Performance marketing is easy to measure. You can see straight away what a click, a lead or a sale costs. As a result, more and more budget goes to campaigns aimed at people who are already searching. That feels efficient, and in the short term it often is.
But there is a catch. People who search for your product or your brand need to know you first. Without brand awareness, that flow dries up over time. In this article you will read why you need both and how to find a good balance.
Why steering only on direct conversions holds back your growth
First, a quick look at the terms. Performance marketing is marketing where you steer on measurable results, such as clicks, enquiries and sales. Think of Google Ads on keywords or social ads for an offer. Brand marketing is marketing that makes sure people know you, remember you and trust you, even if they do not want to buy anything yet.
Performance works like a net. It catches the people who are already in the market. That is valuable. But the group of people who want to buy something right now is small. Most people in your target audience are not thinking about it at the moment. They will buy later, and when they do, they often choose a brand they already know.
If you steer only on direct conversions, you keep fishing in the same pond. That pond empties or becomes more expensive, because all your competitors are fishing there too. Your cost per click rises and your results stall. The report still looks good, but your growth stops.
There is another pitfall. Performance reports often attribute the sale to the last click. This is known as last click. The ad that someone saw and remembered the week before gets no credit. As a result, brand work seems useless, even though it lays the foundation for that final click.
What a strong brand does for you
A well-known brand makes all your other marketing work better. You do not always see this in your campaign report, but you do see it in your revenue. These are the main effects:
- More clicks on the same ad. People click more readily on a name they recognise. Your click-through rate (CTR) rises, and that can bring down your cost per click.
- Higher conversion. Visitors who know you trust you more quickly. They are more likely to fill in a form or complete a purchase.
- Less price-sensitive customers. When people know and value you, they compare less on price alone.
- More searches for your name. The better known you are, the more often people search for you directly. These clicks are usually cheap and deliver a lot.
- More returning customers. A brand that sticks in the mind is chosen again more often and recommended more.
You can think of it as a foundation. The stronger it is, the better every euro you spend on performance works. The reverse is also true: without performance, brand work often stays stuck at attention that never leads to an enquiry.
A healthy split of your budget
Many companies put most of their budget into direct results and a smaller part into reach and brand. That is a logical start. But the exact ratio depends on your market, your target audience and your growth goals.
A few points can help you decide:
- Long or short decision time. Do people buy within a day or after three months? With a long decision time, brand matters more, because people need to remember you for a long while.
- Size of your market. In a small niche, you quickly get to know a large part of the target audience. In a large market, there is plenty of room to become better known.
- Your current awareness. Does almost nobody know your name? Then brand has more to offer than yet another search campaign.
- Your growth goal. Do you want to maintain your revenue, or grow substantially? Growth requires new audiences, and you reach them through brand.
As a general rule of thumb, if you currently steer almost entirely on performance, you can start with roughly a tenth to a fifth of your budget for brand and reach. If that works, you can expand it step by step. It is a starting point, not a fixed rule. Test, measure and adjust.
An example from practice
Imagine an online garden furniture shop that puts almost its entire budget into Google Ads and shopping campaigns. The first months go well. Revenue rises and the cost per sale is low.
After a year, the picture changes. Competitors bid on the same keywords. The cost per click climbs. The number of new customers falls, while the budget stays the same. In the report, everything still seems to add up, because the campaigns continue to deliver sales. But it is increasingly the same people.
The shop decides to shift part of its budget to reach. It adds short videos on social media, ads featuring inspiring gardens and an email series for new visitors. The aim is not to sell directly, but to become known to people who will buy later.
After a few months, the shop sees that more people are searching for the brand name. More visitors type in the site address directly. The share of new customers rises and the search campaigns perform better again. Performance did not get worse, it simply received more fuel.
How to measure brand too
You measure brand differently from performance. You do not see it in a single click, but in a pattern over weeks and months. Look out for these signals:
- Brand searches. How often do people search for your company name or product name? You can find this in Google Search Console and Google Ads.
- Direct traffic. Visitors who type in your address themselves or open your site from their bookmarks already know you.
- Share of new customers. Is the percentage of first-time buyers growing? Then you are reaching new people.
- Reach and frequency. How many people see your ads, and how often on average?
- Returning visitors. Do people come back to your site more often?
If these figures grow, your brand investment is working. Do look at a longer period than you would for performance. Brand effects often take several weeks or months to come through. It is also wise to record a baseline in advance, so that you can compare later.
Keep in mind that measurement is never perfect. You will not get an exact figure for what a video has delivered. So look for a connection between your brand activities and the development of your revenue and your new customers.
How to approach it in four steps
Do you want to start combining brand and performance? These steps will take you a good way:
- Measure your starting point. Note down your brand searches, direct traffic and share of new customers over the past months.
- Choose an audience to reach. Think of people who are not buying yet, but may well do so in future.
- Set aside a fixed part of your budget. Do not take it from your best-performing campaigns, but add it alongside them deliberately.
- Evaluate after a set period. After three to six months, check whether your signals are growing and adjust your split.
Start small and keep it simple. This is not about a big brand campaign with a large budget. It is about being consistently visible to people who will need you later.
Frequently asked questions
How much budget should I spend on brand?
That differs from company to company. If you currently do almost only performance, a tenth to a fifth of your budget is a reasonable starting point. Build it up as you see your signals grow.
How long does it take for brand marketing to have an effect?
Usually you see the first signals after a few weeks, such as more brand searches. The effect on your revenue often comes only after a few months. So give it enough time.
Can I combine brand and performance with a small budget?
Yes. In that case, choose one channel and one clear target audience. A small, consistent effort works better than many separate actions that do not stick.
Book a free 30-minute introductory meeting
Are you not sure whether your budget is well divided between brand and performance? We would be glad to look at it with you. In a free 30-minute introductory meeting, we will discuss where you stand now, what your figures say and which first step will deliver the most.
You do not need to prepare anything. Get in touch with Adventio Marketing in Amersfoort and book a time that suits you.
