There seems to be two general camps of marketers:
- Those more interested in brand marketing
- Those more interested in direct response marketing
Brand is all about what your company means to the market. It’s about values, commitments, differentiators.
It has a lot to do with how people feel about you and your business.
Direct response, on the other hand, is all about getting the sale. It’s about making offers and converting people to buy those offers. It’s more logical.
One is not better than the other and you need both to succeed long term.
But let’s not forget: businesses are in the business of making money.
If you’re a marketing freelancer or consultant, you can talk about how you build brands, but it better tie back to actual sales results, otherwise even the most disciplined brand-focused business leaders will tune you out.
That’s because people aren’t really buying a better brand, they’re buying more sales.
I know this sounds reductive, but that’s ultimately the point of business. Otherwise it’s a mission, hobby, or charity.
But take heed if you fall more towards the direct response category: people buy based on emotion, not logic.
Brand is the context for which your direct offer will work or not at scale. Do not neglect it.
So if you’re a marketing professional, work on improving both sides of the marketing equation. But sell your services based on delivering a response (the results), not just improving the brand (the context).