Brand vs. Performance: Striking the Balance Between Short-Term Wins & Long-Term Growth 

We get it – balancing brand-building efforts with performance-driven marketing is a continual challenge.  

Short-term wins can deliver immediate ROI, but long-term brand growth is essential for sustainable success. And we all know that striking the right balance isn’t easy. However, with a data-driven approach, it’s possible to make informed decisions that support both. 

Tom, Founder and Chairman of MetaMetrics, explores this in more detail below… 

Understanding Brand vs. Performance Marketing 

Brand-building and performance marketing serve different purposes, and recognising that distinction is critical. 

Over the years, one question I’ve often been asked by clients is how to assess the balance between the two. Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer, but splitting the marketing activities broadly into three buckets across the marketing funnel helps. 

Lower funnel performance marketing activities tend to generate immediate sales and high ROI. These include: 

• Paid search – reaches customers actively looking for your product or service, delivering highly targeted traffic. 

• Retargeting – re-engages users who have already shown interest, helping convert prospects into customers. 

• Highly targeted display campaigns – reach specific segments with relevant messaging, often driving measurable short-term results. 

These channels are extremely efficient, but they reach a narrow audience. Scaling them without diminishing returns can be challenging, and they often have limited impact on broader brand metrics. 

Upper-funnel brand activities generally have less immediate impact on sales but are essential for broad reach and long-term growth. Examples include: 

• TV – builds mass awareness and can influence consideration across large audiences. 

• Radio – reinforces messaging and supports frequency at scale. 

• Press – lends credibility and helps shape perceptions. 

• Outdoor campaigns – increases visibility in high-traffic areas, supporting brand recall. 

Mid-funnel channels, such as social media campaigns, digital video, and content partnerships, sit in the middle, providing a balance between reach and short-term ROI. They maintain engagement and can move prospects closer to conversion while still contributing to brand growth. 

From what I’ve seen, many brands lean too heavily on the performance channels that delivered early success. While this drives strong short-term results, it can limit overall growth and rarely moves the needle on key brand metrics.  

A sustainable strategy requires attention to both short-term performance and long-term brand objectives, ensuring immediate ROI doesn’t come at the expense of brand strength. 

The Risks of Imbalance 

There are clearly risks in either approach, and this is why many of our clients think so much about it. 

Focusing too heavily on performance marketing can create oversaturation, diminishing returns, and limited reach beyond your core audience. It’s therefore hard to scale budgets with this approach. It can also be easy for competitors to counter by outbidding on search terms. 

Prioritising brand-building without attention to immediate sales risks eroding revenue and failing to meet short-term objectives. If sales fall, then there is simply not enough profit to fund future investment. If rate of sale declines (in FMCG categories) then the retailer may stop stocking it. As I often remind clients, “Without the short term, there is no long term.” 

Balancing these approaches requires knowledge. You need to understand how activities work, how efficient they are at each objective, and what the likely impact of your plan will be. 

Using Econometrics to Measure Short- and Long-Term Impact 

Econometric modelling is a powerful tool for quantifying marketing impact across both short- and long-term objectives. 

For performance marketing, models measure the immediate effects on sales and key KPIs, helping optimise lower- and mid-funnel activity.  

When combined with historical brand tracking data, econometrics can also evaluate the influence of upper-funnel activity on brand metrics such as awareness and consideration. 

Measuring the long-term impact of brand-building requires a structured approach. At MetaMetrics, we follow a three-step process: 

1. Identify relevant brand metrics – analyse which metrics correlate most strongly with marketing activity. 

2. Understand contribution to sales – include these metrics in the main model to quantify how much they influence sales. 

3. Model drivers of those metrics – determine how marketing activity affects the brand metrics themselves, providing insight into both short- and long-term effects. 

While activities that drive brand metrics often deliver lower ROI, knowing the trade-offs allows marketers to plan strategically based on budgets and business priorities.  

Econometrics also goes beyond last-click attribution, providing a more complete picture of marketing effectiveness by recognising when a channel indirectly drives sales. 

Allocating Budgets and Optimising Your Mix 

Econometric models can help enormously with budget allocation, although there will always be an element of judgement in deciding the right amount to spend on brand building. 

By modelling both short-term sales and brand metrics, businesses can see the trade-offs between performance and brand-building activity.  

For example, a model can quantify what needs to be spent to hit short-term sales objectives, showing what remains to fund brand growth. 

Conversely, it also can estimate how much investment is required to move key brand metrics by a desired amount. For instance, achieving a 5% lift in brand awareness. Crucially, this activity will also have an effect on short-term sales, which can then be added to the wider sales simulation to create a more realistic plan. 

By shifting the balance of focus between short- and long-term objectives, businesses can see the trade-offs clearly in terms of both sales and brand outcomes.  

There is rarely a perfect solution that fits neatly within budget and delivers on every objective, but econometric models give marketers the ability to make informed, defensible decisions and communicate those trade-offs with confidence. 

Continuous Refinement and Long-Term Strategy 

Balancing brand and performance marketing is never static. Market conditions, consumer behaviours, and business priorities will inevitably shift – sometimes driven by planned changes like a new product launch, and other times by external shocks such as a global pandemic. 

The most effective planning comes from long-term relationships where econometric models are regularly updated. This allows businesses to adapt strategies year by year while staying on track with both sales and brand-building objectives.  

Used as part of a wider measurement framework, econometrics helps marketers check progress, refine their mix, and maintain alignment with shifting priorities. 

A business that keeps this balance under review is better equipped to pivot rapidly in uncertain times while continuing to deliver credible, evidence-based plans to leadership. 

How MetaMetrics Can Help You Balance Brand and Performance 

At MetaMetrics, we’ve seen first-hand the advantages businesses gain when they understand the drivers of both short-term sales and long-term brand growth.  

With econometrics embedded in a wider measurement framework, marketing leaders can make well-defended investment decisions, present credible plans to the board, and increase their chances of attracting further budget. 

Our models help businesses plan for the long term without losing sight of immediate sales goals, while also showing the trade-offs and implications of different investment choices. That means businesses can pursue sustainable growth with confidence, knowing they’re capturing today’s opportunities without compromising tomorrow’s success. 

Ready to explore how econometrics can help your business strike the right balance? Get in touch with MetaMetrics today to find out more.