Generate leads or build a brand?

If you’ve ever felt torn between chasing quick leads or patiently building a strong brand, you're not alone. 

Marketing often seems like a crossroads: one path brings immediate results, while the other promises long-term growth. Is that indeed accurate? And which do you pick?

1. The Bold Move: Lead Generation

Today a potential client told us:

Immediate lead generation is a fast track to revenue. By deploying targeted outbound campaigns, and relentlessly pitching, you get to capture prospects that convert quickly. This approach is essential for:

• Revenue Flow: Driving the short-term gains needed to maintain momentum.

• Agile Adjustments: Testing and iterating campaigns based on real-time analytics.

• Direct Conversions: Turning interest into action through compelling calls-to-action.

Consider the moment when a client, focused on immediate results, used our lead gen tactics. The strategies put them in front of the right audience, delivering rapid conversions that kept the cash register ringing. This immediate approach is what makes our clients “already making money” every day.

2. The Long Game: Branding

Branding works differently—it’s quieter, slower, but equally powerful.

In an earlier newsletter we talked about “The 3% Rule”. Basically, the notion is that 97% of your market won’t be ready to buy until they receive more information.

But 3% is ready to hop on a meeting & buy from you “right away”. Branding helps you turn that 97% into actual engaged leads that want to buy from you.

Branding you can imagine as planting seeds that might not sprout for months—but when they do, their impact is exponential. Just this week, our client suddenly got a demo request from a landing page they created months ago and almost forgot about.

Suddenly, the trust they’d built quietly over a long time period was paying off. Brand building is valuable because:

• It creates lasting trust: Customers return again and again because they trust your brand.

• It amplifies your impact: Every branding effort adds momentum, making future marketing easier and more effective.

• It positions you as an authority: Strong brands stand out and attract high-quality leads who see you as their first choice.

When to focus on branding?

But the truth is: you can only really scale down on lead generation once you're already big—really big.

Think about companies like Esri or Google.

You’ll hardly see them hustling for visibility at industry trade shows—not because they don’t believe in marketing, but because they’ve already built the gravity and get to market in different ways.

They host their own events. People come to them.

Until you’re in that position—where your brand attracts demand by default—lead gen isn’t optional.

You need to create the momentum yourself. Build the pipeline manually. Get in front of people and stay there.

So the real question isn’t “should I focus on brand or leads?” It’s: “Where am I right now—and what will actually move the needle?”

What will work for you?

Chances are you’ll need to mainly focus on “just generating leads”, but branding is always worthwhile long-term.

So our philosophy is simple: we don’t “just pitch everyone”. We get on a call & try actually find out what helps you.

Sometimes people talk to us with what they think is a traffic problem, but it turns out to be about service delivery or conversion.

Now you don’t have to pick between immediate wins and long-term success—you can integrate both into your business approach:

• Immediate lead generation provides the fuel you might need right now.

• Strategic branding multiplies your results later, turning quick wins into long-lasting relationships.

Together, they create a marketing ecosystem that fuels itself. So, generate leads or build a brand? Maybe the best answer is: let’s do both—together.

We believe in helping our clients win in the short-term while simultaneously setting them up for lasting success — even if part of that work is done in-house already.

Every piece of content, landing page, and even outbound campaigns are thoughtfully crafted. Not just for immediate results, but to build trust, connection, and a reputation that keeps on giving.

Want to discuss more? Hit me up anytime through [email protected] or book a call on the website right away: locatix.io

Best regards,

Justin Griffioen & The Locatix Team