Nowadays, if you want to make your brand visible you must be in the 2.0 environment. And, to make yourself known, you must basically make branding or brand image, which is basically achieved through a good strategy in social networks, supported by an attractive, updated and easy to navigate website.
Probably so far, we have not discovered anything new, but it is worth to remember it and I’m saying it from my own experience, both in a professional and personal level. Branding implies that all the branches of your brand have a coherence at the level of image and message basically to be recognized. And by all the branches we mean not only those related to the online world, but also those offline. How would you feel if a sales clerk in a Desigual store, for example, who transmits a fun, friendly and close image, was a gimp and an outsider? Disappointment would be one of the many reactions you would have after this experience.
Then we agree that coherence is the basis of branding to create a solid, positioned and recognized brand. This is the only way you can differentiate yourself from your competition, attract talent and have the company’s own staff transmit the company’s culture, and, of course, this way the value of the brand will grow. How do we do this? Well, as we said at the beginning with a good marketing plan and using tools that help us achieve objectives, such as enhancing the corporate image, establishing new relationships with potential customers or generate income through the Internet.
And what are its benefits?
- User identity through content segmentation: before, a strategy was proposed and then communicated to the public. With social networks, it’s the other way around: the content creates the community, because those who consider our content interesting will follow us. Therefore, depending on the content, we will build one community or another.
- Direct, immediate and close communication: there are no intermediaries, it is you and the client. Despite the fact that the platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…) belongs to third parties, the community is 100% controlled by the brand, which allows you to know well what your users want, serve them more quickly and offer them what they are looking for.
- Brands are symbols: brands like Ferrari or Nike, have very representative values that you may be thinking about now. But they are not easy to explain. But good brands, like books, must know how to transmit them so that users build them in their minds.
- Users rebuild brands: thanks to social networks that allow users to leave comments, share content and leave opinions, brands have the opportunity to work and build that image from what their potential customers are looking for.
It is worth mentioning that branding, even though the Internet allows us to reach more people, is a very expensive exercise. To get followers, that they consume our products and/or services, and that they recommend us requires a lot of time and dedication. But it is not impossible at all and once the brand image is built and consolidated, the benefits are very rewarding. So, let’s go for it!