Hey Friends, 

A lot of business owners talk about their branding and marketing strategy. But sometimes, these two things seem to overlap in a way that can leave you scratching your head and wondering, what’s the difference between branding and marketing?

If you’ve ever wondered that, you’re not alone. As a digital marketer who specializes in branding and messaging strategy I’ve found that all of these technical terms can get a little confusing for people. 

So let’s break it down…

What is branding? 

Branding is making people feel a certain way about your brand. 

I like to think of branding as the energy and feelings that your audience experiences when they engage with your business.

This can be created with tangible things like the different aspects of your visual branding, including your colors, packaging, and logo. Or it can happen through your brand voice, overall message, and customer experience, which are the more intangible aspects of your brand experience. 

Here are a few other definitions of branding:

“It’s all about invoking an emotional response from your customers or clients. Making them think what you want them to think as soon as they hear your brand name. Branding is how you and your company are perceived, and it’s important every business owner understands this.” –Tony Hardy, Canny

“Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” –Jeff Bezos

“Your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from that of your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be, and who people perceive you to be.” –Entrepreneur Magazine

What is marketing?

Marketing is the act of selling your products or services to your target market. 

I think of marketing more as all of the tangible actions you take to do this, like your advertising, social media, email marketing, and sales funnels. 

Here are some other great definitions of marketing:

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” –American Marketing Association

“Marketing is a set of activities to get your company’s messaging, product, or service in front of your target demographic.” –Sujan Patel, Co-Founder at Mailshake

“Marketing is the ongoing promotion of a brand, product or service through various mediums to compel a target audience to take action.” –Darren Shaw, Founder & President at Whitespark

So what’s the difference between marketing and branding? 

Essentially branding is the elements of your business that come together to evoke a feeling or create an impression about your business. And marketing is the actions you take to get your audience to purchase from you. 

It’s as simple as that! I hope that helped clear this up for you. 

And if you need help with either your marketing or branding, I’d love to help! Feel free to fill out my contact form to request a complimentary 30-minute strategy session where I’ll give you an audit of your brand presence and share some simple marketing tactics you can use to help you connect with your audience. 

Talk soon friend! 

Xo, 

Mollie