Developing an effective online marketing strategy is essential for business growth – we know that. If you are not marketing your services online, your competitors are. Think of the web and social profiles as an opportunity to provide a first impression for your clients and prospects. Strong branding can attract new clients, while weak or non-existent branding can leave you trailing behind your competitors, and may even lead to a loss of existing clients.
Avoid the pitfalls of lackluster branding by following my top tips!
How Will You Grow Your Business in 2019?
Before you jump headfirst into building your brand, consider your overall business plan. How are you planning on building your business? What does your growth strategy look like? What is your budget for branding and marketing expenses? What are the key tenants of your business?
Your business plan is going to determine what you have to work with in terms of funds and resources. As your business grows, you will have more resources to dedicate to your online strategy.
Define Your Target Demographic
Branding is a very important part of how you connect with your target demographic. As mentioned earlier, this is your first impression. In order to make a successful first impression on your target demographic, you need to know this group inside and out.
To start off, figure out who will benefit most from your services. Consider qualities like income bracket, career, age, where your target demographic lives, and so on.
Using Your Value Proposition
Part of your branding will be dedicated to showing your target demographic how your services are a better fit for them over the services offered by your competitors. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean you will be calling out other brands directly. What this really means is stressing how your firm is unique and different from everyone else.
Basically, your branding needs to say, “Our business can give you this amazing thing that no one else can!”
To learn more about determining your value proposition check out this blog post.
Build a Marketing Strategy
Your marketing strategy will be the vehicle for your brand. Marketing enables you to tell your target demographic about the services you offer and your firm’s mission statement. Your marketing materials should be a clear representation of your brand.
The text, fonts, logos and all of the graphics should look and feel like they are part of your firm. In fact, any consumer looking at any of your marketing materials should be able to connect your brand’s style and aesthetic to your firm.
Establish a Web Presence
Got a website? Good. That’s a great start. It is also a good idea for your company to have profiles on all social media platforms, including any platforms that your target demographic is likely to use. For instance, let’s say you own a photography service: this type of business would benefit the most from an Instagram and a Flicker account.
Maintaining an active social media presence is good for growth and visibility, but it also makes it easier for people to connect with you directly. This direct connection allows you to build a strong reputation. To maintain that connection, share on-brand posts regularly and respond to comments to encourage engagement.
Collecting Data and Making Adjustments
Successful branding hinges on expansive market research. Collect as much data as you can on your target demographic in order to tailor your marketing strategy to their taste. Once you have a branding strategy developed, it will be beneficial to continue collecting data around your clients’ responses to various parts of your brand and marketing materials.
You can then use the data that you collect to measure the effectiveness of your branding. It is always a good idea to make adjustments based on this data. The branding of your firm should be constantly evolving and shifting based on your market research. Changing with your target demographic will help you retain their loyalty and interest.
Here’s to a great 2019!
Marly Broudie is the Founder of SocialEyes Communications – a digital marketing and business development firm based in Toronto, Ontario.
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