How Brand Management Applies to the Digital Space
For many, the term “brand management” is often used as an umbrella term to encompass all the facets of creating a business identity. Often, companies are left without much explanation as to how to achieve this elusive goal in the online sphere, a problem that is becoming more prevalent as digital takes over business.
Even for those who have created a successful offline identity for their business, the relatively new online space presents previously unforeseen difficulties. What constitutes a brand online? Is it merely an owned website, or is it an expansive social media portfolio? What should businesses be doing to establish their brand position online?
For those businesses seeking to establish or further develop their brand, there are a number of ways in which they can create and maintain an online brand status. Perhaps the first action when creating an online profile for a brand is to obtain all the variations of the business website domain and social media profiles.
This may include regional web domains (such as .com or .co.uk) or similarly named domains that may be discovered by mistake by customers or clients. This ensures that no competing business can gain traction by using a similar domain name, and clients or customers are directed to the correct web address.
Social media is a very useful tool for establishing a brand tone of voice and for creating a business personality. Add to that, it is also one of the easiest ways to create a sense of a personality for a business. Do you want to attract high net worth individuals? If so then targeting Twitter users with elite interests might be the key for creating a suitable online persona.
Additionally, in today’s world of constant connectivity, sharing content from social media is not just particular to the general public; it is a frequently used method for finding stories for members of the press. This can generate excellent publicity for your company and at the same time establish a brand image.
Creating an official blog can also help drive traffic directly to your website for certain keywords. Using search engine optimised articles to directly link your company with key ideas can help with brand management. For example, positioning your business as the “commodity trading company based in Oxford”, for example, can create mental associations for clients and customers that aid with creating a brand image.
To link both your online and offline profiles, including social media profiles on company literature such as business cards is a simple way to direct people towards your online brand strategy. Making your online profile as relevant to your offline company is key; attracting interest from digital occupiers with similar interests demonstrates to your company’s audience base that your business is at the top of its sector.
Google and other search engines have changed the way that people search for information, and this has directly influenced how brands are perceived. As customers and clients increasingly discover brands online first, rather than in an offline capacity, businesses need to adapt their current brand management strategy.
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