The success and continuity of business depends on streamlining a lot of processes. Though starting a new business and maintaining it can be cumbersome, it can be taken care of easily by managing its important aspects like branding and marketing. While these two terms are often used interchangeably, it is important to understand the difference between the two for driving more sales and generating revenue. In this article, we will try to understand the different aspects of branding and marketing, the differences between them, and benefits of branding and marketing.
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What is Branding?
Branding involves a set of actions that leads to creation of a distinct image, logo, sign or mark for representing products and services offered by a business. The primary purpose of creating brand details is to have a strong impact on customers and create brand value so that customers are able to remember easily about the brand. Branding specifically defines who exactly the company is as it reflects a company’s mission, values, and things that make the company stand out from the competitors.
What is Marketing?
Marketing is a process that focuses on bringing together a company and its customers to promote the exchange of products and services. It involves a wide array of actions such as developing, exploring, advertising and delivering goods and services that are highly valuable for customers. Marketing helps companies understand expectations of customers towards a product or service, understand and identify the target marketplace, carrying research on various aspects of profits, promoting products and services and developing a strong relationship between the company and its customers.
Difference between Branding and Marketing
While there is a thin line between branding and marketing, both these techniques are unique in their way of making a business successful. In comparison to marketing, branding is a long process and is not recommended in case you are looking for driving sales. However, it is the best approach if your aim is building brand recognition, driving positive brand sentiment and developing customer loyalty, which will consequently help you in boosting your sales in the long run. If we have a debate whether branding came first or the marketing, then we can say that it’s branding which stepped in first and the reason is obvious that it is impossible to market a product before creating the brand. And before laying forward any marketing strategy, it is important to pay attention to branding. Because once the branding is done correctly, you will gain a better insight of who you are, what your product is all about, how your customers are and know the best ways to approach and communicate with your customers. Marketing is something that involves activities that make customers get acquainted with your products and services, promotes engagement with customers and influences the buying decisions of customers. Also an adequate marketing plan helps a company to create and maintain demand and remain relevant in the marketplace.
A proper marketing plan helps a business to achieve its goals and make huge profits.
Top Benefits of Branding
Some of the top benefits of branding include:
- Customer Recognition: A strong brand works relentlessly to develop customer recognition. This implies when a customer is purchasing a particular product or seeking a service, he recognizes your brand. This is because it is highly likely that a customer will only purchase a product he is familiar with.
- Gaining Competitive Edge in the Marketplace: A good brand is the one that distinguishes you from the rest of the market. When customers identify your brand and support it, your company gains a competitive edge over others. The more a brand receives recognition and creates brand awareness, the more are the chances of its development and giving competition to other known brands.
- Introduction of new products becomes easier: After developing a strong brand identity and gaining the confidence of customers, it becomes much easier to introduce new products as customers can easily relate to the brand due to their past experiences. In view of this, customers show interest in the launch of new products.
- Promotes Customer Loyalty: The kind of recognition a strong brand develops over time, helps it to gain greater customer loyalty. Customers are often attracted to a brand with which it can relate to and share values. Businesses can take advantage of this and convey the same values in their branding so that they can retain present customers and gain new customers in the future due to brand loyalty.
- Better Credibility and Easier Purchase: Brands help businesses to enhance their credibility and gain customer trust. As brands build credibility, side by side they also build loyalty, recognition and competitiveness. Credibility is directly related to the intent of purchase of customers
Top 5 Benefits of Marketing
A few of the top benefits of marketing are:
- Promotes effective consumer engagement: Marketing helps in offering detailed information to customers on what exactly the product is and how it can be useful for customers. And this in turn helps in promoting effective consumer engagement.
- Helps in building reputation: Marketing plays a key role in building and maintaining the reputation of a business. Marketing takes into consideration the demographics, consumer behavior, and psychographics to understand and deliver what a customer wants.
- Enhances sales: As marketing uses various ways for promoting products and services, it aids in the enhancement of sales. Because when customers are well aware of the product and are satisfied with it, they are more likely to purchase it in future and recommend it to their friends and family.
- Helps in Staying Relevant: Marketing plays a crucial role in staying relevant in the market as per the customer demand as it strengthens the relationship between the company and its customers and in turn leads to greater sales.
- Taking Informed Decisions: Marketing aids customers to make informed choices and enhance their likelihood of purchasing the item as it makes customers understand the why’s and how’s of products and services.