Building a Strong Brand Online

Does your company have a strong brand presence online? If not, it’s time to start thinking about what you can do to change that.

Building a strong brand online can have far-reaching positive effects on your business. With consumers and businesses alike increasingly seeking products and services online, your brand experience should encompass several key elements that help your company achieve the ultimate goal: profit.

For many small and large businesses, unfortunately, online branding falls short, as it is sometimes difficult to justify and prove to upper management that allocating funds towards a holistic online brand experience matters to the bottom line.

A good way to change perception is by reinforcing the idea that website branding is an asset that adds value and differentiates the company from its competitors. To help you get started, we’ll look at the definition of brand equity and how to add value to a new or relatively unknown brand.

What is Brand Equity?

Brand equity is an intangible business asset that adds value to a product or service in the mind of the consumer in the competitive marketplace. In other words, the owner of a well-known brand name has the potential to make more money with that recognized and established brand than with a lesser-known brand or a generic equivalent.

The role of brand equity encompasses all aspects of a business. For example, having strong brand equity can make it easier for your company to launch new product lines or services, since the consumer or target already has an established perception about the added value your brand has over the competition. Building brand equity for a product, service, or company can be achieved by making online brand experiences memorable, distinctive, and with strong positive attributes and associations that reinforce perceived quality, and brand preference in the mind of the consumer or target.

Online Brand Building from the Bottom Up

A great starting point to building brand equity for your company, product, or service online is by starting from the bottom of the pyramid. The Consumer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model encompasses the key components needed to build strong brands. If your brand is relatively new, it is important that you begin by assessing your brand’s salience.

In the CBBE model, brand salience refers to the likelihood that your brand is considered or noticed in the mind of the consumer when they are making purchase decisions. Building brand salience online can be achieved by developing a memorable brand identity that gives consumers or targets a strong point of reference that can be easily remembered.

You can start brainstorming and developing a brand identity by assessing the following:

• What is your business or organization about?
• What problem do you solve for the desired customer?
• What is it about your company or organization that sets you apart from competitors?
• Is there a unique story behind your business?
• What are the top three adjectives that best describe your company?
• What is your company vision?

Answering these questions will help establish the foundation to build your brand online. Doing internal company research such as interviews and surveys is one way to find the answer to these questions. Additionally, hiring a professional marketing company can help speed up website development and content strategies that build strong brand equity for your company.