According to me Direct Marketing- As the name suggests it is direct marketing there is no involvement of the third person. It is a direct interaction with customers to do business with you or buy your products. In Direct Marketing, there is no retailer who sells or distribute your products. Branding- Branding is the process to increase the awareness of your service, product or name in the people to become a brand so people recognized you easily with the name. For ex. if I say Google, you will easily recognize it's the world's best and widely used search engine. So the process of making something, a brand is called branding.
Direct marketing is something that you do through emails, PPC Campaigns and doing PR's. And Branding is something that you do through social media or like channels so that people can recognize you by just seeing your logo.
Direct marketing You to your GF: "Hey, I am a good lover!" Branding Your GF to her friend: "My bf's a good lover."
Digital Marketing is promotion of products and services while branding can be specified as a kind of recommendation.
- Direct marketing is a specific technique where you reach out to potential customers via mail, catalogs, flyers, emails… Basically, you don’t use a retailer to distribute your products or services. Rather, you reach out to customers directly, hence the name. - Branding, on the other hand, is an all-encompassing strategy that influences how the world sees your business. Every interaction you have with employees, customers, leads, and the public contributes to your brand’s image and reputation. Brand building should be done consistently and deliberately across all of your marketing techniques to be most effective.