Your Brand is one of the most complex and important components of your business. Knowing that, what are you doing to support your brand in the digital world? One of the terms we use daily at Left Coast Marketing & Design is “Digital Presence” meaning the various components of your business that your target consumer might come into contact with online. For every web design project or digital marketing project we seek to understand all the various parts of the business that are touched in the process and how we can help you to create consistency for your audience.
Here, we explain what Digital Presence is and why you need strong initiatives to address it and find success in the digital world:
Digital presence is the way your business is portrayed and received online. You may have heard the term “digital footprint” before, and the two terms go hand in hand. As an owner or marketing executive, you need to be mindful when updating any part of your business – keeping it consistent with the other components of your brand. Consider, as you make changes, what other components you need to change if one single aspect changes?
Your business’ website is your ‘Digital Storefront,’ and your number one goal should be the creation of the ultimate digital experience for your guests. This is the interaction with your visitors at the digital level, so you should ask yourself, “How can I make the best first impression, one that lasts?” Whether it’s your website, your social network engagement, or your email blasts – creating consistency throughout all aspects of your business the customer comes in contact with is important and Left Coast can help you to achieve that.
More often than not, the driving force behind a total brand refresh is the website. It used to be a business’ website was the most important piece of their digital presence. Now, with the level of tech savvy users vastly increasing, as well as the ease at which you can find information on the web, search engines are driving traffic to a business’ most active page. These changes mean instead of users being directed to your company website first, they might be led to your Facebook page, or your Yelp page before ever seeing your website!
You want to make sure that no matter what digital marketing platform your audience is directed to, the messaging and brand is consistently portrayed throughout. Today, people walk into a business for the first time knowing a little bit (or a lot) about them through the resources online, whether it’s from Facebook, Trip Advisor, your company site, or Instagram. You want to make sure you are covering all your bases and really do your business a favor by populating all platforms with compelling content, consistent posting of new content, and up-to-date information.
The content that determines your digital presence is represented by multiple components, because your audience is finding your business through multiple platforms. With each content post, you are building consistency between all the pages a customer might touch while delivering an online experience that ties to your brand. The driving force is your web design and once you initiate the move to change, a “spillover” occurs through it requiring you to update your email blasts, blog (keywords) strategy, and social media outlets, and maybe even photography to reflect your brand effectively to your audience.
