Did you know that over half of all small businesses have a website?
If you’re part of that majority, you’re doing great, but do you think you’re doing enough? When it comes to tying your marketing and branding strategies, you might need improvement.
At the very least, a few tips can take your digital marketing from zero to hero. And lucky for you, this article is breaking down some of the best ways you can combine marketing and branding for your website.
Read on to learn more!
Marketing vs Branding
Before getting into the weeds about using the two to work with each other, you have to understand the difference between marketing and branding. Most people think the two are the same!
But actually, the two are quite different, but they work together. And when they aren’t in sync, it’s pretty obvious.
Marketing, in short, is making people aware of your business. It’s using your channels and content to help people find out about you. On your website, blogs are often a great form of marketing.
Branding is the way you present yourself online. If you’re a finance company, you want to present yourself as trustworthy and smart. But if you”re an
Instead of working separately, branding determines your marketing strategy. If you want your brand to look knowledgeable, chances are you’ll want to market with more blogs or create a podcast. Looking like an expert will help the branding goal of looking knowledgeable.
Be Different but Normal
Nobody starts a business with the intention to do the same thing as everyone else. Ever good entrepreneur has a new, fresh idea that will help them make more money than anyone else.
This is good, but unfortunately, this sentiment can hurt your branding and marketing online. You want to have a unique voice, but you don’t want to look completely different from your industry.
For example, if you own construction business, a website with weird animations and an unprofessional theme won’t fly. You’d likely look pretty serious while still standing out.
On the other hand, a graphics design company could easily use weird animations and a silly them to fuel their branding and marketing. It just depends on your industry.
Doing this will ensure that people understand exactly what you’re selling. Otherwise, they may get confused and leave your site.
Of course, make sure that your voice is unique and cuts through the crowd. A logo that looks a little different than most or a blog with casual articles can be great. But going completely against the stream doesn’t always work out.
Know Your Why
The biggest mistake that marketers make is not knowing their marketing why. Without being aware of why they’re doing something, chances are they won’t have a good direction.
Think about it like a runner. If your goal is to run a 10k, you wouldn’t want to practice by running sprints. It would be better to do long, well-paced runs.
The same goes for marketing. Exerting yourself in efforts that aren’t necessary will lead to poor marketing that doesn’t create results.
Decide what type of brand you want and how you want people to interact with you online. Use this information to determine what marketing you want to do.
Make sure to also know who you’re targeting. Consider developing a buyer persona and think of them each time you publish something. Good content can’t be effective if you don’t know who you are supposed to be reaching.
Get Professional Help
At the end of the day, marketing is hard. Sometimes it will work with ease, and other times you’ll be stuck scratching your head, trying to figure out what went wrong.
Tying in your marketing and branding strategies together for your website is no different. And oftentimes, you don’t have the time to sacrifice to make sure it all goes well.
In fact, even if you do get quite a bit of work done online, you still might lose money compared to the amount of time you spend not working on your business. This can lead to lower revenue and more stress!
Instead, get professional help with your branding strategies. Even if you want to do most of your marketing yourself, it can help to have someone on your side.
Working with a marketing agency or branding group is nice because they only do as much as you want. Whether you just need advice or an entire do-over, they can make sure it’s done well.
For some businesses, there are marketing agencies that specialize in your industry. Sometimes this can be helpful, but it means they probably stick to just a few specific tactics. This lowers creativity and means you might not see as much success.
Consider working with someone who does general marketing. Or you could work with a group like this company, who specializes but also does more. This gives you expertise along with a diverse set of ideas.
Rethink Your Strategies
Many marketers are upset to find that marketing and branding aren’t something that you can set and forget. You should always be looking for ways to change and improve your strategies.
Otherwise, your marketing and branding strategies will become outdated. Think about the way people market in 2002. Would the same strategy still work today?
Of course not, and while something you create today might work a year from now, a new strategy might work even better.
One rule of thumb is to review each major strategy every three months. Don’t do all at the same time though. Just review at least one strategy each month.
Combining Marketing and Branding Strategies? No Problem.
Now that you’ve read this article, you should be ready to combine your marketing and branding strategies for your website. Remember that, over time, you should update and redo the design that you make.
Still working on your website? Check out this article about content and SEO.