Growth marketing vs Product marketing vs Brand marketing

Before you invest in marketing, make sure it's the right type for your business.

3 types of marketing

I recently dove into Elad Gil's High Growth Handbook.

The book is a compilation of his experiences from multiple decades working in and around the world's most successful startups, coupled with interviews from the professionals who ran them.

The first thing Gil does in Chapter 6: Marketing and PR is to offer a series of definitions to help distinguish between the different types of marketing that exist, and why they differ.

💡 What is marketing? Marketing is communication. The two factors influencing the type are (1) who you are communicating to and (2) for what purpose.

The three types of marketing the author lists are growth, product, and brand.

• Growth marketing aims to get people to discover and pay for your product.
• Product marketing helps people use, trust, and improve what you've made.
• Brand marketing increases the awareness of your story and offer in the world.

Now, it doesn't take much examination to see how these distinct areas blend together. Brand marketing helps feed the funnels for growth marketing, which moves people into product marketing resources as they research their potential purchase.

The audience and goal for each discipline are different. It's one thing to get viral attention for a brand, but another to turn those eyeballs into revenue — and then another to transform those customers into brand ambassadors by helping them succeed with your product.

Every step matters, but in different ways and for different reasons.

How to order your marketing

The order of your marketing, meaning the sequence of types you invest in, will be determined by the business you're in.

Brand marketing is going to matter more for certain consumer goods, where reach and story lead to better outcomes than analytics and tutorials.

For the majority of digital-first organizations (SaaS, online communities, course creators, etc.), the best order is the following:

1. Product marketing
2. Growth marketing
3. Brand marketing

Why this order?

Because it enables you to reverse engineer your funnel. At the bottom of the funnel, the closest a customer will get to purchasing (and what they'll rely on once they've purchased) are the product assets.

These will help them trust your product and use it successfully. Start by making sure your knowledge base is complete and easy to navigate. If you're a solo creator, include clear directions for people who purchase your products; record a video of you using it; highlight other successful users (testimonials, community leaders, etc.).

Once those items are in place, then you can move up a rung on the funnel and start investing in your most promising channels (SEO, a specific social media platform, podcasting, email, etc.).

While your business is still securing its foothold in the market — the longer you last, the more likely your odds of success will be. Spend your time and dollars wisely at this stage. Don't be afraid to copy and iterate on what's already working for others.

The goal is profitability, not novelty.

Finally, only when you have reliable systems in place for attracting, onboarding, and retaining customers should you look into investing in brand marketing. At this stage, you can think bigger, take more risks, and adjust your focus from survival to legacy building.

💡 Elad Gil uses Nike as an example of excellent brand marketing. But it's important to remember that their swoosh became synonymous with "athleticism and perseverance in popular culture" only after decades of making a great shoe. Strong brands require dependable products.

Marketing is about finding the right questions to ask. What needs to be said? And how?

If you can answer those two questions, you can market anything successfully.

A version of this article was originally posted on ramoswriter.com.