Branding vs. Marketing - What is the Difference?

If you’re running a business of any size, you’ve surely come across these terms at some point. Initially, they could sound like the same thing, but let’s take a closer look.

Defining Terms: Branding vs Marketing

So just what are branding and marketing, and how do they help your business?

There’s plenty to say here. Let’s start with some definitions. 

Branding: your company’s identity

Marketing: how you promote your company

There’s plenty more to it than that, but it’s a good place to start. Branding answers “who” and “why,” marketing defines “what” and “how.” 

One is more about looking inward and finding the values and beliefs that define your business, while the other is looking outward, toward your audience. You can think of your company’s brand as its personality, the way it shows up in customer interactions, and how you portray your company online, be it on your website or social media channels. 

Branding is more of a who than a what. And while a “who” can naturally evolve and shift over time, it’s less likely to change drastically, more likely to be consistent. Personalities are fairly fixed, they’re also how we relate to and interact with people on an emotional, moral, and ethical level. So yeah, there’s a lot going on here, and it all combines to make up your company’s persona, your brand. 

Now let’s go a little deeper. Everything that your brand stands for can also be communicated using imagery, through elements of graphic design and custom web design. Color, font, textural nuances, and more can be used to convey the words you’d use to describe your business, products and services. Trustworthy, durable, luxurious, elite, humble, responsible–take your pick. Each and every adjective out there can conjure up visual imagery and color ways that can then be used in logos, web design, social media posts, messaging, overall tone, and even print marketing materials to convey who your brand is–it’s called brand design. There’s a healthy dose of psychology at play, and consistency is king. Oh, and did you catch that? Yep, your brand and marketing are related.

Then there’s marketing. This is a series of steps taken by you or a digital marketing agency to promote your company, product or service, and yes, your brand. This is where things like PPC advertising, social media, content writing, email marketing, SEO work and more come in to ensure that the right folks are seeing you, wherever they may be. The goal is to drive sales and generate leads. Marketing shifts and changes, it makes tactical decisions based on analyzed data. Brands don’t generally change much–they may get a refresh from time to time while still retaining the core of what makes them, them. But marketing is always changing–it has to if it’s going to be successful and get your business in front of the right people who are ready to engage.

Of course, these two things–marketing and branding–they need each other. What good is a solid brand that no one knows about? And how do you promote something that’s nebulous and murky, unclear and hard to communicate to audiences? A brand that knows itself isn’t pretending, it isn’t trying to be someone it isn’t, instead it’s staying true to self and spending time and effort marketing itself to those who are ready to hear and engage.

In the end, branding and marketing go hand in hand. And they’re holding on tight! Some of the most iconic brands we know today are immediately recognizable when we see their logo or even the font used in their marketing campaigns. It brings up specific imagery and there’s an undeniable vibe that accompanies this level of instant recognition. Does it draw on nostalgia and warm, fuzzy feels? How about high quality materials and top-notch customer service? We associate the things a company is known for with the emblems and imagery they use to represent themselves. 

The question though–is it good or bad? Does it work or doesn’t it? That depends on how much thought, time, effort and investment you put into this.

Branding and Marketing: A Digital Marketing Agency In Cleveland That Does Both

Here at Alt Media Studios, we can’t invent your brand–that happens in-house. That comes from you, the founder, and what you want your brand to stand for. What we can do is help you tell your brand story to the world. 

With our logo, graphic design, custom web design, content writing and social media services we can ensure that your business is represented in a way that gels with your company ethos and culture. Tying in all the digital creative work also helps to keep things consistent across all media and platforms. When we develop a cohesive style guide for your brand, we can use those guidelines in each and every interaction with your audience, from colors and imagery to the tone of writing in blogs, newsletters and social media posts. That brings recognition and helps to build brand loyalty. 

Then there’s the marketing side of things. Using the brand representations we’ve carefully crafted for you to promote your offerings. Once customers know your brand and are willing and ready to interact and engage, marketing carries them along to where you want them to be. But this is far more than just reeling in a catch–this is about forming connections on a deeper level, one that builds a bond and encourages relationship building. 

Cleveland seo services

Branding and marketing. They’re simple enough concepts, but the backstory is vast. When you work with an experienced, full-service digital marketing agency in Cleveland, like what you’ll find at Alt Media Studios, you’ll learn firsthand how these two concepts work seamlessly together and how a solid brand drives your marketing success.

Ready to engage your community? Looking to boost your business exposure ahead of the holiday rush? Need a website you’re proud to show off to your audience? Want to use customer reviews to build trust and reinforce your brand? There’s a lot to do! Now is the time to invest in branding and use it to inform a robust, comprehensive marketing effort. And we’re just the people to do it. Reach out, get in touch, drop a line and generally contact us to learn more and get started. We’ll make sure your efforts stick the landing.