Is it time to reinforce your small business brand online?
In this digital age, a strong online presence is vital. Building up your online brand increases your chances of connecting with customers old and new, and standing out above the competition.
So just how can you reinforce your online brand?
Start with these steps…
Make a Good First Impression
From your web page to your social media profiles, your online presence needs to make a good first impression.
Imagine if you went into a bricks and mortar store and found stock strewn everywhere and the signage falling apart?
Your online presence is the digital equivalent of a bricks and mortar store and needs to be neat, well laid out, and welcoming.
Things to pay attention to include:
- A pleasing and easy to navigate layout that looks good on desktop or mobile;
- Informative social media profiles with all information filled in;
- A clear message about your brand;
- An obvious way to contact you;
- Easy access to all the information a customer could need;
- Working links, buttons and widgets with no bugs.
Develop Your Brand Look and Feel
A recognizable look and feel will give your online presence a boost and make it memorable and easy to relate to.
Your brand look and feel includes your colors and logo, of course. It also includes your brand tone of voice, writing style, and even your ethics and values.
From your color choices to your images, your online presence should reflect the message you want to give about your brand.
Think of your brand as a person.
What kind of personality would click well with your customers? And how can you make sure you convey that clearly?
Keep Your Branding Consistent Across Channels
Once you've developed your brand look and feel, it's important to keep your branding consistent across all online channels. Consistency equals an easily recognizable voice that customers will respond to.
As the article "These 8 Simple Things Will Reinforce Your Small Business' Brand Online" says, your brand should make use of brand guidelines to keep things consistent.
Include information about colors, fonts and logos and use these to customize your online spaces. Add your logo or a custom header to your social media profiles, and don't forget to make use of custom colors.
When it comes to content, a style guide is invaluable.
Put together a style guide that covers everything from tone of voice, acceptable topics, and punctuation conventions. Make sure any staff members who use your social media profiles or update your website are familiar with, and adhere to, your style guide.
Focus on Quality Content
If you want to reinforce your online presence, good quality content is a must.
Colors and logos will establish the look and feel of your brand, but content will establish the quality and benefit you offer your customers.
From a lengthy white paper to a Tweet, everything you publish should have a clear purpose and offer your customers something informative, amusing, thought provoking or of benefit in some way.
Keep Your Accounts Active
If you want your online presence to shine, you need to pay attention to it. Looking the part isn't enough. Inactive or rarely updated accounts and tired out duplicate content should be banished.
It's all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking your business needs to be active on every social media platform. In fact, picking the two or three that are most useful to your brand in terms of customer engagement makes more sense.
Three accounts with regular quality content will do more for your online presence than six accounts that are gathering dust.
Reinforcing your business brand online will ensure you're heard loud and clear, keeping you in your customers' minds.
Get started today and build an online presence that works for you.