While digital marketing is no longer the new kid on the block, digital branding remains enigmatic to most marketers. When digital marketing was in its infancy, it attracted direct-response marketers from mail houses and call centers because of its ability to be monitored and measured at scale.
Today, however, the landscape is rapidly shifting. As social media and content marketing place a premium on brand engagement and authentic brand voices, more brand-centric marketers are getting into the digital marketing world. eMarketer predicts that U.S. advertisers will spend more than $12 billion on digital video ads by 2018. By 2017, almost 50% of U.S. digital ad spend will be branding-focused.
So how does digital branding differ from more traditional branding efforts like television, radio, or print ads? Here are a few ways digital brands are different from their more traditional counterparts.
Digital Branding Works With Direct Response Marketing
When digital branding is done well, it goes hand-in-hand with the direct response marketing already happening online. While some branding experts may shy away from direct response marketing, it’s the foundation of most digital marketing efforts. Everything from banner ads to email marketing comes from direct response roots. Consequently, the most effective digital branding experts focus on how their branding efforts can supplement their company’s direct response efforts.
How can I incorporate my digital branding efforts into my company’s direct response marketing efforts?
If you’re looking to incorporate your digital branding into your company’s direct marketing, sit down with the person responsible for direct marketing efforts and figure out the following:
- What mediums do they currently use for direct marketing? What mediums have they tried in the past? What mediums do they want to try in the future?
- What are their primary objectives and Key Performance Indicators?
- You need to know what their typical growth rates are on these metrics. Do they grow at ten percent per quarter, or thirty percent per month?
Once you’ve established these basic factors, you can turn your focus to making your digital brand interactive and responsive.
Digital Branding is Interactive and Responsive
Unlike more traditional branding initiatives, effective digital branding is reliant on its ability to respond to both positive and negative changes. In the good ol’ days of branding, you could develop a brand in a vacuum and push it to the masses. Today, however, any brand that lives online is subject to the whims of the public. As customers make comments about your product, both positive and negative, you need to be ready to respond.
This is where a strong brand voice is so important. Does your brand talk the same way on Twitter as it does on your website? Is there a noticeable difference between various social media managers in your company? How can you limit these variations to make your brand’s voice seamless?
The best digital brands don’t sit in an ivory tower. Instead, the best digital brands feel like your friend. You know who they are, what they sound like, and how you can access them at any time. Great brand marketers do this well, while poor brand marketers stay stuck in the past.
Digital Branding is Higher Stakes Than Traditional Branding
Finally, the best digital branding is run by marketing managers who understand what’s at stake.
Back in the day, when someone didn’t like your TV commercial, they’d probably make a snarky comment to their wife and move on. Today, when someone doesn’t like your TV commercial, you’ll hear about it on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and blogs. If someone doesn’t like your digital marketing, your fate is even worse. If your digital marketing is crude, offensive, or wildly off-brand, it will get screenshotted and shared, ensuring people will be ridiculing you for the foreseeable future.
In order to keep your brand secure, make sure that all communications are sent through a marketing manager who you trust and who understands what’s at stake.
If you’re looking for more ways to make your digital marketing great, make sure to download our FREE Digital Marketing Strategy Template below!
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