7 New Digital Marketing Tips That Can Enhance Your Brand Strategy

Each passing year sees an increase in the number of businesses with an online presence. A lot of them will be competing with you for the same customers. So you must have a profitable brand that stands out and inspires customers' trust. How can you do this? For several marketers, the answer is digital marketing. Their experience shows that it does wonders for increasing the company's trust. But many businesses still need help with their branding strategy. So, in this article, we’ll give you actionable digital marketing tips that will bring you results.  

Digital Marketing and Branding: The Basics

Having a robust digital presence is essential for long-term business success. You need to understand the concepts and methods of digital marketing before you can develop an effective branding strategy. The best place to start is to grasp the basics of digital marketing.

What Is Digital Marketing?

A significant population of the world today has access to the internet. Most of them use their phones to shop or search for services. This is where digital marketing comes into play. Businesses must come up with many effective ways to make their products stand out. Some adopt several marketing strategies, including paid ads, social media, and blog posting - a cost-effective way to drive traffic. The best scenario is to opt for diversity and choose multiple communication channels based on your niche. 

What Is Branding?

Every business needs a unique identity to be memorable, and branding is an essential part of that. Every company should focus on a strategy that builds a positive impression on its target market. This helps make a brand recognizable, attractive, and special. Over 76% of consumers prefer buying products from recognized brands. So, a good brand gives you a competitive edge and inspires customer trust. 

What are the brands you recall when thinking of mobile phone brands? Even though there are dozens of them, most people would name three or five companies. And probably everyone would include Apple and Samsung in their list. This is exactly what you call a strong brand. 

Why Are Digital Marketing and Branding Important?

There can be no successful online business without digital marketing and branding. It helps companies identify who their customers are, understand what they need, and how to position themselves in the market. Pair these with excellent customer service to build brand loyalty and see your company increase profits considerably. But first, you must grasp how to develop a strategy that works.

Do You Need a Digital Branding Strategy?

The truth is that digital branding is vital. But it can also be challenging. For example, in 2010, Gap tried changing its iconic logo to a new one. But they faced a backlash forcing them to revert to the old logo within six days. Stories like the Gap logo redesign highlight just how easy it is for things to miss the mark. It is not enough to want to begin something. You also need a comprehensive plan. 

A well-planned digital branding strategy requires a grounded understanding of the brand's vision and who its target audience is. Then you also have to make it appealing to the customers. For instance, picking the right logotype will invariably affect your brand identity. It helps your customers recognize you from other similar services and products. But an excellent digital branding strategy will do more than boost brand recognition. It allows businesses to maximize competitive and profitable marketing opportunities.

Proven Tips to Build and Improve Your Digital Branding Strategy

There are many ways to start or improve your current digital branding strategy. Let's consider some of them with real-life examples of successful brands.

#1 Stay True to Your Values

All successful brand stories share one common factor. They understand the importance of establishing and standing by their core values. Volkswagen is an excellent example of that. Their vision was to be the "people's car" in an era when a car was a luxury. Their consistency over the years has paid off, as they are one of the best-selling cars thanks to their affordability and reliability. It is a great lesson of how sticking to your brand values builds trust with your customers and strengthens your brand.

#2 Use Your Competitors to Your Advantage

Competition is a natural part of marketing, and branding is no different. A practical digital marketing tip is to use your competitors as a building block to more innovation and creativity. A classic example is the Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi rivalry. Both companies share similar products, yet they have coexisted together for decades. 

Their branding strategy focuses on infusing humor into their feud, and this works. The Coke brand is known for being reliable, wholesome, and evoking positive emotions, like in the "Share a Coke" campaign. In comparison, Pepsi has an edgy, fresh, and hip personality. Today, the data shows they both dominate a large soda market share. Have fun with what makes you different from your competitors. And take the approach of Pepsi and Coca-Cola as an example because they seem to know how to do it properly. 

#3 Experiment and Trigger Curiosity

Sony is known for its innovativeness. The company was the first to introduce many loved electronic inventions. Think of the first colorized TV, the Walkman, and PlayStation, to mention a few. Curiosity and experimentation are a big part of the brand's vision. You can learn from this and find ways to craft an identity for your brand as a trendsetter. 

#4 Do Your Thing “Uncommonly Well”

Another proven digital branding strategy is to find the thing your brand is about, your why, and your passion. Then focus on mastering the thing to do it better than anyone else. Henry J. Heinz is a prime example of doing something "uncommonly well." He ensured that his customers got the best tomato ketchup. To that end, he controlled every part of the production process. For decades, it has been one of the most popular ketchup companies selling over half a billion bottles yearly.

#5 Make Your Clients Feel Joy

Lego's colorful plastic blocks cost 7-10x more than its manufacturing amount. Yet customers love the brand. Why? The reason behind this is the experience they get. Many kids and adults simply receive emotions when getting in touch with the company’s products. Assembling the pieces also creates a great bonding experience while, for many, it evokes a strong memory of their childhood. Think of how your customers could also associate your brand with some joyful moments in their lives.

#6 Embrace User-Generated Content

GoPro is an excellent example of how you can create a community and get all the possible benefits from that. Users are actively encouraged to share their adventures with the GoPro tags. Today, thousands of videos with brand tags are uploaded daily on Youtube and other video streaming platforms. In return, the company nets hundreds of millions in revenue yearly. This makes it one of the most successful examples of social media marketing. 

Leveraging SM might get complicated. Yet, if you know and apply all the best practices, it is the best way to create a loyal community. Sometimes even small details can be a complete game-changer. For example, SocialBu ensures that optimizing your bio and posts can significantly increase your reach. 

#7 Keep it Simple

It is common to come across many great ideas for building a strong digital branding strategy. You might be tempted to try as many as possible for your projects. But there is really no need to overdo things. Do thorough research, draft your plan, and stick to it. Often the most successful businesses are also the ones who keep their product brands simple. The Mcdonald's brand is prime proof of how well simplicity works.  

Conclusion

There are countless digital marketing tips on the internet today. It can be easy to get overloaded by all the suggestions. Yet, the best tips have always been the obviously simple ones. You can test the recommendations in this article and find the best ones for you. More importantly, be consistent with your efforts, and you will soon notice a boost in sales and a high-quality community.

Author Bio

Thomas Lore is a 27-year old writer. As a creative and diligent freelance blogger, he is always seeking new ways to improve himself.