Brand refers to a business and marketing concept that helps people identify a particular company, product, or individual. Brands are intangible, which means you can't actually touch or see them. It is a special feeling be it psychological or functional that is associated with particular products. The brand signifies to customers some sense of assurance, quality, lower risk, loyalty etc. It also serves as a niche, quality assurance, and easy identification to a company or seller.
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Branding is used to create a significant presence in the market for the purpose of attracting customers and converting them into loyal consumers. As such, they help shape people's perceptions of companies, their products, or individuals. Brands commonly use identifying markers to help create brand identities within the marketplace. They provide enormous value to the company or individual, giving them a competitive edge over others in the same industry.
THE EVOLVING NATURE OF THE ONLINE BRAND
For centuries, brands have long been used to set products apart from each other. The birth of the internet and its evolving nature has led to the spawning of many social media outlets and apps that companies use to brand their products. Today, the internet has become instrumental and almost inevitable in the field of branding. In an era where most productive youth that has the purchasing power over most products spend most part of their social/virtual life, it will be prudent to join the bandwagon and really position your brand for such vast users’ of the internet.
The evolving technologies have made it simple for organizations to micro-target customers with their brand by just acquiring their data from other firms and social media giants. Thus, branding in this era requires that organizations take their online presence very seriously because just a tweet about your brand or product may lead to boycotts or may lead to more purchases.
This new evolution in an era of disinformation helps in sanitizing the internet from disinformation about your brand and more so segment your audience or customer base into categories and deal with their problem at different stages. Online branding would also, helps the company have the chance to communicate with customers directly and also provides the opportunity to gather customer information to build a database of customer purchase patterns. The data can be used to segment customers into specific groups with specific needs, and even offer customized services.
A decision taken by a brand to go online would mean that such a brand would cut costs in advertising Expenses. Online branding gets your name out there in the beginning, and as people become more aware and familiar with your brand, you will find yourself spending less time and money on branding. In the long run, online branding will reduce the amount of money you spend on advertising and overall operation costs.
Online branding will get people to stick to your brand. Once you have a loyal consumer base, you will be free to charge what you feel your products are worth. This is great for increasing profitability and brand loyalty. However, a lack of clarity on the brand identity online could hurt the brand especially if it has no clear branding strategies it wants to follow.
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And so, it will be fair to say that online or digital branding is the order of the day because that is where many people live their lives. Thus, any serious brand would take advantage of this new revolution and position itself well to attract substantial brand influence and niche which may ultimately turn into a loyal customer base.
Finally, branding in the age of the internet has taken another dimension. This means that with the proper tool on the ground and the right manpower, you can be the next big brand globally.