A major focus of building an online presence in today’s digital-first world revolves around two words—branding and marketing. While these words seem interchangeable when spoken about, they, in fact, are each focused in their own way, while each plays off the other. As a digital marketing agency, we’ve had the pleasure to see first-hand, businesses lose track of their purpose in terms of branding or marketing, or whether they need both. In short? You can’t pick one over the other—they are two sides of the same coin!

Let’s examine and clarify the actual differences between branding and marketing, and how they play off each other to grow your business.

What Is Branding?

Think of branding as a way of communicating who and what you, i.e., your business, is. Branding is more than a logo, tagline, brand colors, etc.; it’s about how people perceive you. It answers the questions: who are we, and why should people care?

In the end, branding is really about storytelling. It’s about creating a voice, tone, and identity to embody the values of your business in a way that creates an emotional connection with your audience.

When we provide graphic design services, for example, we are not creating pretty pictures. We are creating assets that represent the voice of a brand; whether it’s minimal and modern, bold and quirky, or timeless and elegant. Branding is the way we can make people remember you just like that even when they are not interacting with you!

What Is Marketing?

If branding defines who you are, marketing is how you communicate that identity into the world. It’s the collection of strategies and actions that you take to present your products or services to consumers, which ultimately causes revenue and customer growth. Marketing ultimately answers: How do we connect with the right people, at the right place, at the right time?

In our case, our digital marketing strategies could consist of social media marketing, SEO, email marketing, or performance marketing strategies. These tactics ensure that your brand is in front of the right people, ultimately stimulating an action – whether that be clicking a link, signing up for a newsletter or buying a product.

Branding vs Marketing: Key Differences

To put it plainly, here is a basic summary of differences:

1. Focus

• Branding is about identity.

• Marketing is about visibility + conversion.

2. Timeline

• Branding is long-term and makes clear how people perceive you.

• Marketing is often short- to medium-term, and drives toward specific goals.

3. Purpose

• Branding builds trust + loyalty

• Marketing builds awareness + sales

4. Dependency

• Strong branding is only going to strengthen a marketing campaign

• Strong marketing is only going to enhance a brand.

Why You Need Both

Envision a campaign without a brand identity; it could get attention, but it won’t create memorable outcomes for your customers. Having a strong brand without marketing is like having a well-designed store in the middle of nowhere—no one knows it’s there.

That’s why businesses need a branding agency and a digital marketing agency combined. Brandistry brings together brand identity development with marketing execution by building a cohesive strategy.

Real-Life Example

Imagine your starting a sustainable fashion line.

•    Branding determines your tone: eco-conscious, ethical, fashionable. It informs your colors, your messaging, and you promise to your customers.

•     Marketing actually gets that brand in front of the right people (i.e., through Instagram campaigns, SEO for terms like sustainable fashion, and targeted ads for eco-conscious consumers).

Branding and marketing worked together creates not just visibility, but a community of loyal people around your brand.

How We Approach It at Brandistry

We are a full-service digital marketing agency – we don’t believe in siloing branding and marketing. Instead, we integrate it! We usually follow this process:

1.  Brand Discovery – We will have you dive into your story, values, and goals to determine your brand identity.

2.  Design Execution – Through our graphic design offerings, we will solidify the brand identity into logos, social media creatives, websites, and more.

3.  Marketing Strategy – We will develop a custom digital marketing plan if needed, whether its social media, SEO, or paid advertisement to reflect your brand identity.

4.  Consistent Messaging Across the Brand – Each post, ad, and campaign reinforces your brand story and brand for familiarity and trust.

Final Thoughts

The next time distinguishing branding vs. marketing, keep in mind: branding builds your foundation, marketing builds your reach. You cannot have one without the other.

At Brandistry, we utilize our expertise to help businesses like yours see that it is one thing to stand out, but a whole other to stay remembered. At Brandistry we combine branding and digital marketing to help businesses like yours not only attract customers, but create lasting relationships with them.

So whether you are looking for a branding agency, a digital marketing agency or a partner who can do it all. We are excited to build effective strategies and enduring stories.