Gone are the days of a decent LinkedIn ad and a simple landing page being enough to convince your audience to get in touch. Now don’t get us wrong, those are important! But they’re just a part of what makes up what people really care about: your digital brand.
In this blog, we’re breaking down:
- What a digital brand is and how digital branding impacts your goals
- Why investing in your digital brand is worth it
- How consistency builds trust with your audience
- The role your team can play as brand ambassadors
What is Digital Branding?
It’s pretty straightforward: digital branding is branding. Period.
While your brand is the sum of all experiences a person has with your company, encompassing everything from in-person recruiter interactions to product quality and your online presence, digital branding is the focus on how you curate and present your brand identity across digital platforms, like your website, social media, and digital advertising.
Much like other branding efforts, digital branding is all about cultivating a positive experience with your services and products. And given how online the world is, your digital brand is likely more valuable than you even realize.
Why Digital Branding Is Worth Investing In
Think of your target audience. Where are they spending their time?
They’re going online to research staffing agencies, compare candidate pools, and ultimately choose the staffing partner who can deliver the best fit for their open positions. If they’re looking for a new HR technology tool, they’re looking up user reviews, looking on social media sites to research company leaders, and scouring websites for product demos.
To put it simply…if you’re not investing in your digital brand, your audience isn’t going to invest in you.
Are you ready for some numbers to prove it?
- 9 out of 10 B2B buyers say online content (blogs, social media, etc.) has a moderate to major effect on purchasing decisions.
- Over 70% of B2B buyers spend over half of their research time online.
- 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase a product or service if they’ve been able to read a trusted review about it.
The impact of digital branding cannot be overstated. A well-crafted and consistent digital brand builds trust, strengthens brand recognition, and ultimately, influences buying decisions.
Consistency: The Secret to Success
Imagine encountering a brand with a sleek, modern website filled with bright colors and a casual tone, but a social media presence that uses all black and white photos and sounds like a college business class paper. Confusing, right?
Consistency is the cornerstone of a powerful digital brand. By ensuring your brand voice, messaging, and visual identity remain uniform across all platforms, you create a cohesive and trustworthy experience for your audience. Consistency builds brand recognition and fosters a sense of trust with your customers.
There are common pitfalls when it comes to brand consistency, like not clearly defining your visual identity or just repeating what you see your competitors saying, but avoiding them is often as easy as getting your team on the same page.
Your Team as Brand Ambassadors
It’s not just the marketing team that plays a role in your brand. Every member of your team, from recruiters to branch managers to your sales team and beyond, plays a role in shaping your brand experience.
By engaging your employees in brand-building work, you foster a sense of ownership and empowerment for them to become brand ambassadors. When your team understands your brand values and voice they can authentically represent your company in their day-to-day work.
Investing in your digital brand is about more than posting to social media, it’s making sure that every touchpoint someone has with your organization is cohesive, unique, and most importantly, valuable.
Don’t forget…you don’t need to take your digital brand journey alone. We have over 18 years of experience guiding staffing firms and HR technology companies through the brand development process and we’re always happy to talk about it!