Hidden Marketing Gems: 5 Underappreciated Ways to Build Your Brand Online

Internet brand management is an important aspect of marketing that often gets overlooked in pursuit of revenue, but its impact on your bottom line is very significant. New customers will want to learn more about your business before purchasing. If you want to convert more sales faster, you should do everything possible to build trust and recognition. Here are some branding ideas that often go unappreciated.

1. Monitor Your Brand Conversations

There are a number of tools available online to track brand mentions. You'll want to be aware of not just what your loyal followers are saying, but what audiences at large are saying to each other about your business. Google Alerts will notify you when these mentions take place, and tools like Hootsuite allow you to monitor several social channels from one platform. Other tools relate to content such as blogs and forums. This way, you track customer feedback on many channels. This allows you to identify any negative reactions so they can be countered before they spread.

2. Capitalize on the Competition’s Errors

You can use similar tools to track the kind of feedback your rivals get. Taking note of their successes puts you at an advantage. Your business competitors will also make mistakes occasionally that you could capitalize on. For instance, if a rival company comes under fire for gender discrimination, you could make it a point to feature your support of gender equality. This puts you on the positive side of the bad press that's stigmatizing the competitor, so that you look like a responsible business in comparison.

3. Make Employees Online Advocates

Your employees are likely spending a good portion of their time online, and you should consider encouraging them to promote your brand while they're at it. You could block off a couple days a week on a rotating schedule where employees spend an hour on the internet engaging in social media conversations about your company or making positive contributions to blogs or forums. Multiple employees making frequent contributions will improve your brand reach faster than the occasional random user could, and most likely on platforms you would have never thought of.

4. Nurture Your Offline Reputation

Much of what's said about your company online may originate from offline sources. You former employees, business associates, and past customers may be sharing stories about your company to friends and family in conversations that may influence their online opinions. Develop opportunities for your employees and business partners to leave feedback and encourage them to do so. This could be filling out paper courtesy cards, or web pages designed to make it easy to leave anonymous comments. Perceptions of unfairness or dishonesty are trends that could affect your brand. You'll want to know about them so you can implement strategies to counteract these opinions.

5. Get Reviews and Testimonials

Online reviews are checked by 92% of consumers when making purchase decisions. However, even happy customers rarely go to the trouble to leave positive reviews. You have to encourage them to do so. You could even include links to important review sites to make it easier for them. Also, don't overlook customer testimonials for serving the same purpose. SuccessPath, which offers a series of real estate seminars, produces videos where attendees share their personal experiences and reactions to the seminar. These positive remarks in the form of Success Path reviews from actual customers serve as an excellent tool for building trust.rnIf you're putting all of your money and efforts into marketing without any thought of branding, you're missing a huge opportunity. Positive branding generates consumer recognition and confidence. Those are two of the best marketing tools you can have.