Brand vs. Performance Marketing: Why You Need Both for Sustainable Growth

I’ve noticed several recent articles and posts focusing on brand marketing—highlighting its importance and the risks businesses face when they don’t invest in it (i.e. Nike’s recent sales dip). While these pieces emphasize why brand marketing matters, they don’t always mention the valuable role performance marketing plays (let alone, how). This can leave readers with the impression that it’s an either/or choice. So, I wanted to pause and break things down a bit more clearly.

What is Performance Marketing?

Performance marketing is all about measurable results. It’s a form of digital marketing where you pay only when a specific action happens, like a click, lead, sale, or download. This makes it highly accountable, letting companies link their marketing spend directly to business outcomes.

What is Brand Marketing?

Brand marketing, on the other hand, is about shaping how people see your company or product over time. It’s not about immediate sales but about building awareness, trust, and loyalty through consistent messaging, visuals, and experiences.

The goal? Create a long-term emotional connection and recognition that influences buying decisions down the road.

What Do These Look Like In Practice?

So, Which Strategy’s Better?

Neither is inherently better. They serve different but complementary roles.

Performance Marketing best supports:

• Immediate results (leads, sales, sign-ups)

• Efforts to prove ROI

• Efforts to scale efficiently with measurable outcomes

  
  

Brand Marketing best supports:

• Building long-term recognition and customer loyalty

• Entering new markets or launching new products

• Standing out from competitors in a crowded space

Why Use Both?

The magic happens when you combine them.

Brand marketing builds trust and awareness, making your performance marketing campaigns more effective. Performance marketing drives short-term growth, while brand marketing sustains it.

If you’ve read my article, The Power Of A Cohesive Brand Presence: Why Cross-Platform Consistency Matters, you’ll know how much I value brand marketing’s role in creating the foundation of credibility and consistency that makes everything else work.

But once that foundation is solid, performance marketing has the power to take your efforts to the next level, turning brand equity into measurable, scalable growth.

Limited Cycles? Here’s How to Prioritize Your Marketing Efforts

When deciding how to balance brand and performance marketing, I recommend considering the following key factors:

• Business Goals: Are you chasing quick revenue or building your brand for the long haul? Early-stage companies often lean on performance marketing, while established brands may invest more cycles in brand building.

  
  

• Budget: Performance marketing usually delivers faster returns, which suits tighter budgets. Brand marketing demands steady investment but pays off through loyal customers and more efficient campaigns later on.

  
  

• Market Awareness: If you’re new or relatively unknown, brand marketing is essential for building credibility. If you already have awareness, performance marketing can help convert that into action.

  
  

• Audience Behavior: Does your audience do a lot of research and care about trust? Brand marketing cycles are key. Are they more impulsive or responsive to offers? Allocating more time to performance marketing initiatives might work better.

  
  

• Internal Resources: Do you have the data, tools, and team to manage performance campaigns? Do you have the creative muscle to build a consistent brand presence?

  
  

• Current Marketing Gaps: If performance is stalling, maybe your brand needs more strength. If you have great awareness but low conversions, ramping up performance marketing could be the fix.

The Bottom Line

Never lose sight of your brand. How it connects with your customers and audiences matters deeply. Brand marketing builds the foundation for trust, relevance, and long-term connection, while performance marketing turns that foundation into forward motion—driving growth, expanding reach, and helping you scale.

Growth doesn’t come from silos. The real advantage comes when brand and performance strategies work together, reinforcing the other to build loyalty and deliver measurable results. So, don't choose; align them.