Building an online brand for your business is more than just coming up with a slogan and an eye-catching logo for your printed mugs; it’s not enough to be involved in social media and have a consistent brand image. The experts in online branding are playing by a new and different set of rules, which focus less on presentation and more on interacting with the customer. Here, we’ve gathered eight tips and rules for building a blockbuster brand.
Become Involved in the Conversation
You’re only fighting half the battle if you’re merely starting the conversation. Social media, like branding, is about engaging in meaningful conversation and building lasting relationships. The rules for branding haven’t changed much with the advent of social media, but the process has gotten interesting.
Just having a business page on Facebook or a Twitter handle isn’t enough; you need to be an active participant in the conversation by posting regularly and promptly responding to messages from customers. Social media monitoring is important for all companies, no matter how big or small, and because of its immediacy, the acceptable time frame for customer service response has shortened.
Keep Your Personal Brand Separate....
OK, you have thousands of followers on your personal Twitter account. But, how can that relate to building a brand for your business? Growing and managing your personal brand can detract from your ability to grow your business.
....Or Use it to the Best of Your Ability
Appearing in print and visual media as an expert can be instrumental in building your business’ brand. To get attention, determine which media outlets are most in line with your area of expertise, and send them sales pitches. If you want to be on the radio or on TV, show producers will want to see previews of your style and your personality; host a show on a venue such as BlogTalkRadio to sharpen your skills and provide video proof. As you become more proficient in your field, you’ll be more and more in demand.
Find Your Niche and Target It
Even if the market is pretty well saturated, you’ll still have an opportunity to set your brand apart from that of your competition. The marketplace is ever-evolving, meaning that you’ll need to be creative in your approach (it could be as simple as handing out printed carrier bags at the next big trade show!)
Tell Your Customers about Your Business
You might not give too much thought to the “About Us” section on your business website, but your visitors do! It’s the first place they go when they want to learn about you and the services your company offers, so it deserves some consideration. You shouldn’t write a long, drawn-out speech, but you should attempt to make a connection with your visitors. This part of your site is a great place to include contact information (such as email addresses) for you and your employees; it shows your customers that you’re easily accessible and you’re running your business in a transparent manner.
Use Social Media and Content on Your Site
You’ll come across as tech-savvy, and you’ll bring more traffic to your site. You don’t have to come up with the next viral video hit, or hire a marketing staff; all you need is a few simple tips, some patience, and the desire to make your site the type of place your visitors want to come again and again. You can do this with quizzes, infographics, long form articles, timelines, flow charts or whatever takes your fancy.
Monitor Your Business’ Reputation
Twitter and Facebook have become an integral part of most companies’ marketing strategy, but there are plenty of other places for customers to voice their displeasure. An unanswered complaint or inquiry can tarnish your reputation and drive customers away; basic monitoring tools like Google Alerts let users track every mention of a particular set of keywords on the Web. Some other services detect the nature of a post, whether it’s neutral, negative or positive- so you can focus on the important ones.
Show Off Your Hard Work
In today’s always-connected environment, building a reliable online brand is about fostering trust and building relationships. With that in mind, there’s no better way to do both than to tell potential customers who you’ve worked with in the past; doing that will lend a degree of credibility to your business. Mentioning any awards your business has won, any community service your company has done, or other interesting facts will make your business seem more appealing to customers.
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| Source: Small Business Trends |
Become Involved in the Conversation
You’re only fighting half the battle if you’re merely starting the conversation. Social media, like branding, is about engaging in meaningful conversation and building lasting relationships. The rules for branding haven’t changed much with the advent of social media, but the process has gotten interesting.
Just having a business page on Facebook or a Twitter handle isn’t enough; you need to be an active participant in the conversation by posting regularly and promptly responding to messages from customers. Social media monitoring is important for all companies, no matter how big or small, and because of its immediacy, the acceptable time frame for customer service response has shortened.
Keep Your Personal Brand Separate....
OK, you have thousands of followers on your personal Twitter account. But, how can that relate to building a brand for your business? Growing and managing your personal brand can detract from your ability to grow your business.
....Or Use it to the Best of Your Ability
Appearing in print and visual media as an expert can be instrumental in building your business’ brand. To get attention, determine which media outlets are most in line with your area of expertise, and send them sales pitches. If you want to be on the radio or on TV, show producers will want to see previews of your style and your personality; host a show on a venue such as BlogTalkRadio to sharpen your skills and provide video proof. As you become more proficient in your field, you’ll be more and more in demand.
Find Your Niche and Target It
Even if the market is pretty well saturated, you’ll still have an opportunity to set your brand apart from that of your competition. The marketplace is ever-evolving, meaning that you’ll need to be creative in your approach (it could be as simple as handing out printed carrier bags at the next big trade show!)
Tell Your Customers about Your Business
You might not give too much thought to the “About Us” section on your business website, but your visitors do! It’s the first place they go when they want to learn about you and the services your company offers, so it deserves some consideration. You shouldn’t write a long, drawn-out speech, but you should attempt to make a connection with your visitors. This part of your site is a great place to include contact information (such as email addresses) for you and your employees; it shows your customers that you’re easily accessible and you’re running your business in a transparent manner.
Use Social Media and Content on Your Site
You’ll come across as tech-savvy, and you’ll bring more traffic to your site. You don’t have to come up with the next viral video hit, or hire a marketing staff; all you need is a few simple tips, some patience, and the desire to make your site the type of place your visitors want to come again and again. You can do this with quizzes, infographics, long form articles, timelines, flow charts or whatever takes your fancy.
Monitor Your Business’ Reputation
Twitter and Facebook have become an integral part of most companies’ marketing strategy, but there are plenty of other places for customers to voice their displeasure. An unanswered complaint or inquiry can tarnish your reputation and drive customers away; basic monitoring tools like Google Alerts let users track every mention of a particular set of keywords on the Web. Some other services detect the nature of a post, whether it’s neutral, negative or positive- so you can focus on the important ones.
Show Off Your Hard Work
In today’s always-connected environment, building a reliable online brand is about fostering trust and building relationships. With that in mind, there’s no better way to do both than to tell potential customers who you’ve worked with in the past; doing that will lend a degree of credibility to your business. Mentioning any awards your business has won, any community service your company has done, or other interesting facts will make your business seem more appealing to customers.
