Here's How Brand and Performance Marketing Intersect

Best-in-class CMOs at high-growth companies have adopted agile processes that include cross-functional collaboration, yet a majority of marketing teams are still split between brand and performance marketing. Why is that? Each team speaks their own language. Brand marketing focuses more on purpose-driven information and creative storytelling telling, while performance marketing is metrics-driven and acquisition focused to drive revenue. CMOs need the analytics to prove ROI in order to fight for larger marketing budgets. Consumers are no longer looking to have a strictly transactional relationship with brands, and the focus should be on building connections in addition to proving ROI to fight for larger marketing budgets. The question is: Can you do both effectively? If not, is there a happy medium? The shift towards performance marketing Once upon a time, brand awareness was the ultimate goal of every marketing strategy. Just picture a boardroom of Mad Men-era executives. These marketing strategies revolved around creating a strong image for the brand, then building campaigns that fit that brand. The plan was to use brand awareness as leverage and it usually worked. Today, however, we’ve seen a massive shift towards performance marketing. According to McKinsey, we’ve entered an era of performance-everything. Everything revolves around goals and metrics and data. Companies no longer care primarily about brand awareness—they want leads too. And why shouldn’t they? After all, isn’t that the point? The goal of any business is to generate revenue. That’s not possible with brand awareness alone. Performance marketing gives clients a clear picture of where they’re going and how they’ll get there. And then it gets the job done. The importance of brand marketing Logically, performance marketing makes sense. Statistically, though, it’s not enough. In a recent survey by the Financial Times, 83% of business leaders believe that brands consistently contribute to a company’s bottom line. Consider Warby Parker. Founded in 2010, the company sells prescription glasses and sunglasses, but perhaps what they’re really selling is a brand. People recognize the Warby Parker name because it’s practically synonymous with affordable, quality eyewear. The company is socially-conscious and charitable, donating a pair of glasses for every pair they sell. Customers shop there for the affordable pricing, but they choose Warby Parker because they support the brand’s values, character, and principles. As a result, the company is pushing its eleventh year of business and revenue continues to grow each year. As Warby Parker demonstrates, brand awareness is critical for a company’s success, particularly for long-term stability and future revenue potential. In short, performance marketing may create a jump in sales today, but it won’t keep your customers coming back again and again. You may reach your goal with one campaign, but you’ll need to jump even higher to reach the next goal. Brand marketing gives you the extra little push to make the jump a little easier. Do we need to choose between brand marketing and performance marketing? Many marketers believe you have to focus on one or the other. If you work with a brand agency, you’ll have fun building something cool and creative. It may not increase revenue directly, but it will impress your audience. And if you work with a performance agency, you’re creating a marketing funnel and focusing on metrics that help get you from Point A to Point B. It’s not necessarily impressive, but it’s focused on results. But do you really need to pick a side? No. We believe it’s best—and most practical—to use a traditional mix of long-term branding and short-term performance. How to blend the two marketing worlds Personalized messages that inspire targeted audiences flow from a well-articulated brand with its own purpose and values. First, focus on creating your brand blueprint with these elements: Purpose: What's the motivation for your brand?Values—What is your brand's core message?Character—How do people recognize your brand? What's your personality?Behavior—How do you interact with customers in real-life situations?Experience—When your customers complete a purchase, how should they feel about your brand?Principles—How will you take action on your company values? Once you have these elements in place, you can begin your marketing efforts, whether those are brand or performance. You need this foundation to ensure the overall success of any marketing campaign you undertake in the future. Only then can you make performance marketing work more efficiently by supporting your efforts with broad-reach, emotional brand-building. Performance Marketing on TV Is Here to Stay

Performance Marketing

Here's How Brand and Performance Marketing Intersect

Companies no longer care primarily about simply achieving awareness—they want leads too

The shift towards performance marketing

Ryan Stoner

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The shift towards performance marketing

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Ryan Stoner