With more competition in every single market these days, there’s one thing more important than ever before if you’re going to see some interest moving forward; marketing. According to the great Henry Ford, creator of the Ford Motor Company, ‘Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch trying to save time’.
For the longest time, advertising has been critical for building interest in a service and this has only become even more important as technology continually pushes industries forward. Of course, the platform marketing uses has certainly changed over the past decade or so but the same principles apply. Even with the best products in the world, you could still go out of business without marketing; the old adage of ‘build it and they will come no longer applies’.
So, what do you need to do? In today’s world, it starts with a presence online and today we’re going to talk about branding and how you can boost your website’s brand online.
Branding - Before launching into some tips, we should first discuss the topic of branding because there seems to have been some confusion over the term in recent years. With branding, it comes from everything you do as a business and, with today’s online platform, it comes through the design of your website, the tone you use with all content, the way in which you communicate with customers, and more.
Before the internet, it would regard the colours used on a shop storefront, company vehicles, leaflets, staff uniform, etc. Essentially, the term describes how customers and potential customers perceive a company. With the brand Coca Cola, you immediately link them to the colour red because everything they do is connected with red. On the internet, this is used on their website, social media channels, and every other location they use.
With this in mind, how do you make your business more recognisable and memorable to the average consumer?
Create a Plan - First and foremost, nothing can ever get done without a plan and this is something people often forget. Instead, they just jump right in, try a dozen new tactics, see a smattering of results, not know where the results have come from and why they have arisen, and then feel confused as to where they should proceed from there. Before you do anything, you need to think about what you’re trying to achieve and how you’re going to achieve it.
If you’ve been in business for a while, how do your current customers perceive your business? With branding, the interesting thing to remember is that it comes from how other people see your business. Sure, you can influence this (and this is our topic for today) but the end result will always come from your consumers and the wider audience. Therefore, your plan will begin with research and finding out what your existing customers think of your business. With a simple survey on your website or a poll on Twitter, you can gain an insight.
If you haven't yet made an impact within your niche, you need to ask how you wish to be perceived. Once you know this key ingredient, every other decision you make will be geared towards reaching this goal.
Website Design - Next up, we have the design of your website because this will become the foundation of your branding in 2017. Back in 2011, a KISSMetrics report suggested that 85% of people have colour as the most important purchasing decision; this accounts for both brands and products. When the right colours are used, brand recognition can increase by 80%. Therefore, your first decision should regard colour and you can build from here.
As a business, you should have a colour synonymous with your products or services. Regardless of whether there’s an offline aspect to your business or not, a colour still enables consumers to create that link to your company. When they see an ad on Facebook or a social media interaction, they see the colour and automatically think of your brand. As soon as you allow this to happen, you’ll be in a great position in the coming weeks, months, and years.
Finally, before we move away from the basics, you also need a logo. As before, it doesn’t matter whether there’s a physical aspect to your business or not because you still need a logo. If you want to create a strong branding strategy this year, the colour and overall design will provide the foundation while your logo builds on this. If you collaborate with other companies in the future, consumers want to see your logo and feel as though the video is worth watching or the product is worth buying. With a colour and logo in place, you have an identity.
Brand Everything - With the basics covered, we want to provide some tips that will really help you to solidify your position in the market. To start, we believe your brand should be weaved into absolutely everything you do. Whether it’s advertising a brand-new product or sending a post out on social media, your branding should be visible at all times. Even when blogging, your character should shine through and this should give all readers an opportunity to learn more about your company and service.
Consistency is Key - Following on from the previous point, you can’t choose a certain design for the home page of your website before then completely abandoning this for the next one. With some companies, they use a different design for every single page before then using a third design for social media. Once again, we refer you to the Coca Cola analogy because you wouldn't find them using blue web pages and creating this level of inconsistency.
Furthermore, we’ve spent a significant period of time talking about the design of your website and all things visual but consumers create their opinions on more than just what they see. Within your website, you should be keeping the same tone of voice from the very first page and blog to the very last. Over the years, we’ve seen some companies use a sarcastic and humorous tone on their blog. As more people started to follow, this became their unique selling point (USP) and people returned because it provided them with a nice break from the day.
After a little while, they tried to introduce a couple of serious topics with a more forceful tone and it was taken in the wrong way. In the same way, a company known for seriousness and informational web content will struggle to do well with humorous content. For this reason, we urge you to stick to the plan we discussed at the beginning and allow your consumers to know you for this one factor rather than switching and changing every few days.
Stick to the Plan - When many businesses attempt to build their brand online, they try to target absolutely everybody when this simply isn't a good thing to even attempt. In the world, there are over seven billion people with every single one of us unique in our tastes, what we like, what we dislike, how we act, etc. Unfortunately, you’re not ever going to please everyone because there has never been a business in existence that has managed to please everybody. In fact, those who go above and beyond to please the majority actually end up pleasing fewer people.
At all times, we urge you to stick to your plan because this will enable you to find YOUR audience. Rather than appealing to everyone and not having a dedicated customer base, keep on track and follow the plan. Over time, your branding will come across in the right way and the right people become long-term customers.
Emotion - When online, it’s certainly harder to build a connection with consumers than having a physical store and presence. However, you need to rely on the same factors that work for both and one of the largest is emotion. Throughout this guide, we’ve talked about design and the colours you use and it shouldn't be about the latest trends; these shouldn't mean anything to you. Instead, you need to evoke an emotion and there are many ways to do this.
Not only will you find this power in colour and design, you’ll find it in your writing and the content across your online presence. While some companies will want to go for vibrant colours and an energetic tone of voice when writing, others will be better with black and white and a more solemn or professional tone. Ultimately, it’s about finding what’s right for your industry and evoke the desired emotion within your visitors by building the brand in this way.
Add Value - Considering you’re now branding with every single action you take online, it’s a good time to discuss adding value to the lives of your consumers. Sure, having your name, logo, and colours all over the internet is a good thing but you don’t want to be known as the company to avoid. Instead, you need to be adding value to the lives of consumers and all visitors to your website.
These days, video content is a HUGE market for online website branding. On social media and on your website, a recent release of statistics suggests 43% of people want to see more video marketing online. Since videos activate the eyes, ears, and different sensors in our brain, viewers are more likely to retain the information within a video for a longer period of time and this is great news for your branding.
For around twenty years, websites have been offering text-based content so now is the time for something different. Whether you choose to provide product tutorials, behind-these-scenes videos at special events or in the office, or simple introduction videos to the business, this will be superb for your branding efforts. At the start of the video, you could run an introduction with your colour, logo, and a catchy tune. Whenever your intro runs, eventually people will know who is responsible. Since the content is genuinely helpful, you also add value and your brand becomes known for good-quality content.
Summary - All things considered, branding online can be tough these days with a competitive market. However, we strongly believe you can succeed if you follow these tips. To supercharge your website’s branding online this year, you should create a plan, stick to the plan, be unique, add value, carefully consider website design, and be consistent in everything you do. Soon enough people will know your name and know what your business is all about just by looking at a logo or even a colour (that’s the dream, right?).