Although understanding your consumers’ needs has always been a crucial part of any digital strategy, brands can quickly lose their authenticity and integrity. Now more than ever, brands need to stand for something. When it comes to the injustice that’s going on in the world, brands have to choose which side they are speaking from. But the problem is when there is an incongruence between what they say and what they do.
Well-Established Value System
Creating a well-established value system means that you allow your audience to align with your values while building a loyal, sincere, and financially healthy relationship between the company and the consumer. Yes, you should stand for something. But whatever you choose to stand for has to also be embedded in your value as a company internally.
Being true to what you stand for, both externally and internally, will give you authenticity – and brand authenticity is essential to break away from the internet noise. It will demand attention from the audience that matters to you.
Keep in mind that the damage to a company’s reputation can be done in an instant, and it usually takes much longer to undo in the eyes of the audience, if it can be undone at all. Here are some ways how you can establish authority online.
Transparency
Transparency is the most important factor in establishing brand integrity in the digital world. Take time to clarify your organization’s goals, message, values, and properties, and use them to establish a consistent online presence across the internet, social, and mobile (meaning all relevant digital channels). This means you need to:
- Create Brand Message – Begin creating your brand message by identifying who you want to build relationships with (including your target audience).
- Clarify Values – You have to clarify your brand’s core values if you want to create a transparent and authentic brand message.
- Understand Brand Properties – Brand properties have three components: brand essence, brand promise, and brand voice. Brand essence is an expression of your brand’s unique identity, brand promises are all the things a brand guarantees to the consumers, and brand voice is an outward projection of brand essence.
Consistency
Once you’ve defined your organization’s goals, message, values, and properties, you have to establish a consistent online presence over the internet, social, and mobile. As the core of your online presence, your website is a great tool to successfully communicate your message, attract new customers, generate sales and leads, and build advocacy. Given the popularity of all things mobile, remember to optimize it for mobile devices as well. Finally, you need to determine your brand’s most relevant social media channels and set up your profiles.
Understand It’s An Ongoing Process
Finally, understand that achieving brand integrity is an ongoing process in the digital age; it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Make changes by monitoring data from various online sources and audience interactions regularly, and use this knowledge to refine your brand message and product/service offerings.
Conclusion
Your new digital marketing strategy should be to be authentic and let the audience choose to align with your brand because what you stand for is embedded in your operations. Stop trying to please everyone by saying one thing and doing another – it will hurt your brand!
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