Why Branding is More Important Than Ever
Digital marketing is an ever-changing landscape, which means that your brand needs to stay nimble and react to new opportunities quickly. New tools, trends and strategies emerge constantly, but that doesn’t mean the fundamentals of branding are no longer important. In fact, in a world where information is constantly at our fingertips, and there is so much noise online, a strong brand is more vital than ever before.
What is brand awareness?
Branding is the way in which your company is perceived by customers. It’s what people think of when they see your logo or hear your name. It’s the reason you can charge more for your products and services and have a higher conversion rate compared to your competitors. Branding isn’t just a logo or a catchy tagline; it’s the entire image of your company, including your employees and everything that you do. It’s also the way that customers perceive your company and how likely they are to buy from you.
Defining brand awareness
Brand awareness is the percentage of your target market that knows who you are and what you do. It’s important because it shows how successful your marketing efforts have been. The more of your target market that is aware of you and your services, the more customers you are likely to get. It’s important to note that brand awareness is different from brand recognition. Whereas brand awareness is about how many people know about your company, brand recognition is about how many people know your name. This is often a higher percentage than brand awareness, but it is just as important.
Why is Branding More Important in Digital Marketing?
The digital and physical worlds have become increasingly intertwined over the last few years. Consumers want a seamless experience that spans across platforms, and businesses have had to adapt.
We’re now living in a world where your online presence has greater influence than your physical presence. It’s also a world where brands have less control over their message. The internet has allowed buyers to be more critical and vocal about their experience. If they have a bad experience, they are quick to voice their opinions online.
Because of this, it is more critical than ever before to have a strong brand presence. A strong brand will help you weather the storm, so to speak. A brand is a promise, and if you’re able to deliver on that promise consistently, you’ll be seen as a leader in your industry.
Brands are key in the digital world
If you don’t have a brand, you don’t really exist in the eyes of your customers. This might seem dramatic, but it’s true. In the world of digital marketing, where product lifecycles are extremely short, a strong brand is essential.
A product lifecycle is the period of time that a product is released and is available for purchase, as well as the period of time that it’s actually being purchased. Products, especially technological products, have very short lifecycles. Consumers are very quick to discard items if the next version comes out. This means that the product you’re marketing today needs to be completely replaced with a new one before the previous version is even used up.
Brands are a gateway to consumer behaviour
We can learn a lot about our customers by the way they interact with your brand on social media.
When you post, what type of language do you use?
What types of posts receive the most engagement?
A great example of this is Domino’s. They were struggling financially, and their profits were on the decline. They decided to do a complete overhaul of their branding, from their logo to their social media presence.
They decided to embrace the fact that they are a pizza chain and make light of the fact that most people have eaten pizza. They stopped apologising for what they did and started making fun of their industry.
They now have one of the most engaged social media pages on the internet. They have millions more followers and customers. They have a higher conversion rate.
Strong brands lead to growth and ROI
A strong brand is a reflection of your company as a whole. It is a promise that you make to your customers and a promise that they make to you. It is important to keep these promises consistent from one platform to the next.
Consistency is key. There are a few ways to measure the effectiveness of your branding.
Engagement
How many people are interacting with your posts?
Are you posts getting likes, comments, and shares?
These are great indicators that people are learning about your brand and that you are delivering a consistent message.
Conversions
How many sales are being made? What is the average sale amount?
How long does it take people to buy from your website?
These are great indicators of how effective your sales strategy is and how much profit your company is making.
Summing up
Branding is more important than ever before. Digital marketing is a very quick-moving landscape and it can be very easy to get lost in the shuffle.
It is important to have a strong brand in place so that you can stay ahead of the curve and have a consistent message across all platforms.
A strong brand will also help you grow your business with increased sales and higher conversion rates.
