Many business leaders often get confused with the difference between digital marketing and digital branding. However, I assure you there is a difference:

Digital marketing is the process of promoting a specific product or service through digital channels.

Digital branding is broader than this, where instead of focusing on a specific product, it highlights the values of a company as a whole.

Branding will remain even after a product is discontinued. A brand will remain in a customer’s mind once they’ve purchased an item and is what they will think of first when they need your product or solution again. Digital marketing plays a large role in attracting buyers, however it’s the digital branding that builds long-term relationships with consumers.

Digital branding is what businesses need for long-term success. A solid digital brand strategy will lead to effective two-way communication with customers, which ensures they know what your brand stands for.

What are the benefits of digital branding?

1. Multichannel: A solid digital brand enables your business to connect with customers on different channels. This can vary from online advertisements, social media and even chat sites. Being present across these different platforms lets you promote a consistent brand message to all your customers in a personalised way. In today’s online world, it’s difficult to engage consumers on a single channel. Consumers operate across multiple platforms and your brand can’t be limited to just one channel. You need to spread your brand across the digital landscape to have the most impact.

2. Virality: Going ’viral’ in the digital age is a great way to maximise your brand exposure. It can result in a significant increase in engagement over a short time period and lead to better brand awareness. Going viral isn’t always planned and can sometimes occur off the back of various marketing campaigns. One benefit of digital branding is that the actions of brands online can be liked, shared and recommended by anyone who comes across your work online.

3. Interaction: digital branding let’s customers interact with your brand, which can boost engagement. This could be through clickable ads, memes or even GIFS to highlight aspects of your brand in action.

5. Stand out from the crowd: With consumers suffering information overload, standing out from the competition is crucial in getting cut-through. Digital branding is a way to bring your brands strengths together and stand out from the crowd.
6. Better connections: Creating a digital brand is imperative if you want to forge a bond with consumers. Your brand values can hold true across generations, which enables you to connect with a wide variety of customers. These brand values can be showcased across digital platforms and channels to enable open communication with customers, which leads to further engagement.

What are the digital branding trends to watch out for?

1. Mobile optimisation: given that majority of the world now consume content on their phones, ensuring you are optimising your content for mobile is imperative. This ensures your content can be viewed by consumers anywhere on the go.

2. Authenticity: Consumers are switched on and don’t want to be ‘sold too’. They want to deal with brands that are honest and have integrity. A digital branding strategy is a great way to get this message across and enables you to be open and authentic.
3. Social media: Social media is one of the primary channels to launch your digital branding strategy. The key is to identify which channels are right for your company in order to effectively reach your target market.
4. Community: Establishing a community is an effective tool for digital branding. Consumers who are part of a community are more likely to be engaged with a brand and have positive things to say about it.
5. Video: Video is an effective way to communicate your message in an emotionally engaging way. These days video creation is cost effective and an efficient way to get your message out.
6. Ranking: digital branding can help to boost your search engine rakings. SEO is key to ensuring your company appears in the right search results to keep you top of mind.
7. Chatbots: Chatbots are becoming mainstream due to improvements in artificial intelligence. Chatbots can be personalised to reflect your brands values and voice to increase engagement with consumers.
8. Design: from your website to your social media pages, a consistent look and feel is important in the way you communicate your brand message.
9. User experience: user experience is often more important than price to consumers. Brands need to optimise the experience for customers across all digital touchpoints to ensure they remain loyal.

Final Thoughts

A digital branding strategy is an effective means to engage with and build long-lasting relationships with your customers. To do this effectively, you need to ensure you’re clear on what your brand stands for and how you want to be perceived in the eyes of your customers. If done correctly, it’s a powerful way to stand out from the competition.