Elements That Affect Online Branding

So many businesses are promoting on the Internet, but not many really understand how to fully navigate their brand in the mega-landscape that is cyber space. It is easy, getting to know how to post announcements and pay for advertisements; but the question lies on whether or not you truly know if you are doing the right things.

Online, everyone is competing for the greater number of likes and impressions. Individuals have their unique style of presenting themselves over the Internet, which makes online branding even more challenging. But with greater challenge comes a better yield. Here are some elements that affect your online branding:

1. Avenues. There are a lot of social networking sites and apps available: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, to name the biggest ones. Each has its unique features. Facebook, for example, aside from being the most prominent social networking website, can act as a small website where you can post ads that can reach thousands of audience simultaneously. You can post announcements easily, provide link-backs to your website, and share videos hosted from the website itself, or by other video hosting sites. Instagram allows you to post stories through images. Fashion, travel, and art-related businesses thrive here. Choose avenues where your business is more suited, rather than spending valuable time and effort on a website that won’t even get you potential buyers from the start.

2. Design. Making your ad visible is one thing. Getting viewers to click on the ad is another and design has a lot to do with whether they would click, view more, or do nothing. You will rely heavily on visuals over the Internet – colorful ads, memorable mascots, and themes. Bad designs will not solicit positive feedbacks. Build a design that is captivating, readable, and directly translate the core values and image of your company.

3. Interaction. One of the biggest changes that online marketing has effected is the way businesses provide customer service. It takes more than just being flashy over the Internet. Online, people have the ability to post their own insights, their comments, and inquiries. How you respond to them will greatly affect how people perceive your business. Take the time to respond to comments, even if it feels repetitive when people ask the same questions. In fact, invite people to post on your profile.

Successful companies now have realized the importance of online client feedbacks, including the negative ones. Instead of deleting all these comments, they capitalize on them by responding how the company aims to improve their services to prevent similar future problems. Negative feedbacks have now become a way for companies to gain a third-party opinion that would help them develop their systems to better accommodate its customers.

4. Consistency. All your strategies online will be effective for a long time if you exercise the value of consistency. Posting once in a blue moon or twice a week will never work. Once you are able to engage with your target fan-base, your next and more arduous task is to find out how to retain them. One way is by regularly posting and engaging just like the first time you engaged with them before.

Consistency matters, especially in forums. If some customers notice your tone of message is more engaging to those that show interest in availing your products or services, they would feel as if you are only focused on making sales rather than providing customer service. Consistency matters in ads. In order for you to create an identity online, your ads must be uniform, or at least have an element that when seen by individuals, they would immediately think that it belongs to your brand. Perhaps it can be your color scheme, your logo, brand ambassadors, layout, or custom fonts.

Also, treat online branding as part of your operations, rather than marketing. Think of it as part of the company procedures. This means that you need to post frequently in order to be consistent. Be present. Constantly remind the audience that your business is still alive and kicking. Consistency in posting is a sign that interested customers can expect you to respond to them.

5. Product/Service superiority. The nature of the Internet means that poor products/services can go viral and cause damage more quickly than before when there’s only traditional media. But this also means that a good reputation can also spread and boost your brand just as rapidly. Knowing this, it is all the more crucial to invest and create a unique product/service that captivates the online market and you are more likely to leave a lasting impression that will translate into success. With information so readily available, product/service superiority is the key element that will affect your online brand.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin, C-4, Sunday, March 27, 2016. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.