What is online branding?
By ‘branding’, we’re talking about the distinctive features that make your business stand out, and that makes it recognizable across the board. This normally refers to the way your company markets itself to the public, and by ‘online branding strategy’, we’re more specifically talking about the way your company introduces itself to potential leads on the web. Either by the way, you promote your services or products on social media or the way you set up your own website.
Why is branding important?
Branding is what brings your business to life, giving it an identity. Is your company young and fun? Professional and innovative? You can use branding to let your potential customers know. This creates the kind of connection between your audience and your products/services that creates loyalty. Do you want your customers to come back? Then branding is what you need!
Even more so online, where people are overwhelmed by choices that are just one click away. The only way you can succeed on the web is by standing out from your competition. Think of all the companies that you can instantly recognize just from their colours or their typeface – that’s branding done right.
That’s why it’s so important that your online branding strategy needs to be up-to-date and give you a competitive edge. From looking at your website strategy to ensure that your calls to action are working effectively, to sharing content on social media that boosts brand awareness.
6 Ways to build a successful online branding strategy
Visuals, content, and every call to action are all key elements that can effectively convert leads. However, it’s important that each one of these follows the same structure. Everything from your designs to the content and website strategy needs to work well together to be successful.
Understand your audience
Before you can convert leads, you need to understand who your potential leads are. Every company tailors its branding to its audience – after all, they are at the core of your business. Take time researching your target audience, and understand who they are and what they expect from you. Then, you can plan everything from your sales funnel to your web & social media content to address the needs and pain points of your audience.
Remember that you can’t expect everyone to respond to your call to action. It’s important to find the right niche to address with your branding and avoid being too generic.
Show off what makes you unique
Ultimately, your online branding should be about what you can offer to people, and prove why you are the best option for them. As such, make sure that everything from your website strategy to the way you come across on social media, is helping you stand out. That’s why having a strategy is so important – you don’t want your content to blend in with everything else that can be found online. You want it to effectively illustrate why your product or service is something they should try, and how it differs from the other options available on the market.
After all, it’s what makes you unique that really motivates people to click on your call to action.
Get personal in your online branding strategy
The whole point of branding is to add emotion and a personality to your business. People are more likely to care about your brand if they can relate to you in one way or another. In fact, according to a study from SproutSocial, 64% of people expect brands to connect with them.
How can you achieve this? By telling your story! Whether it’s through engaging videos, colourful graphics, or detailed blog posts… find what suits your brand, and use it to connect with your audience and convert leads.
Keep things consistent
As we discussed before, branding has the power of making your company instantly recognizable. However, to achieve that, consistency is key. Look at the way Apple maintains its minimal and neutral colours with the apple logo across every platform or the way that Mcdonald’s uses its iconic yellow M on all packaging. Both of these popular brands are instantly recognizable, and that’s because they keep their branding consistent.
Plus, did you know that keeping your brand consistent across all platforms can increase profit by 23%?
Transparency is key
Nowadays, people are more informed than ever before. Whenever they shop, they like to really get to know a brand and feel a moral obligation about choosing a ‘good’ one over one with questionable marketing. Your online branding should be transparent, and honest. It’s time to ditch any dubious tactics that if discovered, would ruin the image of your company.
In fact, research from Label Insight shows that 94% of customers are more likely to show loyalty to brands that offer complete transparency. Being transparent with your audience is what helps build trust, and that’s all you need to build a loyal group of customers who will help your brand grow!
Know when to ask for help for your online branding strategy
Ultimately, the task of creating an effective online branding strategy and implementing it with success can be a daunting one. Especially if you have a small team that is already focused on the core functionalities of your product or service. But here’s the good news: you don’t have to do it all by yourself!
In fact, asking for help from a marketing company can often lead to a more effective online branding strategy. That’s because you’ll be employing experts in this field who already know what works, and that can use that knowledge & expertise to get your brand headed in the right direction.
How does this work? All you have to do is share your brand’s values and goals to help them understand your company, as these details are what give life to an effective branding strategy. From there, you will assess and give feedback on what they create until you get the result you want, and the leads you wish to convert.