Online branding: from company to brand

Targeted online branding ensures increasing brand awareness and more sales. But what makes good branding? Leonardo Lemos Rilk from our partner VIERLESS shows you how to become distinctive and (even) more successful with your corporate identity and the right strategy.

The coronavirus crisis has accelerated digitalization in many areas. During the corona-related lockdown and the phases before and after, people's social lives were severely restricted. Meeting up with friends, taking part in events and sporting activities, going to restaurants - basically everything that was still taken for granted as a leisure activity before March 2020 was not possible for months. What remained was an escape into the big wide world of the internet.

During the lockdown, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported a peak in the use of streaming platforms and activity on social networks. A trend that continues to this day. People are looking for distraction and something to do. They are shifting their activities to the internet to satisfy a basic need for entertainment, communication and participation. After all, most people are not loners, but are rather oriented towards a life in community.

Some companies recognized this need of online users as a trend early on and took appropriate measures to position themselves well on the Internet. Through the early and targeted implementation of online marketing measures, these companies were able to secure a competitive advantage that has generated them a leading position in their market segment to this day.

New customers or existing customers?

An essential marketing principle that is highly relevant in this context should not be forgotten: Acquiring new customers costs money, while existing customers bring in money. This principle is quite simple to understand. Existing customers have already built up a bond with the company and therefore no longer pay attention to every extra euro they spend on the product or service with the company they are already familiar with.

For new customers, on the other hand, price is the main criterion. They want to know that their expectations are being met' to get the best possible result at the best price. They carry out intensive price comparisons in the market and are deterred from making a purchase even by small price differences. Existing customers have already been convinced by the quality and price of the products or services and were satisfied.

Attracting the attention and subsequent buying interest of new customers to the company's offer initially requires a sometimes high investment, which is often disproportionate to the result. Quite a few companies allocate a large budget and personnel resources to their marketing measures. Traditional offline and online advertising or special promotions are intended to help generate new customers on a larger scale.

Low investment in customer retention

The costs for marketing measures extend to the management, which is involved in these tasks. These expenses also lead to a measurable reduction in the company's profits. Existing customers can be served with a fraction of these investments in order to maintain customer loyalty. Nevertheless, customer satisfaction remains at a high level and the company's profit margin moves into a more lucrative range.

This imbalance raises the following question: What is the best (and most profitable) approach to achieving the right balance between existing and new customers? The answer to this question is: use your branding. Branding is a successful marketing tool that can work wonders, especially in combination with online marketing.

Leading companies in their market segment - such as Amazon, Coca Cola, Starbucks and Apple - rely on this combination to significantly increase customer loyalty among existing customers with a predictable strategy and to bind new customers to the company in a targeted manner. In addition, branding can be individually tailored to the company's own philosophy and aligned with its visions and goals.

What is branding anyway?

In short, branding can be defined as the establishment of a brand through the use of targeted advertising measures. The intention is to associate the brand or product with certain messages, symbols or objects so that it or the product becomes recognizable. Successful branding can be recognized by the fact that customers ideally develop an emotional and positively charged relationship with the product and identify with the brand or have at least become accustomed to it in a positive sense.

The global players listed in the text above have extremely successful corporate branding. They have not only given their product an image, but have also developed a strong brand that stands for the entire company. The brand unites customers, employees and shareholders alike and enables them to identify with the company.

Brands can inspire with their message, offer orientation or sometimes even irritate. The right online branding measures increase the value of the brand and make it unmistakable. It has been proven: The more your own brand gains strength, the less susceptible the company is to price pressure on the market.

A good example of this is the company and the Apple brand. Brand perception and the associated general brand image of the company have increased so much since 2011 that many customers do not question the very high product prices compared to competitors. They buy because it is Apple, because they identify with the philosophy and image of the Apple brand.

In some cases, the behavior is ludicrous, with "Apple disciples" lining up outside Apple Stores the day before a product launch to be the first to hold the latest product in their hands. A similar phenomenon exists with companies in the luxury fashion sector. Here it is brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada that sell their customers not just products, but a complete lifestyle. These companies have a reputation among the masses as luxury brands and premium brands without having to mention the products at all.

Branding and its advantages

Branding creates trust

Ideally, customers have a good feeling when they think of the brand. Competence, authenticity and transparency are of great importance for a strong customer relationship, which also results in strong customer loyalty. By presenting these characteristics, a company with a high recognition value can establish itself in its market over the long term. Positive brand loyalty can be used much more easily and effectively for upselling and/or cross-selling at a later date

Branding motivates employees

From the company management to the management in the specialist departments to the trainees, there should be a uniform external image: Everyone represents the brand with pride. This is because the strength of the brand not only has an impact on customers, but also on the company itself. Motivated staff who get involved and contribute are priceless. Your own team should also support the company's goals and identify with the brand so that the internal attitude is transferred to the outside world.

Involving all employees according to their abilities and giving them responsibility and freedom to make decisions contributes to the value of the brand in the long term. Newcomers and interested people on the job market appreciate these values that make up a strong brand. If the brand is literally carried by all employees, this creates a positive perception from the inside out, which has a noticeable effect on attractiveness and value.

Branding increases reach and generates more sales

More than ever, successful branding leads to increased awareness. The online trade in products and services is steadily increasing. More and more people are shifting their purchases to the Internet. Those who have a professionally created website and are also active on social media channels have a clear competitive advantage and can expand their reach.

The online presence should follow a clear concept in which all measures follow a common thread. The brand message and the extended reach can be used in a targeted manner to achieve high impression figures, which inevitably leads to an increase in sales.

Which paths lead to good branding?

It all starts with storytelling. What is the story behind the company, its products or services? This is also about answering the "Why?". What requirements are solved and what added value do customers receive from the product? How can these messages be communicated as simply and comprehensibly as possible?

The various external communication channels must be individually analyzed and provided with the right amount of text, images, video and audio. The entire appearance must correspond to the brand communication and become an unmistakable experience. Satisfied customers carry this experience into their communities, which is another way to generate new customers. The influence of analog or digital word-of-mouth and customer reviews is very important on the Internet.

In order to maintain a unique position in the respective market segment, attention must be paid to a consistent brand perception right from the start. A clear strategy with a coherent message that has been developed holistically in advance, combined with the uniform and authentic presentation of a company's products or services, leads to a successful appearance. The prevailing sensory overload in the style of "buy now" creates a longing among consumer groups for relevant content that is communicated in a contemporary form and appropriate to the target group.

Quite a few companies have a good online marketing performance, but forget the branding aspect. Even the best advertising burns capital if it is not backed by a strong brand that is trustworthy and reputable. Online branding, also known as "digital branding", pursues a well thought-out strategy for building brand communication on the Internet. The means of social media, PR, SEO/SEA and content marketing are used to increase both the visibility of the brand on the internet and brand awareness.

Online branding and social media

Social media is currently the means to significantly increase the number of customer touchpoints. The structure of social media offers the opportunity to communicate continuously with the target group. This both strengthens the brand and provides an opportunity to present the company transparently online. It doesn't just make sense for start-ups or new companies to spread their founding story and purpose via social media.

Gary Vaynerchuck, a multi-entrepreneur and author from the USA, refers to this process as "document your journey". The intertwining of social media and branding gives the company more substance and brings the brand closer to the target group. Social media is closely linked to influencer marketing. Prominent influencers usually have a large reach, but their target group is rather inhomogeneous and unspecific, so the expected conversions often fail to materialize.

Corporate influencers form a third group. Working with this type of influencer is particularly recommended for small start-ups. Corporate influencers are employees from the companies themselves who receive targeted training and represent the brand credibly online.

This method has proven to be very efficient, as the direction remains in the hands of the company and the posts, stories and other contributions can be produced in line with the company's objectives. The company is therefore in control of how and with what information it wants to be perceived by the target group.

Corporate influencer marketing

Corporate influencer marketing also offers the advantage of increasing awareness and improving the image by focusing on a specific area, as well as generating interest and sales. Interest in the brand can be further increased through organic search engine optimization. The ranking is used by Google to assess the value of a brand.

Google is now able to evaluate content according to relevance, expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Professional branding takes these aspects into account and thus ensures that the important key figures and parameters set by Google are served. These include, for example, the length of time users spend on online channels and their return rate. In principle, corporate influencer marketing pursues the same goals as a high-quality website, which is considered a solid basis for an online presence.

The importance of an appealing online presence is becoming increasingly important for companies. The combination of branding and target group-oriented online marketing is the key to success. Your own company is now only a few clicks away from the competition, so your own online presence must win over users within a few moments and invite them to linger.

In summary, branding helps you to get answers to these questions with suitable measures:

• What kind of public perception do I want my brand to have?
• What are the unique selling points of my brand?
• What is my target group and how do I address them?
• Which topics should my brand actively communicate to the public or for the target group?
• What are the criteria for my brand communication?
• Does my desired brand perception match the existing brand guides such as logo, content and color choice?

The meaningful web presence in combination with individual branding and the appropriate performance marketing raises the company to a higher level - this is how your company can become a brand.

Featured image: Unsplash / MagicPattern