Brand Marketing vs Sales-Focused Marketing: Where Should You Invest?

Unfortunately, there's no such thing as an unlimited marketing budget. For success, you need to develop a strategy that maximizes your resources for the best ROI, but determining where you should invest your marketing dollars can be confusing. Should you focus on branding or sales?

Sales marketing centers on promoting products and services to generate immediate revenue. It yields sales that bring in capital that helps you run your business and fuel growth.

Brand marketing develops awareness of your brand and builds a perception of your business's personality to create long-term recognition and customer loyalty. Ultimately, it also increases sales, but it's a marathon instead of a sprint. 

Ideally, any business needs to invest in both branding and sales marketing. So, the question becomes, "When should you invest in brand marketing vs sales-focused marketing?" The answer is multi-faceted and complex. However, there are certain times when you should focus on one strategy over the other.

Focusing on Brand Marketing

Branding is the communications that show your target persona why they should invest in your product or service instead of similar options. It's easy to assume this could be based strictly on quality or price. Yet, today's consumers want more than products or services from the brands they interact with. Eighty-two percent of shoppers want a brand's values to align with their own, and 39% will permanently boycott their favorite brand over a value mismatch. Brand marketing allows you to share those values loud and clear. 

Does this mean your sole focus should be on branding? Not necessarily, but a focus on brand marketing is wise for these situations. 

You're Identifying Your Ideal Customer

Brand marketing tells the story of your business and defines your personality as a company. Consumers with the values you display will be drawn to your story and interested in connecting with you. The approach can help you establish your audience and build loyalty over time.

You're in a Competitive Industry

When your product or service is comparable to those of your competitors, your customers need a reason to choose what you have to offer. Your brand marketing can be used to associate positive emotions with your brand and make you stand out from the competition.

You Want to Increase Sales

Branding is a form of inbound marketing that can help you generate warm leads that are more likely to convert. Since these customers are more likely to have values that align with your brand, they're less likely to churn, leading to ongoing sales and good reviews. Branding ultimately works to create a sales funnel that automates long-term sales.

Focusing on Sales Marketing

Without sales, you can't generate revenue. In that imaginary world where you have an unlimited budget, you could slowly build your brand without sales. Yet, the lack of sales could diminish your branding efforts. Without sales to generate authentic positive buzz, your branding is just talk.

Fewer than half of all people trust paid advertising, but 92% trust recommendations from friends and family, and 70% trust online customer reviews.

When your sales marketing complements your company branding, you can reap the benefits of both. 

When should you focus your marketing efforts on sales? 

Your Conversion Rates are Stagnant

Leads only have value when they convert. When you're flooded with leads that don't convert, you likely fail to meet consumer expectations. This could be because you failed to accurately identify your target persona or because leads are interested in your brand value but fail to see what your products have to offer. Direct sales marketing tactics can guide potential customers through the sales funnel to close those leads.  

Customer Feedback Raises Concerns

Customer reviews and complaints are ideal for highlighting lackluster points in the customer journey. If you consistently hear that customers are dissatisfied with your sales process or have difficulty finding value in your products, it's time to change your focus.  Sales-focused marketing can improve the customer experience, resulting in long-term loyalty and more positive reviews. 

You Need to Meet Short-Term Revenue Needs

There's no denying that cash is king in business. You can't take care of day-to-day responsibilities without capital. Current sales are the fuel that keeps your business running while you work towards company growth and other long-term goals. If you find your current sales aren't generating enough to meet your current business requirements, it's time to invest in sales-focused marketing. By focusing on immediate sales opportunities, you can generate the revenue necessary to maintain stability. 

Timing is Everything

Choosing branding or sales is not an option. Revenue from sales fuels marketing, and awareness from branding generates sales. Every business should invest in brand marketing and sales-focused marketing for optimal success.

Learning where to focus your efforts is all about timing. A carefully timed marketing strategy will allow your efforts to work in tandem to complement each other. If you're seeking a partner to help devise the ideal marketing strategy, LeadG2 can help.