Building your brand online can be a powerful way to transform the fate of your small business for the better. Branding is a tool you can use to gain a competitive edge, improve business volume, and strengthen customer loyalty. These advantages help position your business for greater growth, stability, and overall success.
As a general rule, focusing your online marketing efforts solely on getting new customers while neglecting the establishment of a strong online brand presence is a big mistake – and it’s a principle that small businesses are the most common to offend.
While it’s hard to disprove that more sales equal more profits, it’s misguided to ignore the role of branding in online customer acquisition. Use these strategies to build your brand online:
Develop a Voice for Your Brand
Brand communications online have a different nature than in traditional marketing. For example, storefronts can use displays, their logo, atmosphere, and signage to express brand personality. Any wording is brief. Visuals and experience say it all, but this isn’t the case online.
Businesses instead have become publishers so that they might draw in attention from search and social. Give your small business brand a signature voice, and make sure its use is consistent on your blog and wherever you post content online. According to Search Engine Land, creating a strong brand voice requires thorough audience research.
Create a Seamless Representation Across All Online Marketing Channels
In order for a brand to be strong, it has to be the same wherever it is encountered. This is called brand consistency, and it involves far more than just a logo. It can, at times, be even more powerful than your use of voice.
The visual representation of your brand is what makes the first impression. Then people read the content you have posted and get drawn deeper in.
Online, you want to attract your potential customers from wherever they may be found. They frequent numerous platforms upon which you can reach out to them. Make it easy for your target customers to recognize your brand anytime they encounter it. This is achieved by ensuring your brand signals are well-defined and adhere to that definition in every use.
Connect with the Right Influencers
When a small business is taking its first-time leap into the digital world, one challenge to overcome is having little or no presence. Believe it or not, the strength of your online presence has a big impact on how your audience perceives your brand. Unknown brands can suffer from lack of authority.
One great way to improve your small business online presence is to reach out to those who already have great respect and reach with your potential customers. This could be a blogger, industry expert, or a professional sells to your intended audience but is not your competitor.
Reaching out to an influencer and getting them to promote you can be as simple as sending them a friendly email. An influencer’s contact information can often be found on social media or his or her website.
Get Started
These strategies to build your brand online can bring you a long way towards goal achievement. Take action now to define your brand voice and signals, and then reach out to influencers so that you may soon enjoy the profitable results that follow.
