What is the difference between marketing and branding?

Let's clarify what marketing and branding strategies actually are before we dive into this. 

BRANDING
Foundational to building your company, start with branding before you working on your marketing strategy. Branding is a LOT more than choosing colors and fonts for your company. Capturing your values, the vibe you want to convey, how you integrate your history into your business, and the ethos that will infuse all of your content is rolled up into branding.

Positioning yourself for consistency and establishing your personality as a company has to be the first step in presenting yourself to the world. You'll know who you're speaking to and the core components of your message so that you hit your target.

Branding strategy will determine how you want your audience to feel when they see, hear, or touch your brand. Think of Nike or Gatorade. You have an immediate association if you know either of those companies.

This is how it all comes together.

MARKETING
External focus is the name of the game here. You know what your brand is, now it's time to put it out into the world and draw people into your ecosystem.

Tell people what to think about your brand. Any product is neutral until you help them shape their opinion and feelings. 

Apple is another great example of not just a branding strategy, but a marketing strategy. You have an opinion and a perception of the entire experience of either walking into an Apple store, ordering and product online, and what your user experience will be.

Each phone and computer created by Apple is user friendly and meant to be simple to use and learn. That is a core component of their brand and one of the elements every Apple user loves.

DEVELOP YOUR OWN BRANDING STRATEGY
- Ask "What does your customer want from you?"
Narrow it down to ONE THING.

Use that ONE THING as your leading idea that becomes the theme in your writing, your social media, your podcast, whatever your marketing medium is. Draw people back to your core strength and what it is that sets you apart.

- Establish Your Expertise
When you solidify the ONE THING you are addressing you have the opportunity to build trust with potential customers or current clients. Give them the consistency they crave and establish your authority this way.

 - Display Empathy
Committing to stay close to your branding strategy allows you to address your target customers consistently and truly understand them. You'll learn more about their challenges, hesitations, and wins. Take that information and infuse it back into your marketing to strengthen this cycle of empathy.

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