Online marketing lives on a spectrum from Brand to performance. On one end of the spectrum you have long-term brand building efforts that are geared towards creating brand awareness, building trust and solidifying perception with customers. On the opposite end you have performance marketing with its promise of short term wins, immediate ROI and data driven customer insights.
Ideally our overall marketing runway should feature a balancing act of both approaches but this might not be the case depending on where you find yourself, the sophistication of your team and wider business objectives. With the re-explosion of digital channels over the last few pandemic years, there has been a corresponding increase in the popularity and adoption of the performance marketing approach, sometimes at great expense to long-term brand building.
In this post I will not argue which strategy is better, it goes without saying that both should be combined. However I will join the conversation by delving into both perspectives, their differences, pros and cons, and recommendations on how to use both effectively to drive scalable outcomes.
Cutting away all the technical jargon, this is basically marketing done to increase one's brand awareness and reputation - at least to the layman. To the more technical folk, this is marketing used to increase brand equity, with the end goal of conversions based on brand recognition.
In the brand-driven marketing approach, you're comfortable with a longer timeline for returns, that is, from the outset, it's clear that you're running your marketing efforts to gather profit in the long term. Here we are talking podcast ads, influencers, customer/brand experience, PR, great design, product placements etc.
With a brand led approach to marketing, the goal is developing brand awareness and recognition, trustworthiness, product visibility, market reach, and the overall reputation of your brand. This is a long-term activity that does not guarantee quick immediate wins.
Think about how you build relationships in your personal lives and in professional settings, for the relationships to progress, there is a gradual process of showcasing and highlighting what is unique about you, what sets you apart from others and why the other person should get into a relationship with you and not someone else (ultimately).
In similar fashion, brand marketing pursues a long-term goal of building a growing base of aware, engaged and loyal customers through continually and consistently communicating your brand's identity and values in meaningful and engaging ways. With this approach you are deliberate about elevating your marketing efforts from simply selling a product and its features/benefits, to eliciting an emotional response from your target audience through effective communication that connects beyond the surface.
In a cluttered digital environment, having a brand marketing strategy is a crucial not-to-be-ignored part of your overall marketing plan as it helps to establish sustainable relationships with customers and make them choose your brand. You have the opportunity to build relationships with your customers (which can eventually turn them into loyal customers) and create a brand that people actually care about.
However with all its many benefits, there are some debatable downsides to a brand-driven approach:
Essentially and TLDR; focusing on brand marketing would result in worse short term conversions but better long term brand equity which unsurprisingly is also really good for driving low cost long term conversions.
In its most simple form, this is basically marketing with the aim of getting immediate quantifiable results; for the more technical folks, this is the kind of marketing that uses specific metrics and targets to determine if a marketing campaign is doing well or not.
A performance-driven approach means more short-term conversion and here you’re looking at a reasonable mix of direct response ads, promotional offers, PPC, conversion optimisation, lead generation social campaigns, affiliate marketing etc.
In the performance driven approach you are running campaigns with the aim of seeing immediate results (clicks, leads, shares) which is particularly useful for when you're on a tight budget. Performance marketing also gives you more control over your costs (you can actually only pay for specific result) and helps you avoid wastage especially if you lean heavily into the data that it generates.
I think the best thing about the performance driven approach (and surprisingly the most overlooked) is that it can be used to build a brand image (in the long run and depending on what your brand target is).
Because performance measures (almost) everything, it shows a clear path to customer acquisition and conversion. It can also prove ROI (there is a direct link between investment and result) and drive short term business goals.
There are always corresponding disadvantages to all advantages, in this case some downsides of only doing performance-marketing:
A laser focus on performance and when executed well is likely to result in great short term conversions. This sometimes comes at the risk of long term brand equity
Should your marketing actively incorporate both approaches?
Yes!
Can you do both?
It depends.
Digital is all grown up. Digital is still growing up. Today, digital channels can build brands and also drive performance outcomes. A recent facebook study explored the concept of performance branding and while I rolled my eyes at yet another marketing buzzword, I quite agree with the premise - that marketers can drive short-term sales activation while simultaneously building strong, consistent and memorable brands.
Now if you’ve had a primarily performance driven approach and you’re here because you want to incorporate more brand marketing initiatives into your overall strategy, there are a few things to keep in mind:
In deciding what way to go and how to incorporate performance and brand tactics into your marketing arsenal, consider the following:
Final words, brand and performance marketing both have their place in your organisation's marketing arsenal. Each approach addresses customers in different contexts and at different stages of their rather haphazard customer journey which is why for profit’s sake, a combination of both approaches is the best way to go.
Yes, in reality, your strategy may tilt to one side or the other depending on many varied contextual factors but what’s important is, regardless of where you tilt, never lose sight of the other. It’s thinking about how you can brilliantly leverage brand marketing to define, communicate and establish your personality and point of view over time, then presenting your offers directly to buyers via performance marketing. And whichever way you choose to go, however you might want to mix it up, remember to execute flawlessly.