Building a strong online brand is an important strategy for making your business stand out from competitors. Research says it takes five to seven impressions for a person to recall a brand, making it essential to be regularly seen and recognised in the current digitalised world.
The good news is that learning from the best in the business has never been easier. If you want to know how to build and grow a brand identity in the online world, then you’re in luck.
Today, we’ll discuss why brand awareness is important, how your website should look, how to promote your brand online, and more.
What is an online brand?
Your brand is how your stakeholders – employees, vendors, clients and the market at large – perceive your business’s personal expression. To put it simply, brands are perceptions.
Because stakeholders cannot touch or feel the brand, building it is crucial to influencing audience perceptions. Brands live in the consumer's mind and the only way to interact with how you are perceived is through social media, websites, email and other forms of advertising and online marketing.
Why is it important to build your online brand?
One of the core reasons for having an online brand is that it increases marketing effectiveness. Since you already have something people want to pay for, building a brand online is undoubtedly the most crucial feature of your marketing plan. It is how they hear about you and interact with you, and if you handle the experience properly, they’ll come back for more.
The main reasons for building a strong online brand include:
Increased revenue
A reliable brand translates to more effective marketing, which in turn means that your brand can command higher prices as it is preferred over the competition. A positive and popular reputation will result in sales growth and your marketing costs will shrink because your fans will do some of the promotion for you.
Target market alignment
When your company’s values and mission align with your target audience, you’ll attract more of them. Attract the people you want through effective online branding. Curating a brand message packed with values turns clients into brand ambassadors. This is the ideal marketing situation.
Raise business value
Whether your plan is to cash out, get capital funding or go public, your business’ valuation is important. Building a valuable brand creates value within intellectual property and increases the value of your business over the long term.
You can also be assured of a positive response should you want to seek new investors or take your business in another direction.
Let’s now take a look at the elements that encompass how you communicate your brand online, together with tips and strategies that you can implement.
The key elements of brand image
Your vision, mission, values and objectives are what help you craft your brand identity and guide your purpose. Having a purpose will connect people to your brand. It will inform your advertising, marketing, messaging and PR efforts.
Here's how you can connect and implement all these different elements:
1. Identity
Your brand identity is the visual perception that reveals what your business stands for and who you are. It includes the font(s) you use, the design of your campaigns, the types of images, your message’s visual style and logos, colours and other identifying symbols.
You can establish your brand identity by creating an original and memorable logo, implementing fun, simple and clear designs, and creating effective campaigns that build on your message.
2. Personality
Your brand’s personality draws upon buyer psychology and encompasses everything from your vision and mission to company values. Think of your brand as a living person – is it a “person” your consumers would want to be friends with?
You can use your brand personality to attract people and make them want to be part of it, evoke thoughts, behaviours or emotions that click with your target audience, and develop a voice and tone that reflects your own personality.
After cultivating a brand personality that people want to align with, they will not mind promoting products, buying and wearing your merchandise, and passing on positive word of mouth.
3. Website
Your website is the nerve centre of your online business. It is where you optimise your presence to boost your chances of generating revenue. Therefore, you should craft your website with care.
Use it to build your brand by creating content online that makes a voice for your company (messaging), choosing a layout that is easy to use and highlights your values and symbols(identity), and creating copy that is in line with your mission and objectives (internal culture).
To optimise your website, find keywords your consumers are searching for and use them. According to early interpretations of the recent Google Algorithm leak, it is in your best interests to ensure that your website is not only SEO-optimised but also created and maintained in a way that prioritises and enhances user experience.
4. Internal culture
Your company’s internal company culture is the essence of your business. The founders establish a company’s culture.
To maintain it, you can hire employees that fit the established culture, use open and effective communication, develop and keep up company traditions, regularly express your values and use recognition programs to acknowledge how people contribute to the company.
A clear internal culture will inform how you communicate with your customers and market, and sell your product or services. Having a rock-solid culture will help you realise success in your marketing efforts.
5. Messaging
You communicate with your audience by creating a “voice” through your brand’s messaging. Your stakeholders expect brand messaging when interacting with your company, from every aspect including web pages, blog posts, email campaigns and marketing materials.
Every word that you put out there is part of your brand messaging. Your voice should align with your brand personality and is what makes you identifiable to your consumers.
6. Name and slogan
Choose a brand name that resonates with your audience. To leave a lasting impression, select a name that is original, matches your logo, is easy to spell and assigns meaning to what you do. Pay the same attention to your slogan.
Come up with one that is clever and humorous, and makes your business stand out from your competitors – and keep it short and simple.
Such tactics will create a deeper bond with customers and make your brand more memorable to potential clients.
It is important that you choose a brand name that your target market will easily associate with. If you want to make an impact, choose a unique name that aligns with your logo, is simple and gives context to what you are all about.
Such tactics will make your brand more appealing to customers and easily memorable by your potential clients.
Conclusion
Following the guidelines here will help you save a lot of time and money, and quickly put you on the path to success. If you need any help building your brand online, contact us today.
