Top Digital Marketing Strategy: Practicing Brand Building

In a world full of options, standing out can be a daunting task. For companies in the online business, a digital marketing strategy that pushes a brand from bland to grand is a dream come true…

If you are like me, when you walk into a mall, you already know what brand of margarine you’re going to buy. This is probably the same margarine you’ve been using since you were young. More often than not, it’s the same brand your mother and her mother used all through the years.

Now a brand is not a cool logo. There is much more that defines a brand beyond graphics and a catchphrase.

There are many reasons why people buy brands. It could be that they perceive them as ‘less risky’ and trust them over other products or that they genuinely love the product. The bottom line is that branding is more than a name. It is a deep connection.

I buy my brand of margarine because I trust my mum’s choice. This is because I grew up taking this very similar margarine and nothing wrong ever happened to me. I am connected to the brand, and this is a till-death-do-us-part kind of relationship. We’re in it for the long haul…unless the manufacturer closes shop.

Branding and Digital Marketing Strategy

Digital marketing ideally falls under the services industry. This means that most times when it is not tangibles being sold. Digital marketing is selling knowledge, expertise, and most importantly, experience.

In this era of the internet, the bar has been set even higher for marketers to match up and keep up. To build a successful brand, your internet marketing game has to be on point. You need the best digital marketing strategy to win the game. This is besides the traditional marketing tactics such as professional referrals and billboard adverts.

Here is why branding should be at the core of your digital marketing strategy. All the marketing decisions affect it and consequently affect the business rating, whether positive or negative.

For a digital marketing agency, branding must be personal and intentional. It is measured by how much a client or referral feels engaged with the service provider through all touchpoints rather than the number of Facebook Ads per minute. The output sells your services. For example, a digital marketing agency that can help me generate over $1 million while spending the least will get the best review.

3 Aspects of Building a Brand as a Digital Marketing Strategy

1. Communication

It goes without saying that marketing and PR are close cousins. When it comes to building a brand, excellent messaging carries the day.

The company’s social media channels and website must clearly communicate what the company is, what solution it offers, and why the customers need that solution. It should also emphasize what differentiates it from its competitors by highlighting its value proposition.

2. Employees

An underrated aspect of building a brand is the employees. Many organizations only see employees as a means to an end (profit) instead of equal partners on the same mission.

To build a powerful brand, digital marketing companies must learn to let go of this mentality and embrace their employees as their first brand ambassadors.

Patients interact with a hospital through its employees. If the behavior of an employee goes against the ‘brand’ image of the hospital, it tarnishes the trust that a customer had and pushes them away. Similarly, your employees perform most of the tasks for your clients. If they don’t have a proper relationship, your business may close.

CEOs of successful brands such as Google wear the brand ambassador badge on their sleeve. In a similar manner, leaders of digital marketing agencies must be outspoken about their companies and represent them in the best light.

3. Customer Experience

 A brand is legitimized when the user experience matches the promise that it makes. Setting unrealistic expectations which you can’t meet is only a way of jeopardizing your brand.

It is crucial that the digital marketing strategy is centered on customer needs and expectations.

This not only proves that the brand can be relied upon but also strengthens the customer relationship in the long term.

How to Build a Reliable Digital Brand Name

Do your Research on digital marketing strategy

Creating a healthy digital marketing strategy will make you stand out in the market, get new customers, and keep the old ones. Therefore, it deserves all the hours of research you’re going to invest in.

Think about the buyer personas that will benefit from your services and put yourself in their shoes. Evaluate them by asking yourself questions on their demographics, lifestyle, age group, and so on. This way you will have a clear strategy in mind to see how well you can design and package your solution to meet their needs.

Research also involves spying on your competitors, for all the right reasons. Staying in your shell might prevent you from seeing things from a different perspective.

Check out their websites, their annual reports as well as product brochures to get a feel of their approach. Subscribe to their newsletters and social media avenues as well to receive updates. Remember not to plagiarize through…that is against the law and it ruins your credibility!

Define your Value and Voice

Once you have your market research neatly printed out, it’s time to talk value and voice. This refers to the unique positioning of your brand in a large pool of similar service providers,  also known as Unique Value Proposition. Make it unique and clearly labeled out to employees, customers, and shareholders.

You should then share this message in the press or on social media during any other occasion.

Stay Consistent

Lastly, let your work do the talking. Your values should be the same on all platforms and be reflected in the manner in which you operate.

Presenting the brand consistently has been shown to lead to an increase in average revenue.

Finally…..

To reap maximum benefits from your digital marketing strategy, you should consider often analyzing the data of traffic to your website.

A thriving brand will be reflected by its conversion rate from strangers, visitors leads and finally promoters. Other parameters include email list new subscribers, event registrations, patient revenue downstream and new appointment requests.

At the end of the day, keep in mind that the backbone of branding is building human relationships.

All the best!