Marketing is tricky business. Between campaigns and reporting, you have to know how different campaigns work and when they’re best applied.
Today we’re going to be taking a look at two specific types of marketing campaigns: branding vs conversion advertising. We’re going to look at what they are, how they work, and when each is appropriate for driving brand awareness and sales.
Let’s dive in.
What is a branding marketing campaign?
Branding campaigns are designed to increase brand awareness and recognition. Rather than a hard sell, you’re instead educating your audience about your business.
The key to this type of marketing is brand familiarity. People are more likely to buy from a brand they know and trust than one they know nothing about. Branding campaigns are designed to build that trust, ensuring your company gains credibility in the process.
A branding marketing campaign might look like a series of educational infographics or a wholesome video designed to invite sharing. What it doesn’t look like is heavy-handed calls to action and hard sells.
What is a conversion marketing campaign?
Conversion or call to action campaigns involve specific goals. Rather than focusing more broadly on your brand, they instead zero in on your products or services. The main goal of a call to action campaign is to get your audience to engage in a specific action.
This might include:
● Buying a product or service
● Downloading a whitepaper or other content
● Signing up for a newsletter
● Visiting your website
● Sharing a post
Call to action campaigns often follow in the footsteps of branding campaigns. They’re designed to be the push people need to act on your offering.
Call to action campaigns might look like sale newsletters or product highlights. They always offer a targeted call to action to inspire people to engage with your content in some way. If you’ve ever been invited to “sign up now” you were on the tail end of a call to action campaign.
When you should use a branding campaign
While they’re not a quick-fix marketing campaign, branding campaigns nonetheless play an important role in the longevity of your business. You have to think of them as a long game – sometimes tedious but essential for the success of your brand and your business as a whole.
Here are some potential scenarios where brand campaigns would be appropriate:
You’re just starting out
Brand awareness is essentially how quickly and easily an audience can recognize your product or company. For a business just starting out, you need to build brand awareness before you engage in a hard sell. Your potential consumers have to like and trust you before you ask for their commitment.
The ultimate goal of a branding campaign isn’t immediate sales, it’s about building a relationship with your audience so that they grow to view you as a trusted authority in your industry. You’ll need that authority, particularly as you’re starting out.
You want to establish your position
Becoming a trusted influence in your industry doesn’t happen quickly. It takes time and effort to establish your position. This goes double if you’ve been around for a while and need to re-establish your business’s standing in your target market.
If you’ve made a big change recently such as your product offering or something else fundamental, running a branding campaign will be great for re-establishing your brand’s position in your industry.
You’ve been quiet
Advertising is a long game. Sometimes your marketing campaigns should be designed to remind your customers that you’re still relevant and doing business. Even if your audience isn’t ready to work with you just yet, you should ensure you’re top of their mind.
This is where a branding campaign comes in. It keeps your company fresh and relevant even in down periods or after you’ve been inactive for a while. It tells people “hey, we’re still here and ready to help”.
When you want to boost your SEO
Search engine optimization is essential for the success of a business in today’s online world. Anything that can help boost your SEO is a boon and should be treated as such.
Branding marketing campaigns don’t just increase your visibility to your potential consumers, they also help you get noticed by search engines. The more eyes you have on your content, the better Google and other search engines will rank your brand pages.
So if your SEO needs a boost, executing a branding marketing campaign might be on the cards.
You want to differentiate yourself from your competition
Branding campaigns are all about inviting your target audience to get to know your company. The end goal is brand recognition and trust. Thus, it’s a great way to help you stand apart from your competition.
Whether you’re just breaking into the industry or a competitor is getting a little too familiar, the right branding campaign can help you stand out from the crowd and differentiate yourself from your competitors.
When you should use a conversion campaign
So you’ve built your brand awareness – customers know who you are and what you have to offer. The time has come – you want your customers or prospects to take a specific action. This is where a call to action campaign comes in.
Call to action campaigns yield specific results. Here’s where you might consider using a call to action campaign:
You have an upcoming event
Successful events see bottoms in seats. If you’re planning a company event, you ought to consider a call to action campaign. Such a marketing strategy will help you tell tickets and remind your audience that they don’t want to miss out.
Just remember: events require clear calls to action. If you want your audience to perform more than one action, split them out into different ads to avoid confusing your target audience.
You’re introducing a new product or service
A killer new product or service means very little if no one knows about it. This is where a call to action campaign will play a role. Once you’ve educated your audience on your new product via a branding campaign, you’ll be ready to sell directly to them with a call to action marketing strategy.
A call to action campaign, used in this context, can help drive conversions and sales. Just remember to keep your campaigns clear and your calls to action succinct.
You have specific sales goals
Every business must hit goals to improve profit margins. If crunch time comes around and your revenue is looking sticky, a call to action campaign might be just the thing you need to push offline and online sales.
Call to action campaigns are designed to drive sales and improve the value of transactions. This might look like a discount code drive or a retargeting campaign. Whatever way you choose to run your call to action campaign, you can be sure it’ll help your bottom line.
You’re running a promotion
Call to action marketing campaigns are ideal vectors for promoting sales and other product promotions. This is because, in essence, your sale is a call to action. You’re inviting people to buy your discounted products or services.
Whether it be an annual price drop or a strategic sales push, using a call to action campaign to market your promotion event is a no-brainer.
What are the downsides of a branding campaign?
Like any marketing venture, branding campaigns can have downsides.
While they help generate awareness of your business, your products, or your services, you’re not likely to see immediate results. Branding campaigns are notoriously hard to quantify because you’re not measuring any tangible action.
This isn’t to say they’re not effective, just that the effect they have on your brand may be harder to measure properly.
Of course, you can measure your campaign by the number of impressions which is a good benchmark.
What are the downsides of a call to action campaign?
A call to action campaign requires careful planning and finesse. It’s not just as easy as blanketing your target audience’s news feed with a targeted ad. You have to know when is the right time to strike.
Call to action campaigns only work once you’ve built brand recognition and trust. They’re great for driving people to perform specific actions, but without that trust, you’re not going to get people past the first click.
This is where a combination of marketing strategies works well. You use a brand marketing strategy first to build your audience’s trust and then push them towards an action with a call to action campaign.
Branding and conversion advertising campaigns work best together
Branding campaigns and conversion campaigns are very different animals. Both have their places in any business’s overall marketing strategy. Now you know everything there is to know about branding vs call to action marketing campaigns.
Read More Blog
How To Install Google Ads Conversion Tracking with Transaction Variables On Shopify Website
How to Use Pinterest Marketing to Grow Your Brand
SEO for General Contractors: Boosting Online Visibility & Clients
