I’ve been teaching some virtual classes over the past month, and there’s one mistake that’s become really apparent through these sessions and workshops.
What is it? Most CEOs see branding and marketing as the same thing. They don’t see any difference between the branding activities they do, and the marketing activities they do. This is a big pitfall as you’re building your business — let me tell you why.
Branding: The Who & Why
Branding and marketing are not the same thing. Branding is more than just your logo, and your color palette, and the things that are in your style guide. That’s the visual representation of your brand.
The strategic part of branding is that your brand is the external manifestation of your business in your market. It is “the thing” that all of your customers and prospects are interacting with. They’re not interacting with your business, they’re interacting with your brand. It is the experience that they get from the minute that they meet you as a prospect, straight through their onboarding, straight through to all the things that engage them as customers, and keep them as customers, and propel them to refer you.
That is your brand.
Some brands do a great job of that, but a lot of brands don’t do a great job of that, because they think of branding as just their logo and color palette.
Marketing: The What, Where, & How
The great thing about having a strong, really impactful brand is that it’s going to grease the skids for all of your marketing activities. What are those?
Marketing activities are (surprise surprise!) the things that you do in your market. They’re your emails, your podcasts, your videos, your LinkedIn posts, whatever those things are – those are the ways that your brand gets out into the market.
The Bottom Line
You have to think about marketing and branding differently, treat them differently, and give them both the strategy that they deserve to really help you build your business. If you forget everything else from this blog, remember this:
BRANDING:
✅ Why you exist
✅ Why you’re different
✅ Why you solve the customer’s pain
✅ Who you want to attract
✅ Timeless
MARKETING:
✅ What you say
✅ Where you say it
✅ How you prove it
✅ Time-bound
Remember this, put it in action, and you’re on your way to being brand-led, which is the Holy Grail.
Giddy up!