For any thread on brand vs performance marketing budget splits
The debate between brand marketing and performance marketing is often misframed.
Performance marketing shows you what is currently working, while brand marketing creates the conditions that make performance marketing more cost-effective over time. They are not in competition; one focuses on immediate results, while the other is about long-term growth.
I've observed that companies that struggle the most with this issue are the ones that cut their brand budgets when performance metrics decline. This approach is fundamentally flawed. When your performance costs increase, it typically indicates that brand awareness is low, leading you to spend more to reach potential customers who aren’t familiar with your brand.
The key question to consider is not which type of marketing to choose, but rather: what is the minimum investment in brand marketing needed to prevent our customer acquisition costs (CAC) from rising?