The Digital Future

If brand marketing is a long-term strategy focused on shaping customer perceptions and building lasting relationships through consistent communication and a strong brand identity rather than a focus on immediate sales, how does a company create a great branding strategy? Key concepts include brand identity and brand voice. How do you maintain a consistent communication message across all touch points, including marketing materials, social media, customer service, and website?

 
Story telling seems to be an important component, too. How do you use compelling narratives to connect with customers and build emotional connections? How do you achieve customer engagement and brand loyalty? Using branding to differentiate your brand from similar competition is important as well. How do you do this?

Good questions. Modern marketing is a far different enterprise than it was just a few years ago. Building lasting customer relationships remains job one, but the digital era seems to create as many downsides as upsides. (A certain beer company comes readily to mind.) That said, you can’t ignore it, as you will discover when you read “Taking Your Brand Into the Digital Future” (page TK) by Kel L. O’Brien.
Beth Shimanksi, vice president of marketing for Savage Arms and Bowtech archery brands, has long understood the importance of a digital footprint. She told O’Brien, “In today’s digital world, a strong digital strategy isn’t optional—it’s a core tenant of our marketing strategy. For our brand, it’s the most flexible way to reach customers faster and stay in front of customers in a competitive and an increasingly data-driven market.”

Trent Marsh is Riton’s marketing director. He also understands the importance of developing a digital strategy. “Digital strategy is a crucial part of any larger marketing plan,” he says. “It encompasses so many different outlets and mediums; if you aren’t focused it can overwhelm your team, and worse than that, it won’t fit the larger goals you have in play. You can use it as a path to increase visibility with a partner who has other channels of distribution or as an incubator for smaller relationships. With so many facets it requires a lot of attention, thought, and resources.”

In other words, a successful digital strategy requires unrelenting focus and effort. Years ago, in what seems like another lifetime, I worked in a publishing company that gave lip service to its digital branding efforts. Upper management hired a young staffer because of his SEO (search engine optimization) expertise. But he had trouble communicating with colleagues, and to make matters worse, the company refused to make the required investments that are necessary to build a strong digital brand. This weak-fisted approach essentially relegated the company’s digital efforts to a strategic backwater, allowing the competition to seize the initiative. It reminds me of advice given to me when I was trying to master a difficult outdoor skill: “If you’re going to do it, commit to it. There’s no other way.”