Building a brand online can be a tricky business. But the benefits can be incredible and there’s no better time to get started than now. Here’s a quick start guide of what you need to do to make your online brand shine and stand out among all the noise online.
Why People Buy Online
Fact. People buy from people they like and trust. They don’t buy the product. But how do you make yourself likeable and authentic among the millions of others on the internet vying for your attention? What makes people purchase from one brand and not another?
Is it the look, the design, the hype, the marketing, the mission, or simply because the company makes an incredible product or provides a wonderful service? Some brands attract millions of viewers and have an incredible customer loyalty base simply because they are hyped up by celebrities or influencers who promote them.
Nowadays with the expanse of the Internet anyone can offer and build a successful online ‘brand’ seemingly overnight in 2020. Whether it’s a personal brand or commercial one you’ll find building a brand is definitely not a straight and narrow path.
Every brand is different and unique. What works for one brand, won’t work for the next. And in order to remain relevant over the long term, you have to constantly be looking for ways to adapt and move with the times.
To increase exposure, attract a loyal fan base, attract customers here are 5 digital marketing strategies just about any brand can use:
Don’t get overly attached to any one platform.
Remember that the Internet and social media are constantly in flux.
You have to accept the fact that what works today may not work tomorrow. One day you may see your Pinterest traffic flying through the roof and the next day they change the algorithm and all your hard-earned traffic is gone. Same with Google or Instagram.
Worse yet, you may spend years investing in building your presence on a social platform only for that platform to possibly become irrelevant, or even, gasp! crumble altogether.
This is what makes the world of digital marketing so interesting. It’s an ever-changing world of testing, altering, adapting and never becoming too reliant upon any one method.
So, don’t get yourself all worked up if what worked perfectly one day all of a sudden goes to pot the next. The moment these tactics no longer work, stop and switch gears and look for another solution. The good news is there will always be one.
Be prepared to use today’s growth hacks to your advantage.
There’s no formal rule book. The internet is not exactly like the IRS tax codes. Which is good and bad at the same time.
When it comes to building a brand online, you have to understand that you are competing with some serious digital marketers who will do whatever it takes in order to succeed. Twitter bots. Instagram engagement groups. Cheesy YouTube “vlog-style” ads. Gimmicky Facebook ads. Clickbait headlines. Buying email lists, links, even those participating in those wretched black hat SEO methods etc.
As a reputable brand and business you have to make the choice where you want to draw the line and how you want to present yourself. Of course it’s important to promote yourself and get traffic, make sales and make money. That’s what you’re in business for.
But you always want to go about it in an ethical way.
Anyone looking to build a brand online needs to educate themselves on how the Internet actually works rather than on how you wish it would work. And part of that education process means knowing all the different ways gain exposure, sell products, acquire email addresses, build funnels, and gain traffic.
Because some marketers out there will do anything to try to get you to sell you these methods which could put you and your reputation at risk.
Invest heavily in focused methods that drive the most results for your brand.
So many companies get caught in the vicious cycle of “trying to be everywhere at once.”
Being a Jack or Jill of all trades can lead you down the road of being master of ‘none’. I’ve fallen into this trap as well in the beginning.
Knowing you who are, who your audience is and what you want to attract is key. The law of attraction rules follow here for certain. If you’re not sure you will lose your focus and your direction.
It’s not really necessary for you to spend hours upon hours being on every social platform if they’re not converting for you. It doesn’t make sense. If you’re paying someone to promote you on LinkedIn and you’re getting no traffic, conversions or engagement from that platform there’s no point.
Social media for the sake of vanity metrics will do you no good. It doesn’t matter you have a million followers or likes if that traffic is not converting into sales.
Don’t invest money or time in areas where your audience is not. If Facebook ads is returning an investment then put your energy into mastering that method and ditch the rest. The key is knowing where your audience lives and want they want from you.
Unless you’re a Fortune 500 company with a massive advertising budget, it’s actually far more effective to invest in a small handful of initiatives that have been proven to work for your business.
So, stop trying to be on Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn all at the same time.
Pay Attention to the Analytics
One of the greatest advantages the Internet has provided businesses is the ability to acquire amazing analytics and insights in terms of your efforts.
It’s only a great boost to the ego if you have 100K followers on Instagram but are you earning any income from it? Are these followers going to your website and making purchases? Are they becoming actual customers?
Or are they just looking at your pretty pictures and liking everything? What use are your marketing initiatives if you’re pouring money and time into these efforts but have no real outcome for success.
However, if you can determine that 10% of these likes are converting into sales then perhaps it’s worth it. A quality plugin like MonsterInsights can help you get a better picture.
Setting arbitrary goals without firmly defining how those goals are going to move your brand to the next level is a waste of time, money, and resources.
So, before you determine whether you should put more money towards a certain social media platform, you should question whether those initiatives are truly going to move the needle for your business in the first place.
Consistency is more important than anything else.
The Internet moves at the speed of light and there’s a ton of noise.
There’s an expression “A River cuts through a rock not because of its power but its persistence.” You can switch that word to consistency. At any single moment, there is such an unfathomable amount of content and noise for people to pay attention to, that brands have to remember the one thing that’s going to make a difference over the long term.
And that’s consistency.
You’ve got to be in it for the long haul. It’s a marathon not a race and the one who sticks with their idea and brand through the hard times wins. You must show you have long-lasting value, be credible, be authentic and transparent. And that’s a winning brand.
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