Find out everything you need to know about how to brand your business in a digital age
Branding is the ID card of any business and an item that you must not ignore when creating a marketing strategy.
Branding in a digital age is still a big unknown for many small and some large businesses. They still have the opinion that branding is something difficult to measure, and sometimes it is – unless you approach it strategically.
In order to bring closer the importance of directing your marketing efforts to the online world, we tried to go through all the elements that can contribute to the development of your brand on the Internet in one place. Let’s start from the very basics.
Branding in a digital age is extremely important, remember that! Here’s why!
What is a brand and how has the internet influenced its development
According to one of the definitions, a brand is defined as “A name, term, sign, and symbol (or a combination thereof) that is characteristic of the manufacturer or seller of a certain product.”. What does that actually mean?
A brand actually represents a group of specific characteristics or feelings that customers, the public, and employees associate with a specific product or company. Brand elements can be divided into:
1) Visible – those that we can see and which include the logo, online visual identity, and fonts used.
2) Invisible – those that we cannot see or define concretely, and concern the features we attribute to a brand, as well as the feelings we associate with it.
In practice, this would mean that if you see a short video clip like a YouTube advertisement promoting a new type of energy drink, you will most likely remember basic visual elements such as the logo and the colors that dominate the packaging.
The next thing you will register is probably something subjective and intangible – a certain “feeling” you have about the product, or simply: whether you like it or not. Sometimes this very first contact will determine whether a member of the target group will further develop a “relationship” with the brand, or whether his interest will stop here.
The evolution of branding
Unlike conventional marketing when it was important for potential customers to come into contact with the brand absolutely everywhere, even where it does not belong, in this era the brand and its elements are released into the digital ether in a targeted manner, to the audience that has already shown interest.
Branding in a digital age is alive, subject to change to adapt to the target group, dynamic and effective. Thanks to the data available to us through Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other tools, we quickly learn the feedback of potential customers to our brand. The essence of the brand remains the same, only certain elements are adjusted from time to time.
What is included in branding on the Internet?
Although the communication channels have changed, the primary task of branding remains the same: to “get under the skin” of as many potential customers as possible. The basic elements of the brand have received their new, digital forms. Here’s how it looks online.
Visual identity
With the focus shifting from business cards, branded folders, and giant advertisements in places where a potential customer won’t see them anyway, to a LinkedIn profile, a designed email signature, and social media accounts, businesses have learned to promote their brand where it matters. their target group. Not only that, more attention is being paid to how to communicate brand values in the age of modern technologies.
It is believed that as much as 65% of the world’s population is a “visual type”, that is, they understand, learn and accept things mostly through the sense of sight. (Source: Inc.com) Members of this group define things, people and relationships according to what they see, that is, what they notice about them. That is why it is important to pay special attention to the visual identity, which remains important even when we talk about branding on the Internet.
Here we are primarily talking about the color scheme of your brand, the logo, but also the design of all materials in digital form that represent your brand:
-graphics for social media posts,
-newsletters,
-designed email signature,
-banners or branding of sites and portals.
-Similar to traditional marketing, it is important that all these elements follow the same style, colors, and design, in order to remain consistent through all communication channels. In this way, potential customers will recognize you by a certain color or design.
Your visual identity should represent the essence of your brand, and sometimes you don’t even know what that might look like, so you can reach out and hire an expert as Monument SEO & Design to create your brand’s full digital portfolio.
Website
A website is the ground base of your entire digital presence and branding on the Internet. It must be fast, easy to use, and pleasant to look at. If your site is not for special purposes, i.e. if it is not for a business that deals with information or some other high technology, e-commerce, and if it does not operate in the SaaS industry, the site has 2 main roles:
– to present your business as best as possible to all interested parties
– for someone to find out about you by searching Google
The site must be fast so that visitors can get the information they need as soon as possible, it must be easy to use because you want potential clients/buyers to have your offer at their fingertips (that is, at the click of a mouse). The site must be pleasant to look at, in your brand colors, so that they associate your web presentation with some of your other material they come across.
The site should be consistent with the message of your brand, with its visual identity and target group. That’s the only way you’ll get the most out of it.
Over time, in the service of website development and their optimization for users, special technologies and techniques such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), writing corporate blog texts, and user experience design (UX) have been developed, and they are all, among others, services Monument SEO & Design provides.
If you are just starting your online activities, our recommendation is to start with the website first. Don’t wait for everything to be perfect and just the way you envisioned it to get the site up and running. It is important to form that first channel of communication with potential customers. If you want your web presentation to go faster and everything looks better, contact professional web designers.
Social Media Importance
Branding in the digital age is closely connected with social media presence and strategy.
Whether we like it or not, social networks have entered business use and are here to stay. Many small businesses survive thanks to social networks, as well as large companies that understand the importance of networks – they spread their influence and brand awareness on them.
For this very reason, branding on the Internet cannot be imagined without the active use of social networks for business purposes. It doesn’t have to be all networks and they don’t all have to be used with the same intensity. It is important to choose the ones that your target audience spends the most time on.
As we mentioned in one of the previous sections, you also need to maintain the same standard on social networks when it comes to visual identity. All graphics on posts, cover photos, profile photos, and other designs must be in synergy and must not differ drastically.
Apart from this aspect of branding, the communication you achieve with existing and potential customers on these digital channels is also important. In this way, you will gain the trust of your followers and create a community around your product or brand.
Employer Branding
Let’s go back for a moment to the very beginning of this text. In our brand definition, we described a brand as “a group of specific characteristics or feelings that customers, the public, and employees associate with a particular product or company.” Where did the employee come from in this story?
Even if you don’t plan to hire new people, it would be a good idea to do everything in your power to make your employees the ultimate ambassadors for your business on the Internet. They will bring in new potential customers with their posts and referrals.
Employer Branding, i.e. the branding of the company as an employer, is especially effective when you are looking for new employees. You never know when the need for such a step will arise. Technologies are developing, customers are changing their habits, and the famous saying “It is madness to do the same things and expect different results”.
By working on your branding on the Internet in this sense, through social networks and various blog texts, you will gain additional visibility as a desirable employer and thus gain new, quality potential employees.
How to brand your Business in a Digital Age
Branding on the Internet is multi-layered and it is necessary to build layer by layer around your brand. Development can be complex: the very process of branding or rebranding can be a big challenge, so it is very important to have a strategy in place. It will be the foundation of all your future campaigns, optimization, and advertising on the Internet.
Implementing a (re)branding strategy on the Internet should include employees, customers, and the internal marketing team, but also some external and therefore objective forces – most often a digital agency.
If you are not sure where to start this whole process and what should be the priority, we can help you. Our creative team is trained and ready to contribute with their experience and ideas to the development of your brand and strengthen its influence through modern digital channels.
Does this resonate with you? Contact Monument SEO & Design, a specialized and experienced digital marketing agency, and get a FREE personalized offer, created specifically according to the needs of your business. We’d love to hear more about your brand! Call TODAY at +17864423622 and be a witness to a miraculous change!
