What's the difference between branding and performance?

What’s the difference?

First of all let’s get the basics right.



Branding campaigns refer to the top of the marketing funnel. Up there you have one mission: being top of mind to your audience and working on your image to increase brand preference. Because how do you expect people to adopt your brand if they don’t know you exist or if your competition is more present and appealing? Nike's ads are a good example of this kind of campaigns. The KPIs you want to reach are linked to awareness (Uplift in awareness, views, etc). 



Performance refers to the lower funnel, where you actively seek for immediate tangible conversions. It’s a more tactical approach focusing on KPIs like Clicks, Leads, Sales and ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). We also refer to this type of campaigns as « direct sales ». If you browse through products on famous e-commerce platforms like ASOS, Zalando or Aliexpress… you’ll know what we are talking about, because you're bound to be targeted by one of their performance campaigns afterwards.

Which is the most efficient?

To figure this out, Facebook analysed over 500 branding and direct response campaigns conducted by 21 companies over a 3-year period.


The analysis provided some interesting answers.


Indeed, upper-funnel strategies, such as branding campaigns, can generate short-term sales as effectively as lower-funnel strategies, such as direct response campaigns.

Of course, direct response campaigns usually bring in more sales since that is their objective and they are aimed at an audience close to purchase. On the other hand, they also cost more than branding campaigns because they are aimed at a more niche audience.

However, the analysis doesn't end there. Facebook also compared different industries and  noted that, in some cases, branding campaigns have a better ROI (Return On Investment) than direct response campaigns.

In some cases, one is more effective than the other. Of course, without a test phase, it is impossible to know which type of campaign would make the best fit for your business. That's why you need to take your time to analyze the results and make the best decision and define the best strategy for your specific goals.

How to level up your branding campaigns?

In a branding campaign, the goal is not only for people to get to know your brand, but also for your brand to be remembered by the right people.

That's why it's important to pick a format that has as much impact as possible, so that your brand image sticks. In our experience, advertisements have the biggest impact when they generate emotions among the audience. It is this emotion that makes your brand stand out and be memorable.

And which creative format provokes the most emotion, and therefore the most impact? Video of course! Today, we are bombarded with continuous information, especially on social networks. However, video allows us to process this information 60,000x faster than text, according to Psychology Today.

Still not convinced? Damn, you're a tough one!

According to Hubspot, 80% of Internet users remember a video they saw last month. And when people remember your video, they also remember your brand.

The best creative formats to generate sales

We now know that video is one of the best formats for your upper-funnel campaigns, such as branding campaigns, because it is memorable. But what about lower-funnel campaigns? Which formats convert and generate sales?

The best way to convince your customer to buy your product or service is to demonstrate its effectiveness. And what better way to show effectiveness than through a demonstration? That's why product demonstrations are very effective in driving the purchase decision. This type of video format allows you to show the value of your product or service. According to SocialMediaToday, 73% of viewers are more likely to buy a product after seeing this type of video.

Another effective format is the testimonial. 90% of internet users browse the web for information before buying a product or a service. We always tend to go and see the opinions of other users before making a decision. That's why testimonials can have a strong impact. Indeed, positive reviews can mean a 74% increase in product conversion.

Don’t forget about consideration

Taking all these analyses into account, it is appropriate for each business to test and analyze what is best. This is why both upper-funnel and lower-funnel strategies should be considered.

It is essential for any brand to consider the entire marketing funnel and its various stages:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Conversion
- Retention

If your strategies take all these steps into account, it will only increase the value of your ROI, both in the short and long term.

Do you want to know more or could you use some guidance for your business? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We're more than happy to help!