In our podcast episode, Evaluating Your Current Brand’s Strength and Weaknesses, co-hosts Julia and Laura talk all about branding—specifically what it is really. As a companion post to that podcast, we will deep-dive today into what online brand performance should be for larger, successful businesses and what traps to look out for. Learn how online presence and consistency are key to organically generating the right leads on the right platforms by better managing your brand, which might not be what you think it is.

Your Brand Is More Than Just a Name & Logo

If you’ve never had a marketing department, you may view your brand simply from the lens of name and logo recognition. And while those two things are definitely the most visible, it’s also the proverbial iceberg. Your brand is not your logo: a lot under that visible surface works to make your brand visible and effective as a tool in generating you leads. Below we’ll go over two key concepts: what your brand does online (its online presence) and how synchronized all your online efforts are (your digital brand consistency).

Online Presence: Where Is It Important for Your Brand to Be?

Where is your business online? How do people find you? Are you and your customers on the same online platforms? These are a few of the questions you need to answer when looking at your online presence. Below are four key areas to understand for your brand:

• Your Website Is Your Castle: A great website does three things: brings people in with good SEO, keeps them on the site with a good user experience, and provides value enough to generate a lead. Does your website do all three?
• Social Media Can Be a Trap: It can be tempting to be on all social media platforms or chase the latest one, but is this really where your clients are? A targeted approach with platforms aligned with your clients and brand is the best use of your resources.
• Content Makes Search Ranking: Having someone see your brand isn’t enough. Social media statuses, blog posts, page content: it all has to be engaging, informative, and show expertise. Throw in good SEO practices to rank higher in search results.
• Public Relations Need to Be Active: While it’s important to respond to reviews, you also need to be active. Own your listings, find new ones, participate and network online, and take other proactive measures like press releases or even being on a podcast.

Are you not well-established in any of these quadrants? Start learning how to correct it in our blog, Online Business Presence: The Marketing Tool You’re Not Using.

Brand Consistency: How Brand Management Creates Opportunities

So, once you’ve decided on where you want your brand to be online, the key is consistency. It’s not just your name, logo, contact information, address that needs to be the same across all these platforms: it also needs to be your brand’s voice, expertise shown, messaging—everything. This consistency does multiple things: strengthens your SEO, reduces things like website bounce rate, and increases things like lead generation, as users have the same experience across multiple platforms, including specific landing pages and blogs written for your industry.

About the enVisioning Success Podcast

This article is based on topics discussed in enVisioning Success, our weekly podcast hosted by Vision CEO Laura DiBenedetto and COO Julia Becker Collins. In it, they discuss all things business and marketing, from lead generation to leadership. Find us on PodBean to download from your platform of choice, or subscribe to our mailing list to get new episodes and other news delivered directly to your inbox.

If you’re uncertain how your brand is performing online—or even if your current marketing is doing anything—it’s time to consult with us here at Vision Advertising. We’re a comprehensive marketing agency that is, first and foremost, all about finding the right business and marketing strategies to help you sell better and with less legwork. Learn more about why investing in marketing is always a good decision, and contact us today for a consultation.