Branding vs. Marketing

When you start on a new venture or business, you often come across a lot of new terms, it can be hard to keep them straight. The two terms which people usually confuse are branding and marketing. People mostly think they are the same or one is a subset of the other. Let’s see what are the core differences between branding and marketing.

What is marketing?

Marketing is a set of tools and strategies used to increase your product reach or promote your services. The strategies are used to connect to customers and sell your products. For example, you use SEO, content marketing, website development, etc. to find potential clients.

What is branding?

It is a practice that shapes your services and products or your brand. It is the uniqueness that differentiates you from others and thus gives you loyal customers. For example, your logo, website, and tagline are some of the factors that determine your brand.

Differences between branding and marketing

Marketing is to find potential customers and branding is about keeping loyal customers.

For all businesses to work and be successful in the sea of competition they need good marketing strategies to attract customers. But once you have a built-up, that is where branding comes in to keep the customers loyal to your company and even for good reviews.

Marketing is a short-term process, Branding is a long-term process.

Marketing helps you achieve your sales target and profits. For example, you need SEO and content writing to drive traffic to your company. But branding is all related to recognition and loyalty. It is also most important to make sure that your old customers are still intact. Branding can take time but it can also help to bring your services to the attention of a huge audience.

Marketing can help you bring customers, branding can bring both customers and employee teams.

Marketing can impact your business on a large scale but building a good band can always attract skilled people to work for you and make the core more strong. Branding not only brings loyal customers but also experienced people who can take your brand to the top of the competition. 

Marketing can be changed according to new products and services but branding is forever.

Products and services come and go and you need to adapt marketing strategies according to them. For example, some services can get more social media attention while some can find potential customers on websites. Branding on the other hand gives the same impact throughout the process.

In conclusion, both marketing and branding are two different aspects but both must go hand in hand to make your business successful. You need to understand the key differences between them to use them effectively.

Starting your own business, Looking for a creative digital marketing agency to look after your Branding & Marketing? Contact Us
Also read: digital marketing vs traditional marketing

Picture credit