Your Organization’s Brand – It’s one of the most important and least understood assets of an organization. It’s more than your logo or tagline and it’s bigger than your product or service – it’s the promise that your organization makes to its customers, and it’s the delivery of that promise through every interaction with your brand from business card to the packaging of your product to the look and feel of your website and digital media tools. Your brand tells your customer who you are and what you are perceived to be in the marketplace.
A weak or inconsistent brand will get lost in the overcrowded digital marketplace, whereas a strong brand will stand apart – instilling confidence, establishing industry leadership, building trust, while distinguishing itself from its competitors. Think Apple. (Brand Value = over $153 billion according to 2011 Millward Brown report on global power brands)
As the digital space becomes more and more influential, the dynamics are continually changing with regards to how organizations build their brands online. For example, the rise of social media has shifted the power from the organization to the customer, and while some organizations are anxious about this dynamic change, others are optimistic about the enormous opportunity to quickly and efficiently develop potential brand loyalists and ambassadors.
Organizations have reason to be optimistic, as the digital media space brings unprecedented opportunities for building brands online due to the instant access organizations have to customers 24 hours a day as well as and the ability to engage interactively with these customers in a two-way conversation. It’s an exciting time to be involved in digital communications, and the potential for brand building online appears to be limitless.
Below are a few tips for building your brand online:
Be Strategic
Develop a clear brand building strategy and stick to it. Not every new digital tool will help you achieve your objectives. Remember: Who is my target audience? What do I want them to do?
Be Clear
No matter how complex your product, the messaging of who you are should always be simple and clear.
Be Consistent
Your message should be the same whether it’s your website, your Facebook page or your company LinkedIn profile.
Be Customer-Centric
Remember, the customer is in control of your online brand. Engage them and ask them for feedback on your brand.
Be Genuine
Customers can spot a phony and may be sensitive to over-promotion.
Be Social
Social media is meant to be a two-way conversation. Remember, you are building a relationship.
Continue the conversation on Facebook and Twitter with @ProActiveComm and @davidneilarnold.