5 Digital Brand Strategy Objectives

Create objectives for your brand strategy whether that is at the launch of the brand or you need to revitalise it or are looking to promote it and increase awareness and preference. That is not always easy of course and there are many obstacles in the process including financial constraints and limited resources to launch the strategy.
Digital marketing objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) and here are 5 objectives to consider for your brand:

1. Build Awareness

If the objective is to build awareness, then decisions should be made about what percentage of the target market should be made aware of the brand and by when. This will often be at the launch of the brand when it has zero awareness with potential customers, so the business has to create a strategy about how this awareness will be achieved and by when. An example of a brand awareness objective is: “Achieve 70% brand awareness with online customers by December 2016”.

This brand strategy objective will require specific online channels and tools to launch and manage and some of the main ones are display advertising, social media marketing and Online PR. With display advertising for example, Google Display Network campaigns can be launched which focus exclusively on banner ads that are placed on sites that closely relate to the business and its target markets.

Channels like search advertising are not as effective at raising brand awareness because the target customers need to be first made aware of the brand before people can start searching for it. However, there are generic search terms that people will be searching with and these can be included in search campaigns to promote the new brand.

2. Create an emotional connection

Creating an emotional connection with target markets is not possible for all types of brands especially with business brands which are acquired for business operations. However, with many consumer brands, creating emotional connections is common with many large brands like Apple, Coke, BMW, Disney and others, and is possible for a wide range of businesses that operate in the digital sphere.

Here, experience is of paramount importance and this should be the objective of the website and landing pages to create an experience that leads to high visitor engagement and high customer retention. Social media is also a good channel to highlight the benefits of the brand and create buzz around its attributes.

3. Convey distinguishing attributes

The brand should be positioned as providing greater value than competitor offers and not just in price and discounts, but in the benefits offered and advantages that customers get from acquiring the brand and not competitors’.

The brand identity should be unique and appealing and it should highlight the values that it stands for. In communications and promotions, the distinguishing attributes should be highlighted and demonstrated to show how they trump competitor attributes.

4. Gain credibility and trust

To gain credibility and trust, the brand should live up to its promises. If the promise is to deliver products within 24 hours of purchase for example, then this should be its number one objective and all operations should be focused on achieving this. Anything less than the promise that the target customers have bought into, will lead to frustration and lack of trust and credibility.

The website is important here too and should include all features that help to build trust such as secure pages, info and FAQ pages, customer contact details, fast loading pages, good navigation and so on.

All claims made in advertising campaigns, especially with pay per click advertising should be delivered within one click of the ad. If not, then visitors will bounce and never return and you will accrue costs but no sales from your campaigns.

5. Achieve buyer preference

One benefit of creating a brand especially online is that it makes achieving buyer preference easier for the brand. Customers are more likely to trust a brand they are familiar with and are willing to pay more to acquire them.

Summary

Need help crafting your digital strategy objectives and launching your online campaigns to promote your brand? Contact me to discuss your requirements.