7 steps to build a strong online brand

Whether you are on social media, or you have a sleek website or you have a consistent brand aesthetic online, all is not enough. Branding your business on the web demands more of interaction than just presentation. You need to be up to speed in innovation and ingenious with the new rules of online branding.

Online branding is a must-have stepping stone to reach more audience interaction, achieving a vital emotional connection with your customers. A successful online branding and promotion bring in more customers, more exposure and above all, more sales.

If you are wondering where to begin the online branding routine, I’m here to offer you some easy ways that you can follow and build an online presence for your business. I am sure you will reap the rewards in the process.

Create a mission statement

First things first, you need to tell your audience who you are and why you matter. Whether you sell smartphones online, offer consultation services or make African bracelets, you matter and you need to tell your target audience you matter. The first thing, therefore, is to develop a mission statement for your business. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Why have we started?
• How do we intend to help people?
• Where do we want to be within this period of time?

The above questions bring out a better understanding of who you are as a business.

Set up a blog

One effective way of building an online presence of your business is by creating a blog. You will use the blog to regularly publish content that is relevant, authoritative, and on-the-pulse and helps keep track with both new and old customers.

Your blog should talk about the following:

• Your views and thoughts on your industry
• Who you are as a company
• Your services and products

Join social networks

If your business is not on social media, then the time is now. Social media is free to join and it’s a simple way to develop customer relationship and at the same time promote your brand. The three giants on the web are Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram which you should open accounts with as early as today. Use them to promote your brand and engage with your target customers.

Leveraging social media helps you connect with your customers’ old and new, handling a social audience in a positive way. The sites offer a great way to make money online.

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 Consult with a mentor

Brand promotion introduces new lessons to learn every single day. Consider working with an experienced mentor to help you maneuver as you join the online world. Let them share with you their experiences and how they learned from their mistakes. Research on a list of mentors close to your circles.

Video marketing

There is a big future in video marketing. It’s said to go up to 65% of the total internet traffic by next year. With over 60% of digital marketers planning to invest every coin on making videos for their branding strategies, going for it is a no-brainer. Consumers want something that is easy-to-digest, a video that they can watch quickly before getting to other things.

The video has to be well-made, designed to grab the audience’s attention and come with a strong positive brand image for it to do wonders for your business. Video platforms include YouTube, Vimeo, and Vine not forgetting the new inbuilt to social media platforms like Facebook and twitter.

Develop a consistent tone of voice

All your communication channels need to have a consistent tone of voice on both verbal and written materials.

It’s extremely important to define your brand, your identity and explain the product you are offering in one unified tone of voice.

Make use of the same language, character, and tone on your blog as well as other channels of communication you use – be it social media updates, email marketing or whatever else. Safaricom has been cited as of the best brands we have in Kenya that has developed and maintained one consistent tone of voice.

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Avoid copying 0thers

Jack Ma, the founder, and CEO of Alibaba Group of companies is quoted saying, “You should learn from your competitor, but never copy. Copy and you die.” Know that developing your brands is the same thing as developing yourself. Many companies have done this, copying and mimicking another brand’s style and can do nothing good to your brand. It makes you look empty of ideas and lazy. Now your mission should remind you why you exist and who you want to be as a brand. Boil out ideas and curve your own distinct identity.

Lastly, you need to think long term. Your online branding strategy has to be followed by some future thoughts. The branding and promotion you will start with have to help you achieve your long-term goals from a bigger picture. Short term branding rarely works. Ensure you are always eying the next month, the next quarter and several years to come and incorporate that into your branding planning.

 Bernard Muiru is  the Digital Marketing Officer at Kilimall International. Email: [email protected]