3 Keys to Brand Success in Digital Marketing

If your company hasn’t already established a digital marketing strategy, it’s time to get on board. We are living in a world where establishing an online presence is paramount to the success of a brand. Consumers are no longer visiting offices and pulling out phone books to find products and services. They’re going online, where the options (and the competition) are limitless. And without a marketing strategy to ensure that your brand is staking its claim in the digital landscape, you’re bound to struggle for survival. Blindly trying to market a company in the massive digital-scape is going to waste a lot of time, money and resources. Setting up a clear digital marketing strategy, however, is going to save you resources by streamlining your goals and boosting your brand. Here, we take a look at three ways a solid digital marketing strategy can directly influence the success of your brand. Visuals Establish Your Brand Identity in the Global Marketplace Your brand’s identity encompasses all feelings, thoughts and experiences associated with your company. It also encompasses all of the visual aspects that invoke these physical and emotional responses from the consumer. The right kind of visuals are going to define your brand, and most importantly, connect with your consumers on an emotional level. Likewise, the wrong kind of visuals are going to be ineffective and confusing. Thus, the starting point for establishing any brand identity — online or not — starts with the visuals. When it comes to the world of digital marketing, these visuals include logos, infographics, animations, Web design, mobile app design, photographs and more. In fact, advances in technology are enhancing visuals in the digital realm every day. But this plethora of design options, combined with a monumental global marketplace and constantly evolving technology can get real messy, real quick. A solid marketing strategy, however, is going to help you make sense of these new technologies so that you can best utilize them to serve your brand and your message. It’s going to help you hone-in on your consumers’ needs and wants, so that you can align your brand identity with what best appeals to them. The stronger your visual identity is online, the stronger your brand is in the marketplace. It’s as simple as that. [caption id="attachment_67058" align="aligncenter" width="500"] This infographic, courtesy of Acumen Studio, showcases how a strong marketing strategy can help you make sense of the massive digital landscape.[/caption] Broaden Your Reach, Exponentially Forty percent of the world’s population — more than 3.6 billion people — are on the Internet today. That is a massive pool of potential brand loyalists. But before you can convert the consumers, you’ve got to attract them. There are also more than 600 million active websites in the world. And each one of them is trying to latch onto this massive customer base. That means you have got to make sure that your website is one that stands apart from the other 600-plus million. So, how are you going to do that? It starts with, you guessed it, a solid digital marketing plan. The same elements that you need to create your online brand identity are now going to help you attract new consumers. This begins with phenomenal visuals and interactive Web experiences, which speak not only to your brand’s mission, but also to your audience. The more interactive and emotionally charged your website is, the more users you’re going to attract, and the more loyalists you’ll eventually be able to convert. But increasing your customer base doesn’t stop with a visually effective website. You need to consider your total reputation on the Web, and here’s where other factors come into play. You see, the Internet has effectively shifted the traditional word-of-mouth advertising approach to the digital realm. A great example of this is the power now being given to consumers through review sites, such as Yelp and Amazon. Consumers are now using these sites to move past traditional ads, so they can get a real-world feel for brands. Building a successful reputation for yourself on the Web — review sites included — has the ability to make or break your brand. But never fear! Your digital marketing strategy is here! By dialing-in on your consumer’s wants and needs, your marketing strategy is going to help you know which review sites and platforms — including the monolith of social media platforms now available. You’ll know which ones you need to be active on and how to best connect with your audience on these platforms. In short, your digital marketing strategy is not only going to help you attract customers, but it’s also going to help you retain and continue building that base, across a multitude of platforms. Evolve Your Brand Think of the great ones — Apple, Nike, Starbucks — well, you get the picture. These megabrands all have one very important element in common: brand evolution. That’s right, each of these retail Hall of Famers has learned to master the evolution of their brand’s identity throughout time. From logo redesigns, to website overhauls, to social media and mobile app usage, these companies have all worked hard to evolve their brands so that their identities consistently align with their company values and connect with their loyal customers. All of the great ones know that if a brand fails to keep moving forward with its consumers, it’s going to eat the dust left behind. Thus, the greatest brands in the world are the ones that keep figuring out just what makes their customers tick and how to connect with them. These are the ones that become timeless. A digital marketing strategy is going to be crucial to evolving your brand. This is because an integral part of any digital marketing strategy is the constant assessment and evaluation of how well your brand is making use of technology to connect with consumers. It’s going to be what leads you in important decision-making; especially when it’s time for your company to consider a total rebrand. From logos, to websites, to mobile apps, to live streams, your digital marketing strategy is going to be right there with you, lighting the path each step of the way. [caption id="attachment_67062" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Apple logo evolution[/caption] [caption id="attachment_67063" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Nike logo evolution[/caption] [caption id="attachment_67065" align="aligncenter" width="449"] Apple, Nike, and Starbucks logos showcase their successful brand evolution.[/caption] Conclusion The only thing that we know for sure about the digital world is that change is a constant. And the best digital marketing strategies are those that account for change. In fact, marketing strategies are transient in nature because their entire purpose is to ensure that your brand is consistently aligned with the ever-shifting digital landscape. A strong digital marketing strategy is going to establish your brand identity, keep your customer base growing and, most importantly, ensure that your brand is evolving. These concepts — growing, evolving — well, they’re continuous. And a sound digital marketing strategy is, too. In fact, it’s what’s going to ensure that your brand is never left behind, never stagnant, but always growing.

Performance Marketing

3 Keys to Brand Success in Digital Marketing

Gabriel Shaoolian

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Gabriel Shaoolian