Digital branding

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Digital branding is a brand management technique that uses a combination of internet branding and digital marketing to develop a brand over a range of digital venues, including internet-based relationships, [1] device-based applications [2] [3] or media content. [4]

Contents

Concept

Digital branding aims to create connections between consumers and the products or service being delivered [5] [6] [7] so that brand recognition is established in the digital world. [8] In short, the goal of digital branding is not necessarily driving sales, but enhancing the awareness, image, and style of the brand. Digital branding in turn drives long-term customer loyalty.

Brand establishment involves four key points: [4]

  1. Building a digital brand story
  2. Creativity in digital media and marketing
  3. Digital channels and content distributed to channels based on consumer data and habits
  4. Creating digital relationships.

Digital impact on branding

Before the internet, information about companies and consumers was somewhat limited due to access to information, geographical separation, and lack of interaction. [9] The existence of the internet and websites has therefore transformed branding: [10] the internet has transformed interaction between brands and customers; and websites facilitate online marketing and sales, as well as collecting comprehensive data on customers. [11]

Another impact on branding practices is the emergence of value co-creation as an alternative way to long-term customer relationships, customer loyalty, and eventual profitability. Joint effort is formed between the companies and customers during the various stages of the product. It strengthens the bond and builds loyalty and customer engagement. [12]

Digital branding channels

According to Mabbly CEO, Hank Ostholthoff, digital branding is facilitated by multiple channels. As an advertiser, one's core objective is to find channels that result in maximum two-way communication and a better overall return-of-investment for the brand. [4]

There are multiple online marketing channels available, namely: [13]

Personal digital branding

As social media platforms have been established and have evolved over the last couple of decades, digital branding has become personal. Individuals have taken to social media to brand and market themselves in building their personal and professional lives. [19] Consequently, boundaries between the personal and professional are fading.

Those who participate in social media sites should be aware that their social media content is public and may be accessed by colleagues, clients, and other professional references. Many universities and workplaces have established social media policies. A well-curated social media presence may be attractive to employers, while poorly representing oneself is an employment liability. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

Marketing communications refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination. Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate a message to their desired market, or the market in general. It is also in charge of the internal communications of the organization. Marketing communication tools include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, communication, public relations, social media, customer journey and promotion.

In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue, persuasively. It helps marketers to create a distinctive place in customers' mind, it can be either a cognitive or emotional route. The aim of promotion is to increase brand awareness, create interest, generate sales or create brand loyalty. It is one of the basic elements of the market mix, which includes the four Ps, i.e., product, price, place, and promotion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Advertising campaign</span> Advertisements based on a theme

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base. Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame and target identified audiences.

In marketing, the promotional mix describes a blend of promotional variables chosen by marketers to help a firm reach its goals. It has been identified as a subset of the marketing mix. It is believed that there is an optimal way of allocating budgets for the different elements within the promotional mix to achieve best marketing results, and the challenge for marketers is to find the right mix of them. Activities identified as elements of the promotional mix vary, but typically include the following:

Social media optimization (SMO) is the use of online platforms to generate income or publicity to increase the awareness of a brand, event, product or service. Types of social media involved include RSS feeds, blogging sites, social bookmarking sites, social news websites, video sharing websites such as Youtube and social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok and X(Twitter). SMO is similar to search engine optimization (SEO) in that the goal is to drive web traffic, and draw attention to a company or creator. SMO's focal point is on gaining organic links to social media content. In contrast, SEO's core is about reaching the top of the search engine hierarchy. In general, social media optimization refers to optimizing a website and its content to encourage more users to use and share links to the website across social media and networking sites.

Engagement marketing is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumers and invites and encourages them to participate in the evolution of a brand or a brand experience. Rather than looking at consumers as passive receivers of messages, engagement marketers believe that consumers should be actively involved in the production and co-creation of marketing programs, developing a relationship with the brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Influencer marketing</span> Type of social media marketing

Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placement from influencers, people and organizations who have a purported expert level of knowledge or social influence in their field. Influencers are someone with the power to affect the buying habits or quantifiable actions of others by uploading some form of original—often sponsored—content to social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok or other online channels. Influencer marketing is when a brand enrolls influencers who have an established credibility and audience on social media platforms to discuss or mention the brand in a social media post. Influencer content may be framed as testimonial advertising.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital marketing</span> Marketing of products or services using digital technologies or digital tools

Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and services. It has significantly transformed the way brands and businesses utilize technology for marketing since the 1990s and 2000s. As digital platforms became increasingly incorporated into marketing plans and everyday life, and as people increasingly used digital devices instead of visiting physical shops, digital marketing campaigns have become prevalent, employing combinations of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), content marketing, influencer marketing, content automation, campaign marketing, data-driven marketing, e-commerce marketing, social media marketing, social media optimization, e-mail direct marketing, display advertising, e-books, and optical disks and games have become commonplace. Digital marketing extends to non-Internet channels that provide digital media, such as television, mobile phones, callbacks, and on-hold mobile ringtones. The extension to non-Internet channels differentiates digital marketing from online marketing.

In the marketing and advertising industry, youth marketing consists of activities to communicate with young people, typically in the age range of 11 to 35. More specifically, there is teen marketing, targeting people age 11 to 17; college marketing, targeting college-age consumers, typically ages 18 to 24; and young adult marketing, targeting ages 25 to 34.

A touchpoint can be defined as any way consumers can interact with a business organization, whether person-to-person, through a website, an app or any form of communication. When consumers connect with these touchpoints they can consider their perceptions of the business and form an opinion.

Customer engagement is an interaction between an external consumer/customer and an organization through various online or offline channels. According to Hollebeek, Srivastava and Chen, customer engagement is "a customer’s motivationally driven, volitional investment of operant resources, and operand resources into brand interactions," which applies to online and offline engagement.

Consumer-generated advertising is advertising on consumer generated media. This term is generally used to refer to sponsored content on blogs, wikis, forums, social networking services, and individual websites. This sponsored content is also known as sponsored posts, paid posts, or sponsored reviews. The content includes links that point to the home page or specific product pages of the website of the sponsor. Examples include Diet Coke and Mentos videos, the "Crush on Obama" video, and Star Wars fan films. Companies that have employed consumer-generated ads include Subaru North America, McDonald's, Rose Parade, and Toyota North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Content marketing</span> Form of marketing focused on creating content for a targeted audience online

Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online. It is often used in order to achieve the following business goals: attract attention and generate leads, expand their customer base, generate or increase online sales, increase brand awareness or credibility, and engage a community of online users. Content marketing attracts new customers by creating and sharing valuable free content as well as by helping companies create sustainable brand loyalty, providing valuable information to consumers, and creating a willingness to purchase products from the company in the future.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social media marketing</span> Promotion of products or services on social media

Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers.

Internet branding is a brand management technique that uses the World Wide Web & Social Media Channels as a medium for positioning a brand in the marketplace. Branding is increasingly important with the advancements of the internet. Most businesses are exploring various online channels, which include search engine, social media, online press releases, online marketplace, to establish strong relationships with consumers and to build their brands awareness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purchase funnel</span> Model of theoretical customer journey toward purchase of a good or service

The purchase funnel, or purchasing funnel, is a consumer-focused marketing model that illustrates the theoretical customer journey toward the purchase of a good or service.

Virtual engagement is a metric to determine the level of affinity between a company and its customers.

Word-of-mouth marketing is the communication between consumers about a product, service, or company in which the sources are considered independent of direct commercial influence that has been actively influenced or encouraged as a marketing effort. While it is difficult to truly control word of mouth communication, there are three generic avenues to 'manage' word of mouth communication for the purpose of word-of-mouth marketing, including:

Online presence management is the process of creating and promoting traffic to a personal or professional brand online. This process combines web design, development, blogging, search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, reputation management, directory listings, social media, link sharing, and other avenues to create a long-term positive presence for a person, organization, or product in search engines and on the web in general.

Social media use by businesses includes a range of applications. Although social media accessed via desktop computers offer a variety of opportunities for companies in a wide range of business sectors, mobile social media, which users can access when they are "on the go" via tablet computers or smartphones, benefit companies because of the location- and time-sensitive awareness of their users. Mobile social media tools can be used for marketing research, communication, sales promotions/discounts, informal employee learning/organizational development, relationship development/loyalty programs, and e-commerce.

References

  1. ↑ Orhan, Mehmet A.; MacIlvaine, Caleb (2020-12-31). "Examining Digital Brand Experiences as a Predictor of Brand Relationship Quality and Loyalty". International Journal of Marketing, Communication and New Media. 8 (15). ISSN   2182-9306.
  2. ↑ Kompella, Kartikeya (2014-08-05). The Definitive Book of Branding. SAGE Publications India. ISBN   9789351501046.
  3. ↑ Chiles, David (2013-05-08). Apps: Everything You Need To Know. David Paul Chiles.
  4. 1 2 3 Ostholthoff, Hank. "4 Ways to Master the Art of Digital Branding". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  5. ↑ Shamoon, Sumaira, and Saiqa Tehseen. "Brand Management: What Next?" Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business 2.12 (2011): 435–441. Business Source Complete. Web. Oct 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Chris (21 April 2009). "Interview with Brand Consultant and Author Marty Neumeier". Fresh Peel. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Branding Definition". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Edelman, David C. (2010-12-01). "Branding in the Digital Age". Harvard Business Review. No. December 2010. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  9. ↑ CPBI, Ryan Shelley. "Then vs Now: How the Internet Continues to Transform Traditional Marketing". www.smamarketing.net. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  10. ↑ "The Evolution of Digital Marketing: 30 Years in the Past & Future". digitalmarketinginstitute.com. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  11. ↑ "How Do Big Companies Collect Customer Data?". ITChronicles. 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  12. ↑ Wang, Yichuan (2014). Co-Creation in Branding through Social Commerce: The Role of Social Support, Relationship Quality and Privacy Concerns. Twentieth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Savannah.
  13. ↑ Pratik Dholakiya (14 April 2015). "3 Digital Marketing Channels That Work for Every Advertiser". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Jansen, B. J., Sobel, K., and Zhang, M. (2011) The Brand Effect of Key Phrases and Advertisements in Sponsored Search. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 6(1), 77-106.
  15. ↑ "4 Important Digital Marketing Channels You Should Know About". Digital Doughnut. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ↑ Cocoran, Ian (2010-06-29). The Art of Digital Branding. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-58115-802-1.
  17. ↑ Green, R. Kay (25 April 2013). "7 Highly-Effective Ways to Maximize Your Online Brand Presence". Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  18. ↑ Fallon, Nicole (10 December 2013). "7 Highly-Effective Ways to Maximize Your Online Brand Presence". Business News Daily. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  19. ↑ Rutherford, Katie (2021-02-24). "Looking Back on a Decade of Social Media - College of Communication and Information" . Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  20. ↑ Kleppinger, Courtney A.; Cain, Jeff (2015-08-25). "Personal Digital Branding as a Professional Asset in the Digital Age". American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 79 (6): 79. doi:10.5688/ajpe79679. ISSN   0002-9459. PMC   4584371 . PMID   26430266.

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