Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or Business to business. Online business branding gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets.

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors’. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.

7 Simple and Effective Ways to Brand Your Business Online

Use a branded email signature. …
Create a Professional Logo. …
Use social media to consistently market and promote your brand. …
Create a stand out business slogan and tagline. …
Use testimonials to add credibility. …
Start Blogging. …
Show your customers the face behind your products and services.

Simple ideas for Branding Your Business Online

The internet is a great place to start and build a brand. In fact, with the help of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube it’s much easier and inexpensive to brand your business these days.

If you are trying to find simple ideas for branding your business online,here are some simple ideas for branding your business online as follows:-

Launch your platform online with a blog or website
Create a standout logo
Create a branding email signature as an ending to your emails with your company’s logo and information. Create an interesting mix of content to earn the mind share and trust of your brand needs
Use social media to market your brand online
Be persistent in finding and targeting your market
Give your brand a voice
Leverage video marketing
Make Sure Your Customers Know the Face Behind the Product
Add credibility with customer testimonials
Build relationships with authoritative sources that provide brand reviews
Speak to your customers with a consistent tone of voice.
Utilize Online Brand Management Tools
Make your online branding interesting and fun to read.
Keep your brand consistent
Keep your online information current .
Develop a memorable tagline that expresses who you are and what you do
Take Advantage of Word-of-Mouth Marketing .
Ensure your brand is associated with credible sources .
Remind Your Customers about Your Brand .
Fully integrate social media into your site.

A brand is the sum total of the experiences your customers and potential customers have with your company.A strong brand communicates what your company does,how it does it,and at the same time,establishes trust and credibility.Your brand lives in everyday interactions with your customers,the images you share ,the massages you post on your website,the content of your marketing materials ,and in your posts on social networks.

small businesses have many opportunities to build online.you can build online communities on twitter,face book,your small business blog,on Instagram,or on other social networks .pick one or two places where you can focus building your community ,and invest your time and resources there.

Branding strategies for small businesses

Define your brand identity.
Get visual with your branding. — Logo and brand identity design
Establish yourself as a subject matter expert with the right content.
Look for partnership opportunities.
Be a superhero for your customers.

Branding is more than just a logo you slap on your website. Your branding is who you are as a company; it’s your values and your mission, it’s the way you treat your customers, it’s the look and feel of your visual assets. So, before you can move forward with the more tactical steps in your branding strategy (like designing your logo), you need to take the time to get really clear on who you are as a company—or, in other words, your brand identity.

Here are a few things you’ll need to create the look and feel of your brand:

A brand style guide. Before you start designing, it’s important to figure out the details of your design strategy, like your brand color palette, fonts, and design do’s and dont’s. A brand style guide is a great way to organize your design details and make sure you, your designer, and anyone else working on your brand is on the same page with your brand’s direction.
A logo. Your logo is like the face of your company; it’s the first thing most of your customers will see when they encounter your brand—and it’s the visual asset that will be most closely tied with your business. Your logo should be the first thing you design, as it will act as the jumping off point for all of your other visuals (like your website and your business cards).
Business cards. If you’re in business, you need a business card—and the design should match your logo and your other design assets.
A website. Your website is like your company’s piece of digital real estate—and when people visit your website, the look and feel should be consistent with the rest of your branding.

Content marketing works on so many levels. First, it gives you the opportunity to show off your industry expertise; by establishing yourself as a go-to resource and subject matter expert in your field, your audience will come to trust you—and, when it comes time to them to choose a company to do business with, you’ll be the first place they go.

You could look to partner with local races to include your bars in their gift bags, leave samples at local running stores, or offer to write guest posts on popular endurance blogs. All of those companies have the audience you want to target—endurance athletes—but none of them are direct competitors, which will make them much more willing to work with you.

Your branding is about more than your logo, your marketing strategies, or how you grab customers’ attention—it’s about what you do once you’ve connected with those customers. The reputation you gain—and what customers say behind your back—is the most important part of your branding.Now, one thing to keep in mind is that customer service is bigger than any single interaction or department. If you truly want to live and breathe customer service, you need to provide a consistently positive experience for your customers no matter how, when, and why they interact with your brand.

Tips For Successful Online Brand Building

1. Understand Your Brand

To be successful, you need to make sure there isn’t a misunderstanding between how YOU perceive your brand, and how others perceive it. The best way to eliminate this happening, is to ask yourself what three words YOU would associate with your brand. Once you have your three words, ask someone you trust, that knows your business the same question. If the three words do not match up (or almost alike) ask yourself why this is, and whether this reflects a gap between your brand and reputation online.

2. Understand Your Customer

After understanding your own brand, you then need to understand what your customer wants, and needs. The message you are sharing online must be in line with your business and suitable for your target customer. First, understand who your target customer is, where they hang out and how they want to communicate with you.

3. Don’t Be A Faceless Brand

I mentioned this briefly earlier in this article, but it is so important that your brand has a face. I don’t mean you have to physically let people see your face on social media. I mean adopting a personality and captivating your audience through communicating online.

4. Show Up

As well as being a brand that has a face, you also need to make sure you are approachable online. Part of having a successful brand is treating your social networks as a customer service outlet. 80% of success is just showing up, so make sure your brand shows up for your target audience.

5. Stereotypes? Use Them To Your Advantage

We have all been there. Identifying with a stereotype does not have the negative impact you think it does. Making your business relocatable is important, and the best way to do this is to identify a stereotype – as chances are, this is what your customer is thinking anyway.

For those who follow me online, you might have already “stereotyped me” and that’s OK. Once you know how others are perceiving you, you can then identify the assumption that goes with the stereotype. While I may drive a BMW, have two chihuahuas and wear nice clothes (I can hear you stereotyping me already) I am also hardworking, focused and career driven.

6. Mean What You Say

Transparency is essential to building a strong brand. To ensure you are perceived online the way you should be, always think before you post. As soon as you send out a message to your audience, there is no turning back. You must always mean what you say and stand by it, otherwise having an authentic brand is going to be even harder to achieve.

7. Work In Real-Time

While I may schedule some of the information I share online, I also make it an important task every day to communicate in real time with those who communicate with me. This is crucial to building your brand, as when someone asks you a question, they want an answer almost immediately.

8. Long-Term Relationships

Building long-term relationships is important to long-term brand success. I have great relationships with many event and trade show organizers; some of which I have spoken at for 5-6 years, twice a year. It is important that you keep your relationships strong as this is what helps increase your exposure.

9. Your Branding

Does your branding reflect your business? If there is a mismatch between the way you communicate online and your branding, you need to make a change.

10. Make A Change

After finding out how your brand is being perceived online, you may need to make some adjustments to ensure the right message is being portrayed. Don’t be afraid to make a change – your brand is at stake and you must do what is necessary.

Building a successful brand is difficult and will take time – but be patient, and follow my top 10 tips to help you along the way!

The Basics of Branding