Performance vs. Brand

If the goal of marketing is to get someone to take an action, what is the best way to get a customer to act?

In this industry, there tend to be two schools of thought. The first believes that the only tactics worth exploring are measurable; these students would fall into the performance camp. They focus on immediate actions from campaigns that tie directly back to goals or objectives measured against established KPIs. Performance marketing looks at metrics like cost per acquisition (CPA), return on ad spend (ROAS), cost per lead (CPL), or click-through rate (CTR).

When building a performance campaign, you might consider channels like social media, search, connected TV, content marketing, or display advertising. You’d then measure them on a schedule that works for your team to understand the results and optimize the ads along the way.

Let’s be clear: performance marketing is a direct way to understand what’s working and for teams to make the most of their budget with an eye towards return on ad spend. But is it the BEST way to get a customer to take an action?

The other school would be the brand school. These students focus on a 10,000-foot view of the brand, looking at values, strengths, and emotions to build trust with consumers. This tactic is more high-touch, and brands like Disney, Apple, and Ford use it to be seen as market leaders in their given verticals.

This is why Apple holds large-scale events to showcase their new products – it builds their brand up as the one customers look to when there’s an advancement in technology.

The interesting thing about these two schools of thought is that there’s an idea that one does the “real” work, while the other is some sort of alchemy that is all “fluff” and not “stuff.” But can you really run a successful brand without both schools? Let’s take it out of the marketing world and try a social experiment.

Imagine you’re hosting a birthday party; it’s an important year, so you’re creating a big event. You create the vibe, pick a location, design a menu to delight the senses, and plan what the night should feel like, so the guests have a good time.

Logistically speaking, you nail down a date and time and create invitations – but you have lots of friends who communicate differently. Some guests get handwritten, wax-stamped invitations sent by mail; others get a text from you; still others receive a Facebook event invite; and the last group gets an email.

The big day arrives, and as the clock hits the magic hour, your guests start showing up one by one until they’re all there. The food is incredible, the music is sublime, the vibe is perfect, and all your guests have an amazing time. They have such an amazing time that they tell their friends about this incredible party long after it’s over.

Now for the big question: why did they show up?

Did your guests show up because you sent the right message at the right time through the right channel? That couldn’t be the only reason, could it? Or was it that you created an experience for them that fit who you are as a person and resonated with them because they’re friends with you – we might call this ‘personal branding.’ You might think that cheapens the human connection, but it’s vital to understand the “why” behind why they like you to understand the human behavior behind the act of coming to the party.

Let’s do the experiment again, but instead of sending the invitations to people who know you and call you a friend, let’s send birthday invitations to complete strangers. What do you think would happen at a birthday party where they don’t know you and you don’t know them?

When you are done eating the birthday cake it is important to understand that performance marketing and branding are essential components of a successful marketing strategy, working in tandem to drive results. Performance marketing provides the measurable, data-driven approach that ensures your message reaches the right audience through the right channels, much like sending personalized invitations to your party. Branding, on the other hand, creates the emotional connection, trust, and resonance that makes people want to engage with your message in the first place – like the reputation and relationship you’ve built with your friends that makes them excited to attend your party.

In the real world of marketing, these two approaches aren’t mutually exclusive but rather complementary. The most effective campaigns leverage both, using performance tactics to reach and convert customers while simultaneously building a strong, recognizable brand that fosters long-term loyalty and advocacy. By embracing both schools of thought, marketers can create powerful, multi-faceted strategies that not only drive immediate action but also build lasting connections with their audience.