Chapter 4: 7 Elements of Digital Branding
We know the elements of Branding or Branding Management like Brand Image, Brand Identity, Brand Personality, Brand Positioning, and many more.
When it comes to Digital Branding we fail to figure out these things so let’s have a look at them.
- Logo (Brand Identity)
- Impact (Brand Image)
- Digital Channels (Brand Positioning)
- Website & Social Platforms (Brand personality)
- Digital Influence (Brand equity)
- Strong & Unique Content (Brand Communication & Differentiation)
- Review and Analysis (Brand Extension)
Some tangible things like Brand Gap and Brand Experience might be missing in this because of some limitations of using Digital Platforms in Digital Branding.
1. Logo (Brand Identity) :
A brand of course is said when some bunch of people can identify it by hearing its name or seeing its logo or typography or any other element.
Digitally it boils down to the logo and colors that present the identity of a brand. A Brand Logo should be clearly recognizable and should represent a particular brand.
Many people mistook that a logo should pass the message about the business, but always remember that “A logo is meant to be recognized and not to pass a message.”
As soon as you are a Brand, your logo doesn’t need to tell that what your company does or provides. People know themselves that what you stand for. For example, the best-branded company till date ‘Apple’ doesn’t have any single representation of its products or services in its logo.
On the other side you can still recognize it because of its elegance, while if you are going to provide too much detailing in your logo about your services, people will fail to notice it and might not recognize it.
Also, colors play an important part in creating a Brand Identity. The color of your logo should properly align with your brand identity and your work. You can get an overview of which color represents in the below image.
2. Impact (Brand Image)
Whether it’s Offline Branding or Digital Branding the core purpose is always to make an impact when people look at it.
Talking about Digital Branding, what people are gonna see is visuals on social platforms, the design of your website, and the most important thing authenticity of your digital presence.
The question is How can you make an impact on viewers?
The answer is by showing the goodwill of your digital presence.
You can show this by embedding reviews, getting video testimonials on your website. Not only your website but people are also going to check your presence out there on other well-known business directories and also on Social Media Platform.
Also if you can have your company presence on various high DA/PA websites like Wikipedia that it is even better for the brand.
And also in this thing, you need to focus on Quantity equally to the quality because the wider your business is present, the more your brand will be recognized.
Thus make sure that you build and maintain goodwill across the digital platforms wherever there is your presence. It is really going to help you make an impact.
3. Digital Channels (Brand Positioning)
Philip Kotler defines Brand Positioning as “the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”.
In order to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of targeted marketing, you need to find two things.
The first obvious thing is the Target Market because it’s there in the definition. Just joking, not because it is in the definition but it is really important to define the target market.
The second thing that you must figure out for your Brand Positioning is what distinctive characteristic you want to be there in the mind of people. This will not only be helpful in Brand Positioning but it will help you in whole Digital Branding.
Now here’s the good part, being on a Digital platform gives you the power of Insights and analytics tools that different provides you. A normal man can easily understand the analytics and it can help you find both of the above mentioned necessary elements for Brand Positioning.
4. Website & Social Platforms (Brand personality)
Always remember, personality has the power to uplift, the power to depress, the power to curse, and the power to bless. Your digital Brand Personality totally depends on your own direct presence Digitally and that is your website and social media platforms.
Talking about your website, it’s ok to have a look from the perspective of SEO, it’s good to focus on some essential parts to get the audience in, but in that don’t forget about your business.
Let me tell you a beautiful story,
I was on holiday and to my all good luck I stayed in a 5-star resort.
That resort has a very beautiful and huge lobby.
I think it can accommodate more than 10-12 rooms of good enough size in the area of the lobby.
To my curiosity, I asked the manager at the resort that why so much space if left empty for a lobby that almost no-one uses.
The manager replied to me that “Sir, all the people who come to the resort for booking first come to the reception desk in the lobby which creates the first impression in their mind about the personality of the resort and which is why they pay us this much high price for it.”
This teaches how important it is to show exhibits even if people are not going to use them.
The same is the story with Social media and the website of your company, your consumers are never going to use your website or social media platforms but it is important to make a Digital Brand Personality to the audience.
5. Digital Influence (Brand equity)
We had heard the word “Influencer a lot” in today’s digital world. Think of it, how great it would be if you will become an influencer?
Now come down, let’s get back to understanding what Influence is actually?
Influence is not about numbers, the number of Subscribers or followers it is neither the size of your network. Influence is basically the number of people engaging or responding according to your actions.
Being an individual is cool, but making your company a leader and influencing is something awesome.
The brand equity of your company in Digital Branding is defined by what kind of influence you have over how many people.
6. Strong & Unique Content (Brand Communication & Differentiation)
Brand Communication is defined as “a tool of brand management by which the companies inform, persuade, enlighten, teach, remind, and enrich the knowledge of their stakeholders about the brand, its strengths, values, fundamentals, and its offerings of products and services.”
Or making it simpler!
Brand Communication is how the brand communicates with its stakeholders and showcases its values.
Don’t take the word to communicate here for granted, many brands make mistakes here. Brand Communication, specifically in Digital Branding is not only limited to talking but is far more.
The term “APPLE” is used as an abbreviation for Brand Communication, it means
Approach: How you approach a stranger
Probing: How you probe or Inquire your audience about their interests
Presenting: Presenting or Offering a solution to his/her problem or interests
Listening: Listening to the response and feedback to your offering.
Ending: Ending the conversation with a heartfelt and mesmerizing experience.
Coming to Brand Differentiation, it is all about how you can differentiate your brand in all ways.
Following are some major ways that I think you can differentiate your brand while Digital Branding.
- Represent your brand as an expert
- Create a Mascot
- Innovate
- Appeal to emotions
- Be relevantly shocking
- Personify your product
Let us move to the final elements of Digital Branding and that is Brand Extension.
7 Review and Analysis (Brand Extension)
Brand Extension is basically a way to encourage new products under an already existing Brand Name to take the advantage of its brand equity.
For Ex: Nike was originally selling shoes but after that, they introduced sunglasses, garments, bags, and a lot more.
Talking about Brand Extension in Digital Branding, you need to first mine a niche and showcase your company as an expert of any one of your services or a market leader in any one of your products.
After that comes the interesting part, it is a lot easier to divert people from one thing to another digitally.
You can also use methods like Collaboration and affiliates for extending your brand or use someone else’s brand name for benefit of your own.
Hey you, I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SCROLLING THROUGH THE WHOLE BLOG.
Now go and start READING Chapter 5 to win Digital Branding game- ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA BRANDING.
