Every time a customer comes across your product, they are left with an impression of your brand. Your brand reflects your promise to customers and their overall experience from your products and services.
When it comes to engaging with potential clients, the importance of branding online plays a significant role. It provides a platform to reach a broader audience that wouldn’t otherwise be reachable.
But before we discuss the importance of branding online, it is important to first understand the basis of branding.
What is Branding?
A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer.” – Seth Godin, author of Linchpin
If you’re looking for an actual definition of branding, you can find many. Well, just enough for you to get confused because of the vagueness of this concept.
Perhaps creating an illustration will allow you to understand the concept a little better. Let’s take Coconut Water, for example. Coconut water has been considered a thirst quencher alongside conventional sports drinks.
But when you envision Coconut Water alone, you will likely think of the same clear liquid inside of a coconut that is already being sold at grocery stores. The question becomes: how will you sell the exact same product with so many competitors?
That’s where branding comes in. And as Marty Newmeier from The Brand Gap says,
“Your brand is not what you say it is, it’s what they say it is.”
BENEFITS OF BRANDING ONLINE
Increases Recognition
When people hear about your product and are unsure about it, chances are they will do a quick google search. They go online to find service providers and compare one product to another. This is a great way to get noticed and engage further with possible clients.
Increase in Demand
Branding online boosts sales. Your customers are so mesmerized by their overall experience from purchasing the product with undeniably great quality, prompt service to customers and so on that they are willing to buy more.
Not only that, they might even broadcast it on Facebook and recommend it to their friends. Thus, a naturally occurring word-of-mouth can steer dozens of new customers your way.
Reduced Advertising Costs
Online branding allows you to extend your reach at a much smaller cost. In the beginning, it may seem like you are spending more, but if you take into consideration the scale at which your online presence can reach, it is actually extremely cost-effective.
Once you have created your online branding presence, consumers will eventually do the advertising for you by constantly sharing your website with their friends. And thus, savings sets in!
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