Evolving rules for branding online

Merely having a website, social media presence and spending some money on online marketing is no longer enough in order to address online presence of business. The rules to brand your business on the web are changing day by day. A good web branding strategy is less to do with presentation and a lot more to do with interaction.

Branding online is all about the conversation and building effective relationship. As we know social media and conversation complement each other very well. So social media is a great way for branding if used effectively. It’s not enough to have a Facebook page or a Twitter account, you must initiate and participate in the conversation. Need to make regular and relevant posts and replying to comment or direct messages of the customers. Need to address complains/suggestions very promptly posted on social media.

In order to find and target your niche, you need to be very persistent in the online competitive marketplace. How to stand out, how to look different and the be noticable should be the quest. A good and live example would be of Aircel . They started very good campaign ‘save tigers, only 1411 left’. They used the best brand ambassadors like Mahendra singh dhoni, good mix of tradional and online media and soon it became a national cause. But then they have not done much to keep the content alive, the last update on this was on october 2010. So it is important to make engaging content otherwise public memory is shortlived.

A recent study shows that ‘About us’ page is most visited in a website. People look for the quick info as what company is into. So that page should be designed and maintained efficiently. Do not write hefty content on this page. And whatever interesting info you give away through this page should cater the target audience correctly. I very much liked the About page of Quora. This page clearly defining why should people join. So the target audience can relate themselves with it. I also liked the team section of their website.

Adding Facebook/twitter buttons does not always does the trick. The idea is to have good shareable content which compels the user/fan to share it with their individual network. If the blog is there, then it has to be updated regularly, say weekly perhaps. This will help to increasing connectivity. Along with that also create a section in your site which is about the user experience/rewiews from existing customers about your product/services. It is important to telling a story that your clients really relate to. This can really drive some business relevance to prospective clients. Facebook page of Nokia is a very good example.

I personally believe whatever you do, keeping your customers at the core of your activity definitely helps.

Share your thoughts!!

Valentine Day Musings

So it was valentines day!

Trust marketers to wrap their product in hearts, roses and chocolates as the ultimate valentine gift, from diamonds to kitchen appliances, from holidays to candlelight dinner for two.

Thanks to Hallmark and locally grown Archies, we got sucked into the valentine euphoria. Now with Facebook, Twitter and 100 and radio TV stations all rooting for valentine day, we just got carried away. But then love is just like that. Company Facebook pages and Twitter profiles are all wishing their community a Happy Valentines Day. Even the google page displayed it prominently.

The marketers have allowed us to believe that if we are not going on a date or not got a bunch of flowers and chocolates then it is a shame. Millions have been spent to create the right communication for the Valentine day by companies, and dvertising agencies have created memorable campaigns, and the media has only fanned the fire.

My colleague here is still heartbroken that he couldnt find a date to go out with, even though he has few hundred friends on Facebook. It is a different story all together that this year valentines was on monday and he was fasting. ha ha