If you're a business just starting up and working with an agency or just researching on where to start, you may be hearing some lingo being mentioned, like "branding" and "marketing". Are you wondering what the difference is between branding and marketing and why you need them both?
Branding is strategic and it really needs to start at the infancy of your brand, before you start selling or start promoting on social media or a website. This is where you sit down and write down the essence of your brand, your mission, values, your story (why did you start this brand).
What is Branding?
Branding is What and Who your company is
Branding is Strategic
Branding comes before Marketing
Branding is the experience and feeling your customers get
Branding determines your Brand Identity
There is also a whole exercise of determining the way you look (your design, visuals) all the way down to what exact fonts/types and colour codes you will use , this is called your Brand Identity. As well, you want to identify how you will talk and respond to you customers (are you friendly, casual or professional)? You'll also need to create a logo, which may require you to hire a graphic designer, to create something truly unique.
The Elements of Brand Identity
Logo
Colors
Design
Images
Photography
Typography
Iconography
Illustration
Tone and Voice
Video and Motion
Website Design
It's recommended you employ a marketer or graphic designer (or both) as this can be very technical and require some creativity. Once you have all these determined, it's best practice to create a Brand Book or Brand Guidelines so that everyone in your company understand the "rules" of your brand and you don't have anyone writing or sharing things that are "off-brand". It's also super helpful to have this for when you hire agencies or freelancers to help you in your marketing or sales efforts.
Once you've established your Brand, you can start Marketing.
Marketing is tactical, which means it's a number of actions you can take to sell and promote your brand. Where branding was the what and who, marketing is the how. There are many ways to "do" marketing including social media marketing, website and e-commerce, writing and blogging, video marketing, events, trade shows, advertising, etc.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is tactical
Marketing is the how
Marketing is done after branding
Marketing is the act of selling and promoting your brand
So in summary, you can see that both Branding and Marketing are essential and needed if you have a business. Branding will determine the essence of your brand and where you want to take it, and Marketing will determine the actions you need to reach your goals.
Get a FREE consultation with ZuziCreative to help you with your Branding and Marketing Strategies.