The Correlation Between Marketing and Branding: A Deep Insight

Finding yourself confused understanding the difference between marketing and branding? You’re not alone, keep reading for the clarity you need.

If you are an entrepreneur or ‘want to be an entrepreneur’, I’m sure you’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about two very important terms in business – ‘Marketing’ and ‘Branding’.

Are the two terms different? Correlated? Well, they are certainly different. Let’s find out how!

Before we jump into knowing the subtle differences between the two significant terms, it is important to note that as a business owner, marketing and branding both play a vital role in the growth of a business.

Well, if your question is ‘how’?

Continue reading for some in-depth insights about marketing and branding and its influence in the current business scenario.

What is branding?

Branding defines who you are, your nature, scope and the functioning of your business.
Before you decide on your brand, it is important that you introspect on certain factors that can immensely contribute to the growth and development of your business.

Some of the factors worth considering include:

• Principles, vision, and mission statement
• Your target audience
• Your inspiration
• Company culture
• Professional style
• What makes you different from the others?

Contemplating the above-mentioned factors will help you a great deal in building your business voice, goals, objectives and audience. Branding relates to the internal functioning of a business, because it is the process of giving a meaning to specific organization, company, products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds. This applies to both life and business. Relatable right? Yes, it is!

Furthermore, creating an effective brand for your business will help your customers understand as to what they can expect from you, your products and services. This, in turn, forms the basis for marketing.

What is marketing?

Marketing refers to the tools and techniques adopted by a business to promote a brand. The concept of marketing is everchanging due to innovations in technology. Businesses adopt multiple ways to promote their products, both online and offline. This could comprise of words, graphs, pictures, videos, and charts.

Some of the most common marketing methods include:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• Mobile marketing
• Pay per click
• Television
• Print campaigns

The marketing tools and methods are subjected to change. A successful business always aims at keeping themselves at par with the latest marketing techniques that support the core values of their brand story. One such popular technique that is thriving is affiliate marketing where businesses pay an incentive to an external website for traffic and lead generation similar to that of casinoliveoffers.com.

Does branding supersede marketing?

Branding constitutes the soul of a business. It expatiates the business approach, goals, and audience. Seth Godin rightly puts,

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

Bear in mind that it is always your brand that encourages your customers to come back and buy your products. The brand that you create, build and sell has a great impact on the minds of the customers. Take for instance the cafes operating in your area, you must have observed that the customers keep going back to the same cafe again and again. Ever wondered why? It is because of the brand, brand instills a sense of trust and loyalty which keeping building over the years. A business is considered to be successful if it has built its customer base at large. This is only possible through effective branding.

Although different marketing tools and techniques keep evolving over a period of time, branding remains the same. Unlike Marketing, it does not undergo any changes. In other words, it is not bound by time. Branding is tied to attributes like quality, convenience, communication, and most importantly commitment.

Please note that the brand of a business takes its own time to build and it is influenced by numerous factors. So, do keep in mind that every transaction made and phone call received can contribute to your business massively. On the other hand, marketing is how you attract or captivate your audience. In short, branding is how efficient you are in retaining your existing customers and marketing is all about how efficient you are in attracting new customers. It is that simple!

From the aforementioned points, it is clear that branding does come first. Coming up with an effective brand strategy is certainly the first step to any business which is then, followed by marketing the brand effectively in noteworthy platforms to attract a wider audience.

The convergence of branding and marketing

Although there are minute differences between branding and marketing, there is one common aspect between the two. Remember that when you choose a color, graphics or logo for your brand, it must reflect your brand on the whole. This plays a very significant role in your marketing campaigns.

Are branding and marketing really crucial as they sound?

The answer to this question is undoubtedly, yes. It is the brand that helps the customers in associating with your product and offerings. In other words, it is the main voice of your business. Although adopting different marketing strategies help you in attracting new customers, it is only the brand that motivates them to come back to you for more in the future.

One of the most crucial aspects of branding is that we all know the competition is huge in the current market and there are a plethora of companies that come up with the same nature of products and services. And so, creating an effective brand that substantiates your niche is of prime importance and this is what sets you apart from the crowd.

Brands are the building blocks that help you reach your set business goals, reach a wider audience and grow skillfully. Branding is an ongoing effort that you make to create, build and establish your brand in the market. Once you are successful in it, you become the hero!

To top it all

Branding is definitely not the same as marketing and now you know why. In order to create a brand that is impactful, stirring and captivating, it is important that you plan, organize and channelize your ideas wisely. Geoffrey Zakarian says it best, “Determine who you are and what your brand is, and what you’re not. The rest of it is just a lot of noise.”

Do share your views!