AÂ great marketer is a both a muse and a producer, who focuses on entertaining and inspiring internal and external audiences. Understanding how today’s technologies come together to design remarkable content experiences, analyze traffic sources, and build relationships that yield opportunities for growth are all precursors to becoming a top marketing muse. This is what great digital brands do, and the old school tactics of the past decade are now being overshadowed by the strategic understanding of digital branding.
First, let’s define the term. Digital branding is a business’ identity, visibility, and credibility among advocates who discover, relate to, and interact with the business online. What does this really mean? Digital branding is about creating and establishing your brand’s story and presence in the digital realm. It’s a complete strategy for brand creation unlike utilizing a variety of online tactics, like posting daily tweets that showcase seemingly random content or spending time on a promotional or whitepaper email blast with less than .0001% engagement.
Ask yourself, “Is this entertaining?†It’s time for us to work harder as marketers, to be smarter and more creative, and to start entertaining our audience. Yes, even the business market needs to be creative, entertain, and resonate first, then educate, build relationships, and engage advocates.
Build Your Story: From “Why†to ROI
A successful digital brand begins with a story–its internal “rallying cry†that answers why your business exists and why consumers should care. Popularized by Simon Sinek’s works, the “why†is at the heart of your brand’s inspiration.
Customers don’t get excited about a business; they get excited by the story behind the business and learning what makes your brand different from others. It’s critical to have a brand story that resonates emotionally, drives credibility and visibility for your business, and creates advocates who believe in your values. Your “why†needs to answer why your brand exists and what your company values are. Once you identify your “why,†your marketing efforts and strategies can start to be woven in. This is the point where a company starts to come together.
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Hank Ostholthoff is the CEO and managing partner of Mabbly, a Chicago-based digital agency that focuses on content marketing and search engine optimization.
BusinessCollective, launched in partnership with Citi, is a virtual mentorship program powered by North America’s most ambitious young thought leaders, entrepreneurs, executives and small business owners.