Which comes first: marketing or branding?
There are a lot of opinions on this subject, and here’s mine: Clever marketing is born from clear branding, not the other way around. This isn’t to say one is more important than the other. You need both to create sustainable success.
One gets people in the door.
The other makes them want to stay.
There is very much a chicken-or-the-egg quality with this argument, which at first seems simple enough. After all, you need a brand before you can market it, right?
Yes—until you realize how critical marketing is to creating an experience that brings out the best in what you offer, who you serve, and the prime movers behind it all.
In the words of Cathy (and about 25% of my text messages, if I’m honest): Ack.
Here’s how I look at it.
When you are just starting out, it’s important to get as clear as you can on your intended audience, services, purpose, and goals. You need to be able to answer the following three questions.
Who in the world are you talking to?
Contrary to what your frantic start-up anxiety is telling you, this isn’t anyone with a pocketbook and a pulse (and you’ll learn this expensive lesson the hard way). Ideally, it’s the customer who fits ALL of the following criteria:
They benefit from your services.
They (happily) pay your stated prices.
They help you inform and improve your products.
They make you love your job.
If you can describe the this “perfect customer” well enough, you’re further along in your branding than most businesses. And if you are, you’ve just solved half the puzzle of marketing. The other half is figuring out how to find them and how to talk to them so they listen.
What the heck do you think you’re doing?
Entrepreneurs make money by solving someone else’s problem. What problem are you solving better than anyone else?
Every business should be able to clearly state what they do and what makes them different. The good news is that if you’re having a hard time separating yourself from your competitors, both marketing and branding can help. The data gleaned from your marketing efforts can help identify the gaps—and your branding can then be poised to bridge them.
What makes you so important?
Every company is founded on purpose—and the best ones are created with a purpose. How is your approach better, unique, and powerful? Why does it matter? What will you accomplish when you fulfill this purpose? What could happen if you stopped?
If you don’t know why your company is in business, it won’t be long before your customer and employees will wonder the same thing.
What do you have to say for yourself?
The way you talk says a lot about you. It should feel authentic and real and personal. It should mean as much to you as it does to your employees and your customers. After all, businesses aren’t built on sales pitches. Businesses are built on stories. The ones we write about the dreams we have for the future. The ones based in real life results. The ones we try to end happily at the end of every day.
How you approach your life will play into how you approach your brand, so the more you pay attention to how the two relate, the better you’ll be at maintaining a consistent message.
The key word for this process, especially in the beginning, is intended. Start with where and what and who you know. As your marketing efforts grow and business grows, you’ll develop better and clearer answers to all of the above questions based on experience, data, and the market.