This month we are discussing some of the questions you have had about marketing, but have been afraid to ask.  Last week we discussed the difference between marketing and advertising. This week we will take a look at the difference between marketing and branding.

Confusion abounds in small business marketing.

If you are a new entrepreneur, you may have noticed a bit of conflict in the marketing world. Well let’s be honest. It is more like a showdown at the OK corral. There are two different camps of opinion about marketing in small businesses. Maybe you have already picked up on this conflict when you have been searching for marketing help and yielded two completely different answers to the same question. One camp says that branding is best reserved for the Starbucks of the world. This camp says that building a brand is too costly for small business and that they should focus on getting instant ROI from direct marketing campaigns, and build that brand later. The second camp says building a brand for your small companies is extremely worthwhile and should be carefully crafted from the start. The chasm between these two viewpoints is wide. Which one is correct? 

Before we answer this question, it is good to begin with definitions. Marketing is everything and anything your business does that comes into contact with the customer, before, during, and after the sale. Branding, on the other hand, is what your business believes. It is who you are as a company.

Branding is about big picture strategy. Marketing is about tactics.

Branding is a relationship game. Marketing is a numbers game.

Branding focuses on providing an unique experience. Marketing focuses on bringing in sales.

Branding says there is nothing more important than what a business believes. Marketing says there is nothing more important than sales.

Branding concerns itself with inbound or pull marketing. Marketing concerns itself with outbound or push marketing.

Marketing concerns itself with what is said. Branding concerns itself with how it is being said.

Marketing desires to create systems to make it easy for the customer to buy. Branding wants to create trust to give the customer the confidence to buy.

Marketing tells your story. Branding determines whether the customer believes you or not.

Branding is about the style, culture, and personality of your company. Marketing is about qualified leads, conversions, and sales. 

Branding is what people say about your company when you are not in the room. Marketing wants to know how many people are in the room, and how they came into the room.

Marketing concerns itself with tactics to get the story out. Branding concerns itself with the context of the story, and how the story gets told.

Marketing concerns itself with increasing the touchpoints with the customer. Branding makes sure all points of contact are consistent so that each effort will build on the last. 

Branding focuses on building long-term customer relationships. Marketing focuses on how many new and returning customers there were in a certain period.

I hope by now you have picked up on the point. Every small business needs both a Brand Strategy and a Marketing Plan. They are not in conflict with one another. If you are already in business, you already have a Brand and a Marketing Plan. They have either been created by accident or by design. It is not expensive to build a Brand. Your company is not too small for Branding. And you can’t build it later because you are building it all the time, with every customer interaction. It is far easier to design it right from the start. Forming your Brand by choice and on purpose will make your marketing plan more effective. It will create the perception of a well-managed company in your customer’s mind. And, it will build a stronger foundation. Every small business can use that.

Probably no surprise which camp we are in! Ah come on! Let’s drop our weapons, do a group hug, and work together on this.

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below.

That’s this week’s Imagination Hat!