What is Brand Marketing? And Why You Should Actually Care

Brand marketing isn’t about being pretty. It’s about being remembered.

While performance marketing chases conversions, brand marketing earns reputation. It’s the system behind how people feel about your company when you’re not in the room — and whether they trust you enough to click that ad, recommend your product, or wear your logo on their chest.

According to Ahrefs, the keyword “brand marketing” has a monthly search volume of 5.3K, with 3.5K traffic potential. People are not just curious — they’re searching for strategic ways to stand out. With a low keyword difficulty score of 18, there’s real opportunity for brands to dominate this space.

So, What is Brand Marketing?

Brand marketing is the long-term act of shaping perception. It’s everything you do to create associations between your brand and a particular feeling, idea, or identity.

Unlike performance marketing — which aims to get a sale now — brand marketing plants seeds. Over time, those seeds grow into trust, loyalty, and market power.

It includes:

• The story you tell
• The tone you use
• The visuals people remember
• The experiences that reinforce it

From your product packaging to your TikTok comments, every brand interaction either builds or breaks that perception.

The Viralistic Way: Brand Marketing, Done Fast and Smart

At Viralistic, we don’t outsource your brand to interns. We don’t drown it in pitch decks.

We’re structured like a decentralised collective, which means:

• You get direct access to senior strategists
• Feedback loops are fast and clear
• Creative gets made and launched in record time

We treat branding like code: iterative, modular, and designed to scale. While others obsess over 100-slide guidelines, we build systems that actually get used — and remembered.

Brand Marketing vs. Performance Marketing

A strong brand amplifies performance marketing. It raises your CTR, reduces bounce, increases retention — and makes people feel like they already know you before they buy.

5 Principles for Exceptional Brand Marketing

1. Build From a Truth

Start with something real. An insight. A conviction. A reason your company exists beyond profit. Brand fluff dies fast. Real belief? That sticks.

2. Think Visually

Don’t aim for “pretty.” Aim for ownable.
Think Heineken’s green. Bumble’s yellow. Slack’s hashtag. The world is full of design — only the distinct survives.

3. Speak with a Real Voice

People don’t connect with brands that talk like press releases. Drop the jargon. Be clear. Be weird if that’s you. The safest tone is often the one no one remembers.

4. Ship Fast, Then Refine

Your brand doesn’t need to be perfect before it goes live. Done is better than hidden. Great brand marketing evolves in public.

5. Use Brand Everywhere

It’s not a campaign. It’s a system. Inject your brand into onboarding emails, 404 pages, product naming, support chats, and your socials. Every touchpoint is a branding moment.

How Do You Measure Brand Marketing?

You can’t A/B test a feeling. But you can track impact.

Start with this stack:

• Brand search volume (Google Search Console or Ahrefs)
• Direct traffic growth
• Repeat purchase rate
• Social mentions and sentiment
• Survey-based recall or preference

Tip: even Ahrefs data shows that questions like “what is brand equity in marketing” (150/month) and “what is a brand in marketing” (150/month) are rising. These aren’t just clicks. They’re intent to learn — and you can be the brand that teaches.

Case Studies Worth Studying

Heineken

Used consistency, humour, and global campaigns like the UEFA Champions League sponsorship to make beer feel like charisma in a green bottle.

Slack

Owned the hashtag, spoke like humans, and let its brand live inside the product. Growth happened through UX-first branding — not just ads.

Bumble

Flipped the dating script and turned positioning into activism. Their visual world + female-first message made the app feel safe, empowering, and cool.

Why Small Teams Can Win at Brand Marketing Too

Big brands have brand books. Startups have instincts. That’s not a bug — it’s a feature.

With clear positioning and fast execution, smaller brands can move faster, test louder, and carve their space before bigger teams even sync their calendars.

Here’s how:

• Use social media engagement as a proxy for resonance
• Interview customers about how they’d describe your brand
• Watch for brand mentions in unexpected places — Reddit, Discord, industry DMs
• Build a loyalist loop: make your early fans feel seen, and they’ll grow your legend

Final Thought: Your Brand Lives in Their Minds, Not in Your Files

You don’t own your brand — your audience does. You just influence the conversation.

So ask yourself:
When someone describes your company to a friend…
…what do you want them to say?

We can help you make that the reality.

FAQ

What is brand marketing?

It’s the long-term effort to create a memorable, emotional connection between your brand and its audience — through story, identity, and consistency.

How do I start building a brand?

Begin with a belief, create a visual and verbal identity, and show up consistently across all platforms. Measure what matters, refine fast, and always stay recognisable.

Is brand marketing worth it for small companies?

Absolutely. In fact, it’s your secret weapon. A strong brand levels the playing field and creates loyalty that can’t be bought with ads alone.

How long does it take to see results?

Usually 3–6 months for soft signals (like brand search volume or direct traffic), and 12+ months for long-term equity.