You’ve heard the terms ‘marketing’ and ‘branding’ thrown around interchangeably. But what exactly is the difference between the two? And how can you leverage each in your social media strategy?
Marketing and branding are related but distinct concepts in the world of business. Marketing includes the activities, processes, and strategies a company undertakes in order to promote and sell its products and services. First, a company addresses their target audience’s needs, creates a product or service to meet those needs, and communicates the value of those products or services to the target audience. Marketing incorporates short and long-term campaigns designed to drive sales, increase revenue, and generate demand for a company’s products or services. Campaigns typically have specific objectives such as increasing sales or launching a new project. In short, marketing guides the customer journey.
7 Key Marketing Elements
1. Market research
Acquiring and analyzing data about consumers, competitors, and market trends to point out opportunities for growth and to make informed decisions.
2. Product development
Curating offerings that address the customers’ needs and preferences. This includes everything from design and features to packaging and pricing.
3. Pricing
Deciding upon a price point that reflects the product or service’s value and appeals to the target market.
4. Distribution
Determining how and where to make the product or service available (retail distribution, online channels, direct sales, or a combination of these).
5. Promotion
Using various channels (advertising, public relations, sles promotions, and digital marketing) to reach and engage with customers.
6. Sales
Converting leads into paying customers via personal selling, presentations, negotiations, and other sales techniques.
7. Customer relationship management (CRM)
Building and maintaining customer relationships to foster loyalty, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth.
Branding, on the other hand, is the shaping and management of a company’s identity. This goes beyond a company’s products and services and extends to the public’s overall perception of the company, including everything from their values and mission to their personality and reputation. Branding focuses on the long-term, deeper connection with audiences that goes beyond selling products and services. Overall, branding is a strategic process of creating a distinctive, meaningful identity that resonates with consumers and leads to long-term success in the marketplace.
6 Key Branding Elements
1. Brand identity
Visual elements (colors, logo, typography) and messaging (taglines, brand voice) that convey the essence of your brand.
2. Brand positioning
Pointing out how your brand is different from its competitors and how it stands out in the market. Ask yourself, What makes us unique?
3. Brand messaging
The communication of your brand’s story, values, and benefits to your audience. This includes language, tone, and style in your marketing materials, advertisements, social media posts, and other communication channels.
4. Brand experience
Your consumers’ overall perception and impression of your brand based on their interactions and experiences with it. This includes everything from product packaging and customer service to service quality and user experience. Consistently delivering positive brand experiences helps build trust, loyalty, and advocacy (“tell a friend to tell a friend…”) among consumers.
5. Brand consistency
Making sure that branding is consistent across all touchpoints of the business including marketing materials, customer interactions, and product/service experiences.
6. Brand equity
This is the value that your brand adds to the company. It includes intangible (and invaluable) assets like consumer loyalty, brand recognition, and perceived quality.
In conclusion, marketing is all about promoting and selling your company’s products and services while branding is about shaping the overall perception and identity of your company. This is why effective branding can enhance your marketing efforts by creating a strong foundation of trust and loyalty among customers.
Take a look at www.mediaalacarte.com and @mediaalacarte to see our branding x marketing in action. Yes, we said branding x marketing because the two are seamlessly intertwined. Our branding is our visual aesthetic, engagement with our followers, tone and style while we’re marketing some of our services like the Content Calendar Club and Studio À La Carte. Need help solidifying your company’s branding, strategizing your next social media marketing campaign, or perhaps you’re ready to dovetail your branding and marketing like we have done? In any case, pencil in a discovery call with Media À La Carte so that we can work with you (or for you) to take your marketing and branding to the next level.
