#Realtalk, most of what I learned about branding, marketing, and advertising, I learned myself. I didn’t take hardly any business courses in college (both times).  If I remember correctly, I only had two courses that touched on business slightly which was Corporate Identity and Business management for designers.

For many of us who are just starting out or even in the online entrepreneurial space for a little bit, you’ve probably used, read or heard the terms branding, marketing, and advertising often. And if you were anything like me some years ago, you know what each one is –somewhat.

Or maybe just a little bit – okay you’re really confused.

You may hire a branding designer when you really needed a marketing consultant—but then you spitting fire with your product or service promos inconsistently and calling it marketing when it’s really advertising.

Yeah, confusing ain’t it? These three terms are usually the most confused terms for entrepreneurs, especially now since business has grown into an online space.

Don’t worry; I’ll clear all of this up in this episode. Today, we’re going into the difference between branding, marketing, and advertising.

And hopefully, by the end of this episode, you’ll have clarity and understanding of what these terms really mean and using them effectively.

The Biggest Takeaways from This Episode

• Advertising is the promotion of your business. The actual things you use to get eyes on your products or services.
• Advertising can be flyers, billboards, commercials (radio, TV, publications), social media posts (paid or free), brochures, direct mail, catalogs, call-to-actions (on your website), etc.
• Marketing is the strategy of how you will get people to see or experience your business. It’s a plan of how you will get people experience your product or services.
• Creating a plan in an enticing, innovative way to get eyes on your business is the key part of marketing.
• Branding is the soul and experience of your business. It’s what people will feel, know, understand and want to experience your products or services.
• Branding tells your audience who your business is, why it’s important to them and what they should feel when they experience it in every way possible.

Resources from This Episode

• Need some clarity on how to figure out your business’ branding? Take my quiz at brandyaflava.com
• Get to know me more at my free Facebook Group: Brand Ya Flava and join me for July and August each Wednesday at 9 pm for my ‘Show and Tell’ Live Mini-Class Series!
• Get my book: Brand Ya Flava: The Black Woman’s Guide to Branding Your Business
• Subscribe to my podcast show and get notified when there’s a new episode!
• Join my waitlist for Brand Flava University –a learning community membership where you learn how to design your brand with Flava!

A Flava Note

Thank you so much for listening and reading I truly appreciate it.  I started this podcast because I’ve had so much to say and share about branding, especially as it concerns cultural branding for Women of Color. Also, I want to feature women of color whose brands are just starting in the entrepreneurial game but are rockin’ it out with their brands.

If you enjoyed this episode and my podcast in general, I would dance at your wedding if you can hit me up with an honest review and rating on Anchor,  iTunes, Spotify, –whichever one you use to listen. It will help more women of color discover the show but also helps me know that I’m helping you as well.

If you’re a woman of color or a person who adores our Flava and you’re interested in being a guest on my podcast, hit me up at lauren@brandyaflava.com.

Thank you again!