The Importance of Branding for a Digital Marketing Strategy

Defining your brand isn’t a new concept, but now more than ever, many companies understand the importance of using their brand to connect with potential buyers on an emotional level. Therefore, it’s paramount to not only define your brand but to live it out. And branding isn’t just for larger companies with a jumbo marketing budget - it’s a crucial component to small businesses and startups. In fact, these companies should rely on leveraging their branding even more than larger more-established companies in order to stand out from the noise.

So, what is a brand? Is it your logo? Is it the colors used on your business cards and website? Those are extensions of your brand and tools to convey your brand, but your brand is primarily what your audience thinks about when they see your company name and logo. Brand is what they feel when they see your company. It’s who you are. It’s what you stand for - outside of the services you offer. It should reflect your personality and your values. It’s what makes you, YOU! It’s what sets you apart from your competition.

Thanks to the digital age we live in - there is a lot of noise. Distractions are at every click, scroll and swipe to take us away from what we’re searching for. Having a well-defined brand is vital to your digital marketing strategy, and here’s why:

1. Your brand tells your story. More than ever, buyers are leading with emotion. They want to know what you stand for. Customers define themselves by the brands they use, and they want to know if the two of you (them and your brand) are like-minded.They are expecting your brand to make them feel a certain way aspirationally. Nearly 20 years ago, the term emotional branding was coined by the late branding icon Marc Gobe. He wrote a book all about it.  When you create that emotional connection, you win. Your customers can identify with you and using your products or services gives them the same feel-good emotions time after time.

2. It creates loyalty. Once you have made the emotional connection with a customer, you have created a sense of loyalty to your brand that allows you to withstand the noise your audience is constantly trying to filter through. The Pareto Principle states that 80% of your business comes from 20% of your audience - that 20% are the ones who are emotionally invested in your company and will not only be a repeat customer, but they will act as a brand ambassador for you spreading the word about your services.  Your product or service delivers on your brand promise and your brand continues to build.

3. Your brand gives people something to talk about. A strong brand that’s easily identifiable and memorable creates a talking point for future conversations between your customers and their sphere of influence. When something is easily identifiable, it’s easy to remember the name of the product or company. People are more inclined to share their experience when they can easily remember the company’s name and what makes them so great.

It’s enticing to deploy digital marketing efforts - social media plans, online advertising, email distribution or a hyped up website - but without the strong stance and definition of your brand, development of your brand voice and who you want to share your brand with, you’ll be scrambling for the words, the benefits and concise message in all of your digital marketing efforts.

Once you realize your brand is much more than a logo and much more than a means to a one-and-done transaction, you will begin to rise above the chatter and stand out in a sea of competition creating life-long relationships with your audience that will propel your business to new heights.

Interested in a brand complementing digital strategy to take you to the next level? Shoot us a message. We’d love to hear your story.