The online market has grown exponentially within the last decade. The pandemic helped accelerate some of that growth.
Online purchasing is now incredibly convenient, delivery is fast, and more products than ever are available online.
This means there are more consumers looking for your services, but it also means the competition is fierce.
To really stand out in online market, you have to be on top of your game.
Do you know simple, actionable ways to keep your brand ahead of the competition?
Are you working on adding more ways for your products and services to be found online?
In this article, we share 5 online branding tips that you can use today:
1. Do market research
Many people think that branding is about how your business looks. The logo, the website colors, the fonts (or the visual identity).
Yes, eventually, these may play a role in building a strong presence online. But, in my experience, most businesses jump into brand visual makeovers too soon.
In reality, online branding has more to do with building a connection with your audience than anything els (your message).
Your company’s culture also puts a spin on how you communicate and how your audience interprets your messages.
The visual identify + the message + your company culture make up your brand identity.
Market research is the first step in defining the brand identity.
There are many online tools to help you learn about your audience and competition.
You can go as simple as using Google and Social Media Profiles (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter) of your competition to see what is working for them.
Look at the Niche Networks (e.g. Nextdoor for local businesses) or Online Forums (like Reddit and Quora) to better understand the problems and questions your audience is asking.
You can also use some of the competition spying tools, like SpyFu, BuzzSumo, and SEMRush to see what types of content and messages are trending.
Once you find out everything you can about your customers, you can move to craft a brand identity strategy.
2. Create a brand identity
A brand won’t be a brand if it doesn’t conduct itself memorably and interestingly. This is why it’s important to give the brand a personality and a unique voice.
Make sure that people can remember who you are and how you communicate.
It’s a lot easier to connect with people when you have a distinct voice compared to if you sounded like a robot.
Some of the key elements of your brand identity include:
Your Message: Make it clear, compelling, benefits-focused.
Your Key Themes: Determine the main topics and themes your brand will be focused on. Keep this list short and specific.
Your Voice: Do you want to be friendly and informal or formal and to the point.
Always test your messages, themes, and voice before locking down on these.
3. Be Consistent
Digital marketing is all about consistency.
Some of it is in how your brand comes across online. A written down brand identity statement will help with that.
It also requires consistency in your external activities: content creation, promotion, email communication, etc.
Determine your goals and success metrics first.
Then, look at your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track your performance regularly.
Tweak your strategy based on what is or is not working.
Some of the simple ways to stay consistent in your communication:
Create an editorial calendar for content creation – it is more important to be consistent than to create a lot of content. Creating one video blog a month will help you more than going dark after one week of daily blogging.
Write down soundbites, themes and keywords – integrate them into ALL forms of communication (email, social media, offline talks).
Outline social media calendar – use online scheduling tools to create a regular rhythm of communication on your social media profiles.
Schedule ongoing promotional activities – plan out your ads, your email sequences, and other communication.
There’s no brand without an audience. Your goal is to maintain the attention of your existing audience while gathering new ones.
Even if you are just starting your branding efforts and do not have a well-developed strategy, you can still build a connection by curating content.
Learn how to instantly position yourself as an Influencer even if you do not have a lot of content.
4. Be mindful of user experience
Consumers have a ton of choices nowadays. Your goal is to find things that will set you apart from the competition.
User experience design is one of the best ways to do this. It does not have to be complex:
Ease of Navigation: Make your website and landing pages easy to navigate and remove all of the unnecessary elements (plugins, links, calls to action).
Contact Information: Make it easy for potential clients to reach out to you. Integrating online chat and messenger options is very popular with consumers.
Create a buyer experience: You want your users to engaged with your brand at deeper, more meaningful levels. Think about their buyer journey and use tools (like Click Funnels and ConvertKit) to gently lead them to the next step.
5. Grow your brand through social media
People want to know what you have going on with your brand.
That’s why it’s so important to develop a social media strategy to connect with the audience.
Social Media allows you to position your brand, establish brand identity, test your messaging strategy, and much more.
In addition to regularly posting content across your social media profiles, make sure to actively build and engage your audience.
If you have already tried DIY Social Media and are ready to take it to the next level, a social media management team can be your answer.
They can maintain your brand’s voice, interact with the audience on your social media page, and answer any inquiries that may be sent via DMs.
CONCLUSION
Building your brand online does not have to be rocket science (neither does it require you to become a social media expert!). It does require some planning and market research, consistency, and focus on your audience. Take each of these steps one at a time, implement them in your business and track what works for you.
