Marketing and branding are two extremely different and important parts of the way a business presents itself to its current and future customers. “Branding” and “marketing” are often used interchangeably, and we believe that is a mistake. (For the first part of this conversation, read our first blog post on the topic here).

The two work so well together, just like Show and Tell as a kid. Branding shows your customers what you are about and marketing tells them what they need to know about you! So while they go hand in hand, they can exist separately and more often than not, do! But having a strong marketing strategy and a strong brand strategy makes bringing in business and sales even easier. We want you to rethink the way that you think of marketing, branding, and their daily interactions.

To make it easier to begin this conversation, think of it like this: marketing is for business, and branding is for customers. Marketing works to drive leads that convert to sales, and branding works to drive recognition, connection, and loyalty. 

Now that the intro is out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the real differences between the two.

So what are the main differences between marketing and branding?

Functions of marketing: 

  • Build awareness of the company’s products and services. 
  • Create and execute strategies to sell products and services.
  • Promote the brand and find ways to educate the audience about the products and services.
  • Put the right product or service in the right place, at the right time, in the right way.
  • Promote the intended value of a product or service.

Functions of branding:

  • Express the company’s personality.
  • Visually show a consistent representation of the company at all opportunities.
  • Showcase the vision and values of the company. 
  • Help consumers recognize and identify the company that produces the aforementioned product or service. 
  • Builds an emotional connection from your customer to your business.

So let’s get into it! Let’s dive deeper into each one of these functions and why they matter.

Let’s start with marketing:

Marketing works to: build awareness of the company’s products and services. This is so crucial to so many brands, whether you are just starting or have been in business for a while. Marketing as a tool to create creative and engaging ways your customers and prospective customers can learn about you is so important these days. Businesses are online and on social media to do just that. Your Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn are full of content and ads that are used to create a touch point with audiences to create awareness.

Marketing works to: create and execute strategies to sell products and services. This ties right into the above. If we are creating awareness with our marketing initiatives, the end result is always to transact with a business. The first interaction and transaction may not be monetary (it all depends on your industry) but the plan for marketing is to create awareness and channels to hand leads over to the sales team.

Marketing also: promotes the brand and finds ways to educate the audience about the products and services. This is part of a more recent trend in which consumers in any capacity want to feel educated about products and services. The consumers we interact with now are the most educated and resourceful so they are going to look for information they need so they may as well get the information they need from YOU!

Marketing facilitates: the ability to put the right product or service in the right place, at the right time, in the right way. The wrong message at the wrong time with the right product won’t be received. The wrong message at the right time with the right product won’t get received. You get the idea – oftentimes all three things need to happen and to happen consistently to make it clear (and easy) for a person to transact with you. 

Marketing also: promotes the intended value of a product or service. Each and every interaction in your marketing is a way to promote your product or service and the value that it can bring to your customers’ lives. What will someone feel or how will they behave with your product or service in their life? What value does your product or service add to their life? Marketing works to continuously promote these types of things to your customers and your future customers. 

Now it’s time to dive into branding and its functions:

Branding helps: express the company’s personality. This is a way to nail the tone and voice of your brand, how it looks and feels and interacts with your customers every day life, and what to expect from your business.

Branding also: helps to: visually show a consistent representation of the company at all opportunities. This is where your logo, colors, fonts, and graphics come in. Having a consistent look and feel is so important to the subconscious mind of your customers. Being able to visually identify your brand and business means a deeper reinforcement of who you are and why you can help them. 

Branding helps to: showcase the vision and values of the company. Using branding elements like your tone and your voice, and speaking about your mission, vision and values whenever you are able to clearly communicate to your audience who you are and what you stand for (or don’t stand for!) A bonus of effective branding is an easier attraction and retention of your employees. Why? Because from the start someone can see what your business is about and hiring right happens right from the beginning. 

Branding can: help consumers recognize and identify the company that produces the aforementioned product or service. This ties back into your visual identity. If you have a consistent look and feel in any outward facing customer interaction, your audience can see the direct relationship between the product or service and your business. You can think of businesses like Coca-cola, Pepsi, Nike, Target, Sephora, etc. Read more from Hubspot about their top 15 picks for amazing branding by businesses. 

Branding can also: builds an emotional connection from your customer to your business. This is showcased in brands from Patagonia all the way to Airbnb. Branding conveys how a person will look, feel, or be like if they interact and transact with you. For example, Patagonia has taken a strong stance lately in a lot of areas, but it aligns with what their brand mission, vision, and values are and that also aligns with what their audience expects from them. Their mission, vision and values align with saving the planet, supporting sustainability, giving back, use business to help protect nature, and innovation. Looking at their imagery, messaging, social presence, and more shows you and allows you to feel that connection to their brand if you feel their core values are aligned with yours.

Airbnb is a great example too. People now take for granted being able to rent homes, condos, and apartments when they travel but Airbnb worked meticulously for years to cultivate a look and feel of “home-away-from-home” and how you can travel stress-free with their help. It’s been such a successful branding strategy that over 160million guests have stayed in Airbnb affiliated spaces since 2008. Read more on this incredible branding strategy. 

As you can see, there are a lot of intersection points between marketing and branding, but they are two totally different functions. 

A strong marketing strategy cannot exist without a strong branding strategy and the reverse is true as well. 

Marketing and branding are integral to any business that exists today, but taking time to understand the difference between the two and how to develop separate but complementary strategies can help you and your business reach the next level. 

We can help!

Small but mighty team, but no bandwidth to create a marketing strategy? Need some help understanding what you should and could do for your marketing strategy? Looking for guidance on a new brand look and feel? Need someone to facilitate a meeting with your team to unlock what makes your business great and why your customers should know? 

We can help! Contact us today so we can learn more about you and your business, and how we can help you create smart and sustainable marketing strategies that help you reach your target audience and help tell your story. Every business has a story – what’s yours?