Results, results, results.

It's the mantra of modern marketing. 

We want measurable. We want volume. We want outcomes on-demand. When did marketing become so transactional? Sure, we need to support sales—but where’s the emotion? The connection we have to customers? 

It can be hard to prioritize marketing initiatives with leadership and boards if there isn’t a clearly defined ROI attached.

We get it—we’ve been there.

As brand strategists, we’ve dedicated our careers to helping companies remove near-sighted blinders and embrace longer-term views of growth. And as marketers know—the impact of in-market activation alone can be fleeting. It only has strong legs if it's standing on a solid brand foundation.

The key to healthy growth, simply put, is brand building.

The question is, how do we get everyone else to buy into the power of a strong brand?

It starts by convincing them of your brand’s value.

The goal is to get others in your organization to see the brand as not just a logo and set of colors, but as one of the company’s most valuable assets (we like to argue it’s the most valuable). 

Brand building helps keep companies from falling victim to “short-termism” where immediate results are prioritized over sustained growth. Because investing in your brand is investing in buyer recognition, trust, and affinity. Which means the ROI of branding is a lasting impact on sales velocity, growth, and overall business valuation.

If they still seem skeptical—hit them with some of these:

13%

Strong brands command a 13% average price premium over weak brands.

Millward Brown

78%

78% of buyers in 2024 selected brands that they’d already heard of before they started researching.

TrustRadius

80%

80% of B2B buyers have a preferred vendor when they contact sales & that vendor wins 80% of the time.

6Sense

3x

Strong brands can capture, on average, 3x the sales volume of weak brands.

Millward Brown

2.4x

Companies that focused on their brand over the past five years saw 2.4x higher brand value growth than those who didn’t.

Interbrand

It’s how we connect brand with the bottom line.

Making the increased allocation of budget toward brand more palatable (research shows 46% of a company’s marketing budget should go to brand building) requires making brand initiatives measurable. And while you’ll need to set expectations that brand activity is not going to see the same type or immediacy of results as demand-generating efforts, you can demonstrate that it’s measurable—and most importantly—has sustained impact (ahem, what’s that saying, good things take time).

These five steps can help:

  • For many, “brand" can be an elusive thing—it needs to be tangible. Back into brand efforts by first defining the end goals, such as “we need to get more of our target market to understand the problem” or “we need to demonstrate that we are a superior alternative to other solutions.” These can be solved by investing in brand, and it’s helpful to tie the investment to problems the organization can see and feel.

  • Tactical metrics like impressions and click-through rates for demand gen campaigns provide immediate, point-in-time feedback but don’t reflect long-term brand strength. To demonstrate ROI from brand investment, consider tracking metrics such as:

    • Share of voice (an indicator of brand strength means it exceeds market share)

    • Brand recall and preference (customer studies repeated over set periods of time)

    • Web traffic (indicates brand is attracting interest/gaining traction)

    • Branded search traffic (signals people are searching for your brand vs. a general solution category)

  • ROI of brand investment isn’t instantaneous—it may not be seen for several quarters. To help curb your organization’s need for immediacy, use the above metrics to establish early tracking signals and gauge milestones. For example, share of voice and direct site traffic indicate the brand is gaining traction. Track these early and often to prove ongoing progress while cumulative impact builds down the road.

    *Additional tip: weave in brand building content with actionable CTAs to highlight how brand directly supports demand

  • Brand does more than drive revenue. It’s a multi-faceted catalyst that can speed up hiring, lead to better talent retention and recruitment, build community and thus loyalty, and even shorten sales cycles. And what company doesn’t love creating efficiencies, especially where budget is concerned?

  • Marketing teams are the stewards of the brand, but every department’s budget should contribute to the company’s brand and reputation in some way. This includes event and conference attendance, thought leadership from the C-suite, employee advocacy (HR), etc. There’s a potential to leverage a wider range of budgetary resources if you can lead the cross-company charge.

Easier said than done? Not really.

But brand strengthening initiatives need not be a mammoth investment of time and resources. Phase the process and–most importantly–take action. Because the plain and simple truth is that an investment in your brand is critical to effective execution and proven to yield exponential returns as your business continues to grow.