We were perturbed with the recent Penguin 2.0; on the other hand, people are getting gaga over guest blogging and hosting their own guest blog where all categories are welcome. This cycle continues as internet marketers focus on SEO and Content Marketing to improve their clients’ standings in the search engine.
Because of the buzz around changes in algorithm and refreshes, there is something online marketing agencies tend to neglect—that is, branding.
Why Internet Marketing Sucks
I know I’ll be getting a lot of unfavorable attention, but let me justify my case. If you’re an Internet Marketing company, probably you’re handling Search Engine marketing and Social Media management. You might be doing guest posts with dofollow backlinks, blog commenting, forum posting, Twitter mentions, Facebook fan page optimization, and a lot of things concerning off site optimization.
The thing is, because people are so preoccupied with metrics, they forget the real essence of marketing. Gaining people’s trust, establishing the brand’s authority, promoting the band’s image—all of these overlooked because of the race to the top.
Think about how you can really help your client, instead of bringing them short term results. You want to make an impression; you definitely want to become part of the brand’s success. While the technicalities like SEO and SMM is imperative, interaction and brand stabilization are the key factors to make a business work.
Using Brands As Leverage
As you go over your campaign, consider some factors in formulating your game plan. Study the client’s profile, aim to incorporate their vision and mission to your goals and objectives to achieve in the long run. Regrettably, there will be occasions that clients will rack your brains for solid, quantitative data. They’re concerned with the number of links you have gathered, the number of blog comments you’ve earned for them, and even the number of fans and retweets are more important than that of engagement and brand popularity.
As online marketers, we should think outside the box while keeping that box in check; to simply put it, we should be more creative within the limited bounds where we’re moving. Instead of buying Likes and Twitter followers, we should engage the brand and use the brand’s identity as our stepping stone in reaching out to our targeted audience.
If you’re working for a startup company, you might want to focus first on what they can offer; but be sure that you’re pitching in real content. Otherwise, you’ll lose the game because of fraudulent information. Because of the power of word-of-mouth marketing, your brand can make it through or break in the middle of the process. Being transparent gives an impression of professionalism—that you’re serious in giving solutions to your potential consumers’ problems via your products or services.
Brand Engagement
Before everything else, make sure that you discuss your plans with your clients. You must set their expectations to what is realistic, feasible, and attainable. If you set it that way they will know what could happen and they wouldn’t push through with impossible demands. Emphasize the duration of the plan; mostly it’ll be conducted over a span of months to years, but expect results with a long term effect.
Afterwards, proceed with your brand engagement. Here are some tips you should keep in mind when engaging your brand:
- Keep it real. Never hoodwink your audience. Remember, they will be your followers. They will help you push the brand into further heights. A wrong move could tarnish the reputation of the brand, or worse, sink the brand into an abyss.
- If you think social media is the way to go, think before you click. Establish protocols to execute in case there may be problems with your visitors. Others will certainly bombard your Wall or Inbox with questions or complaints; re route them to the proper authorities who will handle the case.
- Think outside the box. People like to read, but they also love images and videos. Hold podcasts, video segments, and even make efforts to do infographics; you’ll never run out of things to attract your followers.
- Last but not the least— expect that this would surely take some time before your efforts will render results. Think of your engagement comparable to building trust and rapport. Once they trust your brand, others will follow suite.
Establishing your client’s brand can help boost his online presence along with on-site and off-site optimization techniques. We shouldn’t focus on the quantity of links we can gather but rather the quality it can bring to the business. It all comes down to how you brand the business well through your marketing efforts.
Are you harnessing the power of your brand well? Share your experience with us in the Comments Section!
