So, your product or service hasn’t quite taken off the way you expected and now you’re wondering what to do about it. Is that about right? Well, simply put, it may be time to revamp your approach to online branding.
In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s a big marketplace out there; one that every hotshot entrepreneur and business owner wants a piece of, and if you want yours, you’ll need to have a system in place to make your brand a contender.
If you want to start boosting the marketability of your online image, think about your branding efforts in terms of the following three-part strategy:
Awareness, Authority and Attitude.
In other words, just remember the “three As”:
1. Awareness
Generating and maintaining brand awareness begins and ends with your online presence.
What does your overall presence look like? Are you outgoing in your efforts to direct traffic to your site? Are you leveraging social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) in a way that provokes the average consumer’s interest?
Address these concerns immediately, because if your website or social channels leave unanswered questions about the value of your business, than customers will have no recourse but to spend their time elsewhere online.
2. Authority
Quick reminder: your job isn’t done when you start generating awareness. Truth be told, your job is never done when it comes to building your brand.
You have to appear to be the most present, relevant, and authoritative figure in your field if you’re going to keep consumers interested. After all, you wouldn’t have an online business in the first place if you didn’t already consider your field to be your area of expertise. And if you fancy yourself an expert, then you’d better know how to play the part.
In short, you’ll need output – lots of it. And that output should be valuable to consumers.
The most practical way to reaffirm your site’s value is by having a clear-cut content strategy and by offering regularly updated audio or video segments in addition to the written material on your website and social channels.
In strict SEO terms, content is always valuable. As long as your content is relevant and provides your customers and clients with the information they’re looking for, then too much of it can never hurt.
3. Attitude
Content is one thing, but engaging content is something else entirely, and it’s not exactly the simplest thing to create. Keep in mind that when the average individual browses your site or interacts with your business through social channels, he or she expects to be impressed – perhaps not overly so, but at least in some way.
So, impress them! You don’t have to wow them at every turn, but you do have to make sure that your business is at least more accessible than the competition.
It helps to show a little bit of attitude – and a lot of confidence.
Again, you have to be the expert; you have to offer more than what’s expected. To do this, you’ll need to prove that your unique opinion on a given facet of your industry is the one that the client should consider first.
Don’t be afraid to express a strong viewpoint. You’ll be more likely to turn your site’s casual visitors into brand advocates if you reach out to them (and connect with them) on a more emotional level.
The trick is not to feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of building your brand, but to be encouraged by the opportunity those responsibilities present.
Being able to develop awareness, authority, and attitude for your online company is a privilege, and at the end of the day, it’s not as insurmountable a task as you might think. With a little bit of initiative, you can turn an otherwise sparse online presence into an opportunity to construct a fuller and more accessible identity for your brand.
It takes an organized and actionable approach, and the strategy above should help set your brand on the right path.
About Joseph Giorgi
Joseph Giorgi is a multimedia specialist and blogger for Quality Logo Products, Inc., a leading distributor in the promotional items and custom apparel industry. He contributes regularly to the company's marketing blog.
Great post, Joe! You outlined some serious tips that build on each other for one heck of a crash course in branding.
All of these points are important, but it seems like people seem to usually forget about “Attitude.” Being a human presence online is so important that you have to add in personality. Not only does it make for more exciting and engaging content, but also feel more comfortable with a brand that speaks directly to them, and not just above them.
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Joseph G. Reply:
November 9th, 2011 at 10:32 am
“…a brand that speaks directly to them, and not just above them.”
Great way to put it. Online companies need to go the extra mile to convey their willingness to work “with” the customers. The connection needs to be apparent, and having personality goes a long way in establishing it.
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First of all, I love tips where they all begin with the same letter. A+ on that, Joe! Secondly, your point about engaging customers is spot-on. It’s important to have a presence on the social media sites your customers are regularly using, as well as engaging them on them too. It’s an ongoing process that doesn’t have a clear “end” date on it.
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Joseph G. Reply:
November 9th, 2011 at 10:40 am
So true! The bottom line is that if you have an online business, your job is never done — especially with social media playing a more critical role than ever. There’s always new methods of reaching out to the customer, and online business owners and marketers will always need to stay ahead of the curve. It’s a challenge, but a highly rewarding one.
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