Branding is a vital part of a marketing package, but many organisations fail to consistently brand themselves online. Clinton Porter suggests some simple steps to successful online branding.
Branding is about more than imagery its also about the way your values are conveyed and received. As the principal media for interactively engaging with your market, your website and online marketing should be a crucial part of that. That means making the experience work for your web audience. In order for your online presence to radiate your brand, your values must be inherent in all aspects of the user experience from how your website is marketed, to its usability and accessibility. Brand values such as helpfulness and vision, being forward thinking and responsive, are too frequently under-delivered particularly in cyberspace. But with the right use of technology and design, these values can be delivered at an individual customer level. The key is in usability and accessibility.
Usability is a word often used to explain how someone finds their way around a website. As such, it incorporates user conventions and best practice. But while often this is no more than lip service, at other times such rules are used to stifle innovation and limit the organisations ability to express its values. So how can you move beyond such platitudes? First of all, bear in mind that good usability starts before your visitor lands on your site. Meeting a clients needs is the truest expression of brand values and thats the best way to think about usability. So, think about how your visitors are going to find you and what they will be looking for via search engines.
A website then needs to meet the needs of all visitors. If it is designed correctly, most visitors will not arrive through the home page but via internal landing pages as directed by search engines, email and off-line promotions. These pages must deliver in the first few seconds. They must:
" Meet the need of the search and speak to the visitor
" Make it immediately obvious to which organisation the site belongs
" Make it obvious where the visitor is in the site
" Make it clear how to get to other sections (sub-sections)
" Make it obvious how to get in touch or book tickets online
" Make it easy to find information via search facilities or logical navigation.
This is good online branding. So is giving control to your visitors over how they receive communication from you. Emails are a good way of building up a loyal base, but use your data to provide a better service. Allow visitors to sign up to topics they are interested in, not just a single large email that they are unlikely to read. And keep emails short, with brief headlines and links back to your site.
Then use the information you have at your disposal to create a finely tuned email. If you have information about past visitor experiences such as their purchase patterns, use this to provide other targeted information to specific groups. For example, if you know they have been to see a certain exhibition, promote a related event to them. This should be done in a subtle way and always in support of the rest of your marketing message. Arts organisations often have hugely loyal customers. Use your online marketing wisely to deliver real value and one-to-one service and you will grow that relationship for the long term.
Clinton Porter is Production Director for web development and online marketing agency NVisage. w: http://www.nvisage.co.uk