After more than 6 years in performance marketing, there’s one question that keeps coming up:
From launching campaigns at 2AM, to onboarding clients with bold visions but tight budgets, to speaking with over 200 founders and marketers while building the agency — this question always finds its way into the conversation. And for a long time, it seemed like the answer could be wrapped up neatly in one post. But the deeper the work goes, the clearer it becomes: it’s not a simple yes or no.
This blog is an honest attempt to lay it all out — not frameworks or funnel hacks — just real experiences, lessons learned, and insights observed across hundreds of brand journeys.
Let’s start with a story.
The Luméa Moment
A few months ago, the team started working with a DTC skincare brand — let’s call them Luméa.
On the very first call, the founder shared a clear vision: “We’re not chasing sales — we want to build a brand people fall in love with.”
Everything seemed in place:
-Beautiful branding
-Soft pastel visuals
-Poetic, emotional copy
-Ads that looked like mini art films
Everything was perfectly polished. Visually stunning. Completely “on-brand.” But two weeks into the campaign? Silence. Low CTR. High CPC. Almost no conversions. Late one night, a message came through from the founder: “We’re doing everything right. Why isn’t it working?” That moment was a turning point. Because technically, yes — they were doing everything “right” if the audience already knew them.
But they didn’t.
The campaign was targeting cold traffic. People who had never heard of Luméa. People who weren’t moved by soft visuals or poetic lines. These users needed something else: relevance, trust, and a clear reason to pay attention.
What was happening? They were trying to build a brand by looking like a brand.
The Flip
The strategy had to change.
The polished creatives were paused. The team leaned into real, raw, and relatable content. They used:
-UGC that showed real results
-Testimonials with emotion and honesty
-Direct response copy that cut through the noise
The messaging shifted — no more fluff. It was about the user’s pain point, the transformation, the proof. One of the highest-performing ads said: “This fixed my skin in 10 days — and it’s not what you think.” Suddenly, results started to show. Clicks increased. Orders came in. Comments lit up with real feedback.
This feedback loop became the foundation for the brand to evolve. The copy improved. The product messaging sharpened. The brand voice matured.
In this process, performance marketing wasn’t just a sales engine. It became a mirror — reflecting what was resonating and what wasn’t.
Can Performance Marketing Build a Brand?
Yes. But not in the way most people think.
Performance marketing can be a powerful part of a brand-building journey. It helps to:
-Find early adopters
-Discover which messages resonate
-Identify what the market really values
But here’s the catch:
If 90% of your sales are coming from Meta and Google, that’s not your sale — that’s Meta and Google’s sale. If you stop paid campaigns today and your revenue drops tomorrow, you don’t have a brand — you have a paid acquisition loop. Until organic demand starts to show up — until there’s word of mouth, repeat search, and direct traffic — the brand hasn’t really been built.
In rare cases, a product or service is so exceptional that it naturally builds word of mouth. But for most businesses, performance is the spark, not the fire.
Use it to learn. Use it to grow. But don’t assume ROAS is the same thing as brand equity.
Why Most Early-Stage Brands Get Performance Marketing Wrong
This is where many new brands struggle.
They come in with beautiful branding and strong intentions — but they focus too much on how they look and not enough on how they connect. Let’s take another hypothetical brand — a sustainable shoe startup called TerraStep.
They launched with stunning visuals, a sleek website, and eco-friendly messaging. But every ad looked like a magazine cover. There was no clear hook, no urgency, no emotional pull.
We adjusted their approach by:
-Running UGC videos from customers sharing their personal switch to TerraStep
-Rewriting messaging from “eco-conscious blend” to “shoes that don’t smell after a long day”
-Adding low-friction CTAs like “Try them for 30 days — or get your money back”
CTR tripled. Conversion rates climbed. And the brand started to feel more human.
The lesson: In the early stage, branding without clarity is just noise. Relevance > Refinement.
The market doesn’t care how clean your logo is — it cares about why you matter.
What a Healthy Brand + Performance Marketing Mix Looks Like
So what happens when performance and brand actually work together?
Here’s what a sustainable, well-balanced growth mix often includes:
1. Performance Fuels Insight
If you’re a protein brand and “gut health” converts better than “muscle gain,” your ads just uncovered your messaging sweet spot. That becomes your product positioning, your landing page copy, your content focus — it drives the brand forward.
2. Brand Gives Performance Meaning
Once performance tells you what’s clicking, brand steps in to refine it. Your tone sharpens. Your visuals align. You don’t just run what works — you evolve it into something bigger.
3. Diversify Your Efforts
A healthy brand doesn’t rely on one source. Here’s a common media mix:
-40% Paid acquisition (Meta, Google, TikTok)
-20% Retention (email, SMS)
-20% Organic (SEO, blog, social content)
-10% Community & storytelling
-10% Experiments (referrals, collabs)
4. Let the Product Talk
Encourage customer reviews. Showcase transformations. Use every sale as an opportunity to create social proof.
5. Build Long-Term Memory
Ask: If we stopped ads tomorrow, who would still talk about us? If the answer is “no one,” it’s time to start planting seeds beyond the ad platform.
When performance and brand align — CAC drops, loyalty rises, and you’re not just scaling a funnel. You’re building a foundation.
What Comes Next?
When momentum builds, the goal shifts from scaling ads to scaling impact.
This looks like:
-Launching content that educates, not just sells
-Building a community around shared values
-Creating founder-led content or BTS stories
-Leveraging user stories and UGC to extend reach organically
One brand we worked with began posting raw, weekly Q&As from the founder — answering real questions, sharing wins and mistakes. It built trust, sparked shares, and slowly shifted them from a product company to a story-driven brand.
That’s how it starts. Not with noise — with honesty.
Final Thoughts on Performance Marketing
Performance marketing is powerful. It gets attention. It brings people in.
But it doesn’t build trust. That’s the job of a brand.
Used together, performance shows what matters — and brand makes it matter more.
If your entire business depends on paid media, you’re renting your growth. If your brand starts to grow even when the ads stop — that’s when you know it’s real.
Performance can be the beginning of a great brand. But it’s not the whole story.
Start there. But don’t stop there.
At Balistro, we specialize in helping businesses grow through effective digital marketing strategies. From Google Ads to Meta Ads, we deliver data-driven campaigns that maximize your ROI and drive real results. If you’re looking to boost your online presence, generate leads, or scale your e-commerce business, our expert team is here to help. Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your advertising needs!
