in branding, branding still happens.
Like I said earlier, branding is what your customers and potential customers say or think about it.
Brand identity is fascinating. It uses brand strategy and combines it with logo design, web design, graphic design, and more to create a visual style that shows your business exactly the way you want to be seen.
With a brand identity, we can influence the way customers and potential customers see our businesses.
However, without it, we’re leaving them to make their own opinions.
I mentioned earlier that we can see the ROI of marketing in all the figures provided by marketing apps or software. And while we can’t measure the ROI of branding with figures like reach or conversions we can see it in other ways.
Firstly, a strong brand creates a bond with a customer. It generates something we call brand loyalty.
Brand loyalty means your customers are more likely to buy from you more often in repeat business, more likely to recommend you to a friend, and more likely to spend a little bit more on what you’re offering!
7 in 10 customers will buy from brands they trust (Adobe, 2021)
43% of people spend more money on brands they’re loyal to. (Review42, 2022)
Secondly, every modern company that has driven above-average profitable growth has invested heavily in building their brand. Even in B2B, the top 10 brands with the best customer connections had a 31% greater revenue growth over 3 years compared to the 10 lowest brands.
And lastly, building a strong brand can eventually act as a barrier to potential competition.
Don’t believe me? Give me one good reason why you wouldn’t start a cola company! You wouldn’t even dream of it because the two biggest brands have that industry in a chokehold!
Now I’m not saying completely scrap your marketing plans and only invest in branding!
What I’m saying is businesses should be looking to invest in branding as well as their marketing.
That way you’ll be able to command the authority needed for people to buy from you and keep them coming back for more.
Now I’d like to hear from you!
Have you invested in your branding? If so, why? If not, why not?
If this post got you thinking about your branding, I’m giving away a free eBook about the most common mistakes people make in their branding and how to fix them. You can click here to get your copy today!
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be helpful to read content from other writers and practice a little something from other websites.