Having an online presence is key to the success of your branding. Without a good strategy and a set of digital platforms to showcase your products, services, and messaging, your business is at risk of being buried beneath all the other competitors. To ensure you’re staying ahead of the game, be sure to adhere to the points below.
While consistency is something that should be done in the early stages, it’s an easy point to forget. If you’re using multiple channels to promote your services and communicate with customers, it’s important to be consistent with your branding at all times.
This involves a solid understanding of what your brand is about and what it stands for. By ensuring that your key messages and identity are consistent at every stage, you’ll reinforce the brand and create strong recognition. Consistency can take the form of personal branding (embodying the identity wherever you go), what you post on digital channels (social media), and your product branding (see companies like anthembranding.com).
The importance of high-quality content cannot be underestimated. Whether it’s your blog posts or you’re the content you share on social media, it’s vital that what you’re producing is valuable and of the highest quality. On top of that, it’s important to bear in mind that your content also needs to be informative and entertaining. If you want to make improvements in this area, make sure you produce content that stands out from other content and meets the needs of your audience.
If you already have a social media presence, you can boost this even more by engaging with social media influencers. These people have a huge following and have already built a solid rapport with their audience. If you can connect with these influencers and get them to follow and promote your brand, it can make a significant difference to your exposure. The value that influencers bring is they can create sponsored content based on your brand, demonstrating that they trust and believe in what you do.
Customer testimonials wield a tremendous amount of power. Whether it’s a rating of a product or business as a whole, customers rely heavily on other reviews before making a purchase decision. You only have to look at a typical Google search to see how some businesses usurp others through their 4- or 5-star ratings.
If you have the means to poll your customers and request reviews and ratings, this can significantly increase the trust of future customers and boost your credibility. It’s also a good idea to showcase a few testimonials on your website so that visitors can see evidence of your excellent reputation.
Another way to improve your brand credibility is to display your social following stats. This can take the form of a widget or plugin on your website that shows how many people are following you on the likes of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If others can see that you have a good social media base, it can make your brand appear likeable and friendly. A lack of social media presence, on the other hand, can weaken your brand and make it less personable.
Improving your online branding is about boosting your exposure and credibility. Another way to do this is to show off your recognitions and accolades. Whether it’s an award, an accreditation, or a public recognition of your services, these should be highlighted on your website. You could even create a separate section on your site devoted to your recognitions so that potential clients or customers can see how credible you are as a business.
Another way to boost your branding is to become a valued resource. This requires establishing yourself as an industry leader and an expert in your given field. To make customers aware of this knowledge, it’s a good idea to share free resources such as articles, e-books, or other materials that they can download. Once you become a trusted and valued resource, whether it’s for advice, a specific product, or technical expertise, customers will want to keep coming back for more. You’ll also soon make a name for yourself as the go-to brand in that area.
Video is one of the most powerful marketing tools at your disposal. In fact, it is estimated that marketers who use video can increase their revenue 49% faster than through non-video means. Posting branded videos onto various channels is a great way of promoting your business, driving traffic to your site, and boosting your brand recognition. And like with all other content, it’s important to make sure your videos are informative, entertaining, and high quality.
If you’ve been mentioned in any kind of publication, make your audience aware of this on your website or through social media. Not only does this add to your credibility, but it shows your customers that you’re an authority that is being recognized and acknowledged elsewhere.
Press releases are another useful way of boosting your branding as it gives you an opportunity to make announcements about events, new products, or recent mentions in other publications. Press releases generate publicity and enable you to create brand awareness in a cost-effective way.
