The changing landscape of marketing
Since the last couple of decades, Performance Marketing has taken the drivers seat with companies pushing for metrics, analytics and the all beloved numbers at the end of allocating budgets and implementing the much evolved performance marketing tools. However, the unasked question remains : Is Performance Marketing adequate to drive companies to get their bang for their marketing buck? Or does it require a mix of the older, trusted Brand Building exercise to gain traction, awareness and recall?
The answer to the above question is finding a way in which these two equally important and significant competencies can come together, collaborate and drive desired company goals.
In other words we need to address the Wannamaker problem (named after the store retailer). This retailer asked a very deep question – “Half the money I spend is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”
This blog explores how performance marketing and brand can work together for positive outcomes.
It’s not a competition of competencies, more a collaboration
The overtly aggressive focus on tools and timelines and over-dependence on backend analytics has often elicited comments from company founders regarding “where is my brand narrative”. The problem is when we pitt performance marketing with brand building, we damage the potential of both.
Let us examine the advantages of both.
Performance Marketing – The power-packed approach
- Focuses on immediate results – By using strategy, tools and budget performance marketing aims at delivering measurable results and actions that directly contribute to a business’s objectives, like conversions and sales.
- Metric-driven approach – Focuses on metrics such as click-through-rates, conversions and ROI
- Fluid budgets: Marketing budgets are determined based on clear pre-determined numbers and expected ROI
Brand Building – The steady, consistent growth approach
- Abstract success measures – Measures success through building brand equity determined by awareness, sentiment and customer loyalty
- Fixed budgets – Budgets are often fixed or per quarter and money is looked at as an investment to building the brand and the brand narrative instead of measuring by numbers alone
- Allied strategies – Brand marketing and building often has allied strategies attached to the core approach often using the best of both worlds – brand awareness to encourage brand recall and long-term customer engagement while relying on performance marketing numbers to further drive brand traction.
So what is the solution?
Create your own brand metrics
The best way brand awareness and brand building strategies can work together is when brand marketing can put down concrete metrics and measurable KPIs to sync with the approach of performance marketing.
A study by the Harvard Business Review title “How Brand Building and Performance Marketing Can Work Together” recommends creating a certain amount of predictability towards financial performance of the brand. In place of “awareness” and “advocacy” that are still in the intangible areas, having strong KPIs in place can be the answer. Alternatively, though performance marketing does crunch numbers, it lacks the insights of the impact of its strategies on actual brand building – “what are people thinking about my brand?”, “are customers loyal to my brand”, “is there an emotional connection to my brand/?” are questions that can be complemented by the metric-driven brand building approach.
Measuring a brand’s familiarity, regard, meaning, and uniqueness is not a new idea. What’s different is rolling up those metrics into one composite measure of brand equity.
- Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review’s article recommends measuring Brand Building metrics with their unique formula through FRMU
Familiarity – The extent to which consumers know and understand your brand
Regard – Do consumers respect your brand
Meaning – Is their engagement with your brand purposeful and adds quality and meaning to their lives
Uniqueness – What are the key differentiations consumers see in your brand versus that of your competition
Channels of Performance Marketing and Brand Building
Both approaches have their unique channel strategy to deliver outcomes. Here is how it works
Performance Marketing Channels
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Use paid search advertising, such as Google Ads, Meta to target specific keywords and drive immediate traffic and conversions.
- Social Media Advertising — Boosting posts on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin etc for better reach
- Affiliate Marketing — Partner with affiliates to promote your product or service for a fee. This will get better reach and engagement
- Email Campaigns – Use tools like Mail Chimp, Hubspot, Omnisend and others for targeted marketing campaigns via a focused data base for potential customers, increasing leads and drive specific actions leading to enhanced website traffic.
- Display Advertising — Use display advertising on social media platforms for brand visibility and for higher click throughs
- Regtargetting – Aimed at costumes who may have seen your brand or visited the website but did not take action. Retargeting encourages conversions on potential customers and fence-sitting pushing them to complete the desired action.
- Content Discovery Platforms —Promote your content through platforms like Taboola or Outbrain, reaching users who are looking for relevant information.
- In-App Advertising —Reach users through ads in mobile apps
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising —Search engines have keywords which can be acquired through a bidding process. Keywords can be optimizes, paying only when users click on your ad. This is a budget-controlled and measurable strategy.
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) – Updation and optimization of website for increasing traffic and engagement. Creation of landing pages from with linkages to different platforms and channels through which the potential customer can land on your website. Landing pages enhance user experience and drive more conversions.
Brand Building Channels
- Social Media Platforms — Use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest to engage with your audience, share your brand story, and build a community.
- Content Marketing — Create valuable and relevant content through blogs, articles, videos, and infographics to establish your brand as an authority in your industry.
- Email Marketing — Use engaging and personalised email content to build relationships,engage existing and potential customers about your product/ service, new launches, benefits and offers
- Influencer Marketing — Partner with industry influencers and throw the net wider to reach a wider audience. Influencers can bring in more customer engagement by virtue of their followers and heightened presence on social media platforms.
- Public Relations (PR) — Engage with media outlets, blogs, and news sources to get coverage and build a positive image for your brand.
- Branded Events and Sponsorships — Participate in or host events, conferences, and sponsorships to increase brand visibility and connect with your target audience.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — SEO strategies have grown by leaps and bounds and implementation of the best strategies like On-page SEO activities (Keyword Research, Meta Description Optimization, Internal Linking, Canonical Tags & Redirects etc) Off-page SEO activities (Link Building, Influencer Outreach, Press Releases, Social Bookmarking(
- Community Engagement — Actively engage with your community through forums, online groups, and local events to foster a positive brand image.
- Visual Branding — Make use of strong visual elements, including a memorable logo, consistent color schemes, and aesthetically pleasing design across all channels.
- Customer Reviews and Testimonials — Encourage and showcase positive customer reviews and testimonials to build trust and credibility.
Conclusion
Both Performance Marketing and Brand Building have their unique strengths. The desired outcome of both is to enhance customer experience, increase usage of product / service and drive ROIs for the company. By working in tandem and complementing each other’s strengths, companies will be better aligned to reach their goals in line with their long term strategies and vision.