With the rise of content creation, it can be a challenge for brands to capture customer attention with their marketing strategy.

The number of influencers and small business owners has skyrocketed, making it harder to be discovered.

In order to stand out, digital brand management has become more important than ever. 

Around 84% of consumers search for brands on social media before they decide to make a purchase. For that reason, a brand’s online presence is critical for improving customers’ perception. 

According to Capital One, 62% of consumers have an emotional connection to the brands they buy from the most. They are also willing to pay more for a nearly identical product from a brand that has earned their trust.

With TikTok and Instagram each having 1.59 to 2 billion monthly active users, it can seem daunting to stand out in the digital landscape. However, these tips will help anyone in their digital brand management journey be able to enhance their efforts.

Consistency is key : stay consistent across all channels

Consistency is one of the most important things to keep in mind. Making sure that all digital channels, such as the company website, email newsletters, and various social media accounts, consistently portray the brand’s identity is key for digital brand management. 

Brand identity can be broken down into two sections: design elements and emotional elements. The design elements include aspects like colors, logos, fonts, and visual style. Meanwhile, emotional elements include the brand’s mission, vision, values, and voice.

The design and emotional elements should always be working together to present a consistent tone and aesthetic to the audience.

All digital media channels should look cohesive. So when a customer comes to any one of the platforms, they will start being able to recognize and remember the brand. The brand’s identity should create a lasting impression for customers, and it should be clear on all digital media channels.

Aritzia is a brand that does this well. All of their channels portray a consistent aesthetic of everyday luxury.

Their website and email newsletters also use the same fonts so customers can start associating it with their brand. When people search for Aritzia on any platform they will see the brand’s effortless and elegant clothing.

Community > follower count : interact with your customers

One of the benefits about social media is that it allows brands and customers to be able to engage with each other. People love being able to interact with their favorite brands in any way that they can. It makes them feel more personally connected, and in turn, more likely to remain loyal.

A brand that is actively engaging with their customers through social media can create a community and build brand trust. This is crucial for digital brand management. 

That emotional connection is an effective way to stand out amongst competitors. It improves brand perception and reputation in the customer’s eyes. They want to see that the brands they look up to truly care about them. The feeling of being heard and valued will create brand loyalty and foster deeper connections.

If a brand has a lot of followers but little to no engagement, people will notice. It places seeds of doubt in their mind about why that might be. So, focusing on engaging with customers is more important than just follower count. 

Short and sweet : make sure everything is easy to understand 

Making sure to keep brand messaging and communication easy to understand is a valuable practice to get into for digital brand management. Simple and memorable are two ideal features to aim for. The easier it is for customers to remember aspects of the brand, the better.

That way, they can spread awareness to friends and family, and help expand the reach of the brand.

People lead very busy lives these days and they don’t want to spend more energy trying to understand what a brand is or what it sells. If the concept or wording is too complicated, potential customers will give up. This will lead them to move on to a different brand to fulfill their needs.

Even having a simple logo, slogan, or value can help a brand differentiate itself in this market.

Nike is famous for their “Just Do It” slogan that inspires people to take the leap and work towards their goals. It is easy to say, easy to remember, and the message is clear. Along with their slogan, the Nike Swoosh logo is just as iconic and people immediately recognize that as part of Nike’s brand.

Keep track : find a way to measure your brand performance 

Being able to track and measure brand performance will be critical for knowing what the strengths and weaknesses are. Marketing analytics play a necessary role in digital brand management. They highlight relevant key metrics and let brand managers know where to adjust and when it’s necessary. 

Having ways to see website traffic, open rate, click through rate, conversion rate, and data on growth will be essential for finding areas to improve.

Some more factors that are important to track are brand engagement, net promoter score, and purchase intent. Having data on as many aspects of brand performance as possible will be an asset in the long run. That way, brands can measure multiple trends over time.

For example, they can see if they are gaining loyal customers, or just attracting one time purchases. Guess which one is better to have?

Also, it will be easier to see the impact of a new launch or campaign if there is already a system in place to track those metrics.

Here to stay : pay attention to long term trends

With the increasing popularity of social media, there are a lot of short term trends that brands can take part in. If caught early enough, those can lead to a surge in popularity and customers for companies that are successful.

However, if caught too late, it can be a waste of resources that doesn’t lead to any real gain.

Having said that, where brands should be spending their time is with the long term trends. These are more impactful and show a real shift in what customers want, and eventually expect, from their favorite brands. 

In particular, people nowadays care more about brands that are authentic and that they feel a deeper, personal connection to. Additionally, customers value brands that show they care about sustainability through continuous actions, not merely through words.

Focusing on trends such as these will improve digital brand management and brand perception in the eyes of customers.

Patagonia is known for being an outdoor clothing and gear brand with a focus on environmental impact. They have continuously pledged 1% of their sales to preserving the environment and encouraged repairing products instead of buying new ones.

Their values connect them with their target customers and they have proven that their actions towards sustainability are ongoing.

Growing in the digital landscape

Digital brand management is crucial for standing out in this competitive market. A brand’s online presence has a significant impact on its reputation and can affect the results of all other marketing efforts. 

Things to remember:

• Consistency is key to help solidify brand identity
• Engagement and connection are more important than follower count
• Keep messages short and sweet so people will remember them
• Tracking and measuring brand metrics will provide important data for improvements
• Align with customer’s values to keep them coming back

People long for connection and community. These tips show how brands, both personal and professional, can grow their loyal customer base and increase visibility on their platforms.

Whether you are starting out in content creation, founding your own business, or working at a big company, strong digital brand management is essential for long term success.

​​🪽 Written by Ava El-Kareh