How to Build a Digital Presence
Whether you’re an individual or a business, having a digital presence is important. Here’s how to build one that works for your brand.
The second step in building your digital presence is to define your audience. Many companies make the mistake of defining their audience based on demographic information like age or gender, but that’s only part of the picture. As you can see in this chart below, demographics are only one piece of a much larger puzzle:
Identify your business's strengths.
Knowing your strengths will help you to focus on what you are good at and avoid things that are not important to the success of your digital presence. Your strengths are what set you apart from your competitors, so it is important for them to be clear and obvious when people think about your business or visit one of your websites. Your strength could be something as simple as a product or service that is unique, such as a specialty food item or an unusual service like pet grooming. It can also be a less tangible aspect, such as excellent customer service, which would make it stand out from other stores in the area that offer comparable products.
Create a marketing plan.
- Define your target market.
- Define your goals.
- Define your budget and resources.
- Determine how long it will take to achieve these goals, adding an additional 6 months onto the timeline for unforeseen delays or issues that may arise along the way.
- Identify who will be responsible for executing each step in this plan and their roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships with others on the team–especially if you’re looking for outside help such as marketing consultants or agencies to execute specific tasks like writing blog articles or creating infographics, for example. Make sure to clearly define what is expected from each person involved so there’s no confusion regarding roles/responsibilities later down the line, either internally within yourself or externally with anyone else involved in implementing such plans (elements below).
Create a social media strategy.
Social media is a great way to get your brand out there and connect with your customers. It’s also a great way to create a community of people who love your brand, which can be very useful in building buzz for products and services. Social media is also an excellent tool for getting feedback on your brand, so make sure you’re using it as such!
You’ll want to create accounts for all the major social networks, especially Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, if you plan on using social media marketing as part of your digital presence strategy.
Develop an email marketing strategy.
Email marketing is still a very effective marketing tool. It can help build a relationship with your customers, it can be used to sell products and services, it can be used to collect customer data, and it can be used to promote an event.
The key is to develop an email marketing strategy—a plan that outlines what you want to achieve with each campaign. For example, you may have an annual sales event coming up that you plan on promoting via email; or maybe you’d like to create a newsletter that informs people about the products or services you offer over time (and then include links at the end of each issue).
Build a website and a blog.
Your website and blog are the most important parts of your digital presence. They’re the first thing people will see when they look for you online, so don’t let them be a disorganized mess. A well-designed website can showcase your brand and tell your story in an engaging way that is easy to understand, which helps convert visitors into customers.
A digital presence is the sum of all the different places people can find and experience your brand online, from your website to your voice on Facebook to your web design and beyond.
When you think of your brand’s digital presence, what comes to mind? a company’s website? The social media accounts it manages? The products it sells online? All of these things can be They’re part of a company’s digital presence, but they’re not all there is. In fact, a digital presence is much bigger than any one thing on its own.
A digital presence is defined as the sum of all the different places people can find and experience your brand online—from your website to your voice on Facebook to your web design and beyond. And while each component plays an important role in defining that presence, they are generally grouped into three categories:
- Web site (or another digital asset)
- Social media profiles/pages
- Online assets
Conclusion
If you want to build a digital presence, you will need to consider the many different ways people find information and experience your brand online. A website is just one example, but it’s also important to consider how your audience uses social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. Email marketing is another way for people to be exposed to your brand as well, so don’t forget about sending out newsletters or other communications through email! If all this sounds complicated, don’t worry—we know it can seem like a lot at first! But with some planning and careful consideration of what works best for your business or cause, we promise that you won’t regret taking the time early on to establish good habits now.