Why Digital Branding Matters

In 2018, businesses of all sizes recognized how a brand offers empowerment when competing in consumer markets. Digital branding is key to reaching your target market through both online and offline methods.

With the record expansion in use of mobile phones, tablets, and other personal devices, this offers businesses the opportunity to connect and engage with users or customers in a variety of ways. Mobile apps, SMS messaging, email, social media platforms, and websites all provide a robust mainframe for your digital branding and marketing campaigns. All of these methods are credible ways to communicate your brand message with fans, friends, followers, and subscribers.

Starting Digital Branding from the Ground Up

Pinpointing your target market, as well as establishing cohesiveness in branding and marketing are cornerstones of a successful business plan. When working on your business plan, many factors must be considered to build your digital branding from the ground up.

The Size of Your Target Market – A “Target Market” is defined by a set of demographic information on your ideal customer. Understanding the size of this market, as well as the predicted growth rate of this market can help determine your overreaching marketing plan. Knowing your product and service line and who these goods and services are most likely to be used by is the first step in identifying your target market. For instance, if you sell customized baby products, expectant/new mothers and grandparents are likely to be a sound choice as a broad demographic category. Regardless of whether you decide to cater to a very niche market or you offer goods and services with a more general appeal, the more you know about the person you are selling to, the better.

What’s Your Story – Unless you are planning on launching a product or service in a brand new category, the chances are good that consumers can buy similar products and services from other vendors. Telling the story behind your brand helps differentiate you from others who are selling in the same demographic space. By sharing the inspiration or reason for your business, you are building an emotional connection with your intended audience. This leads to higher sales and conversions with this concentrated audience. It is also helpful to constitute an internal code that applies to incoming and outgoing communications with contacts.

Getting the Competitive Edge – When tackling any market segment, it is always advantageous to have and use as many tools as possible in your entrepreneurial toolbox. A long-term digital branding and marketing strategy is likely to include ongoing content creation (blog content, video, images, white papers, email copy, and other digital assets) to establish authority and build trust with potential clients. These digital assets are valuable materials for sharing your brand messaging creatively and openly.

Logos, Taglines and Copy – Your logo, taglines, and copy serve as a foundation for all marketing and branding efforts that follow. After all, these are the symbols that represent the creative force behind your business. Your logo may be used on social media platforms, print collateral, advertising, merchandise, and more.

Putting Everything Together

It’s worth noting that a successful digital branding and marketing campaign is more of a marathon than a sprint, so entrepreneurs and business owners should be comfortable in assuming the risk, responsibility, and committing to see the project through. Taking the time to develop and integrate all various marketing pieces from the beginning helps leverage your launch, as well as support your ongoing operations.

Newly launched businesses should allow time to build up their digital marketing assets including their SMS messaging contact list, mobile app user base, opt-in email list, as well as adding fans and followers on social media platforms. In many cases, establishing a timeline for your project, as well as assigning milestones for development, are helpful for tracking the progress and results of the project. It can always be adjusted, if needed, to account for unexpected changes.

If you are not meeting the digital branding goals within the stated deadline of this timeframe, you can assess what is causing these delays and make moves to rectify these issues and fix the problems. By using a multifaceted approach, you will connect with your audience using their preferred method of communication.

By taking steps to cater to the preferences of your audience, it is easier to stay in front of them and make offers that appeal to their wants, needs, and desires.

Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment

Depending on the nature of your business, you might find that one form of digital branding and marketing works better for you. Don’t be afraid to experiment with a few different options to see if you get a better return on your investment.

Don’t Overlook the Technical Details

As the saying goes, ‘the devil is in the details.’ Not surprisingly, getting all the technical details done right is also an essential part of your digital branding and marketing efforts. If you are following a general timeline for your project, this should prove helpful for keeping all aspects on track and schedule.

While every marketing asset works independently, they all work together to assist in selling your goods and services. Since your website is most likely to serve as a ‘hub’ for all your marketing materials, you’ll want to be sure that it is search engine friendly and features a responsive mobile first design, so it formats optimally on the screens of all website visitors.

Are you thinking about offering a mobile app as part of your digital branding and marketing efforts? If so, be sure to check that your app meets all of the requirements for acceptance in popular app stores to increase the likelihood of acceptance.

We hope this article is helpful in explaining why digital branding matters in today’s day and age. If you would like to learn more or you’d like help with launching your branding campaign, be sure to contact the professionals at Colleen Eakins Design today!