Branding On The Web Is Like Mining For Fools Gold

I am sick and tired of marketing geeks touting the beauty of branding, brand building and just spouting branding in any context, especially when the term is used with "internet" or "web" or "digital!" You can't have a conversation today for more than five minutes without some marketing type throwing in a line about brand building!

Branding doesn't work with the net's warp speed - look at some of the leading online brand builders, including a certain big three TV network here in the states and a book seller in Seattle trying to do classic brand extension, from books to barbecues.

We tell our B2B clients to build a revenue-producing online brand by developing a campaign that sells the value of their goods or services! Forget the esoteric, very expensive brand building campaigns that have no measurable impact! Here are my ten "cliff notes" to building an effective B2B Brand Online, B2C coming next article.

1. Do a careful Competitive Web Analysis of your competitors - you can't build a unique brand without knowing the lay of the digital and real-world land! The beauty of the web is that it is a 247/365 resource for analysis and you can find out quite a lot from your competitor's web sites. We've created a comprehensive matrix of 75-200 items to assess when preparing a competitive analysis report for a client.

2. Identify your target audience early on as everything flows from this. You can't conceptualize your creative, graphical imagery, content or what type of online media you want to deploy until you know the size and characteristics of your target audience.

3. Think revenue producing branding - this translates to marketing campaigns that deliver sales (the goal of all good marketing campaigns) by customer acquisition. Meaning, develop messages that speak to your audience. B2B customers typically want referenceable data that addresses their needs. "Our xyz services help you leverage your IT resources by?." Think providing tactical information to enhance their decision-making!

4. If your early to market or just plain old early stage then you may want to develop some branding with other complementary partners who have established names (brands) in your market segment. This can include joint announcements, co-branded pages; direct marketing or opt-in e-mail pieces, etc. Here's an example of a co-branded page we did for an existing client, PolyServe, Inc. http://www.polyserve.com/partners.html

5 .Make sure you PR agency and Interactive or Traditional Agency are all in concert when it comes to building a branding campaign. Your various messages and processes should be mutually reinforcing.

6. Select an Interactive or Traditional Agency that understands your unique B2B needs. Consumer branding is much different than B2B Customer Acquisition Branding. By "understand" I mean ask them about the types of campaigns they've set up for previous clients, what types of media they've used, do they know how to develop creative that speaks to a potential B2B client - I love the "do the Dew" campaign, but this isn't the type of branding you would want to deploy for an IT Manager who is contemplating a purchase of your software.

7. How do you measure effective branding on the web? I am not sure if I have any answer or if I have unlimited answers - this is such a difficult marketing characteristic to measure. But, again, be "customer-centric" - ask people who purchase your software or services what they think. Why did you purchase (or why not if you can), did our marketing address your needs, was it meaningful and informative?

8. Think digital shelf life when branding on the web - you have to build messages and content that will only last for a finite amount of time. You have to continually refresh your branding and positioning by developing new content for a web site, opt-in e-mail or banner advertising campaign.

9. Incorporate your offline branding (creative, content, graphics, etc.) into your online branding when/where you can. So your customer has a sense of continuity when they review all of your marketing and communications processes. This also sends a signal to them that you have carefully thought through your overall campaign.

10. Last but not least - build net speed into your overall campaign. I've said it before in many articles, but always essential to underscore; better to be quick to market with something that may need slight calibration later on that to delay a facet of a campaign of the entire campaign to get everything perfect! Revenue is the engine that makes a B2B Branding campaign work and you can't drive sales unless you are putting your branding message out there in front of your potential customers!

About The Author

Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of business development and marketing experience - he is the founder of Intelective Communications, Inc., http://www.intelective.com, a results-driven marketing services company providing proprietary services to clients encompassing startups to public companies. Lee@intelective.com

Lee@intelective.com

---

Its Time For Some Steak

Recently, I was reviewing our website statistics. One of the... Read More

Standing Under the Umbrella And Still Getting Wet

Make More Money Making a Name for YourselfCalling all realtors,... Read More

Brand Image - Brand Identity - Brand Strategy - Brand Identity Guru

Consumers perceive and accept many brands within a certain trade... Read More

Acquire, Then Rebrand

Acquiring another corporation usually means that the acquiring company's name... Read More

12 Ways to Reduce Postage

1. Never send a letter that weighs less than 30... Read More

How A Crazy Branding Stunt Can Bring Results For Years

As a beginner, you would be forgiven for thinking that... Read More

Business Case Study Automotive Detailing Franchise Company

How do automotive detailing companies start? What makes them work... Read More

Brand Identity Guru - Is Your Brand Vital?

The world is not waiting for you?or your product or... Read More

Id Buy That: Getting A Brand Mindset

Feel that? The crisp tingle in the air? It's fall.... Read More

Quality and Service - Yeah, Right!

One of the critical drivers of business success is having... Read More

The New Branding Awareness - A Value Based Concept

The new branding awareness is about when you take ownership... Read More

Branding Strategy - Brand Identity

Today, in many organizations around the world, branding is treated... Read More

Into The Limelight

To stand out in a cluttered world, become a recognized... Read More

Don?t Overlook Your Email When Considering Your Brand Identity

You wouldn't skip letterhead when sending out a sales letter... Read More

Corporate Logo Design ? 6 Keys to Success

A corporate logo design should be highly instrumental in building... Read More

Revealing the Roots: The Process of Building Brand

How is branding different than marketing?Branding is not so much... Read More

Branding Fiasco -- Better Be Who You Say You Are!

Our experience as customers offers great instruction into the concept... Read More

Are You Brand Worthy?

Branding is one hot topic, although it is wildly misunderstood.... Read More

Is It Legal? - Indecent Naming With Tradition

When Mitsubishi launched a new car with the name "Pajero"... Read More

The Secrets of Starting Business Successfully

Starting Business Secrets will help you to start your own... Read More

Brand Name Identity in the Oil Business

I submit to you that Brand Name Identity in the... Read More

Business Branding - How Character Affects Customers and Your Business Image

The public buys far more than just your products, services... Read More

Simple Risk Reversal Formula Will Send Your Sales Into Space (1 of 2)

Make A Bold Promise Then Back It Up With An... Read More

Extreme Makeover ? Small Business Edition

Have you ever watched one of those home makeover shows?... Read More

Hawaiian Heirloom Jewelry

Back to the era of the Hawaiian monarchy, the origin... Read More

Brand Strategy - Brand Value - Brand Identity Guru

Developing brand strategy is extremely critical. The most important asset... Read More

Articles: The Perfect Branding Tool

If you own a web-based business, you're probably aware of... Read More

Your Business Logo and Color Scheme

My business logo and color scheme started one lovely spring... Read More

The Aim of the Name

Large corporations spend lavish amounts seeking names for their products... Read More

Entrepreneur Speaks on Brand Extension in the Franchise Cleaning Business

On question I have been asked over and over again... Read More

Jan Verhoeff: Brand Your Market

Marketing potential of any product is based on recognition and... Read More

Blonds Have More Fun!

In the book, The Blond Knight of Germany, American authors... Read More

The Face of Your Business, Part I

When we initially started our businesses, we had to decide... Read More