There are many digital branding misconceptions floating around the internet that threaten to keep many companies from developing a digital brand. While some of these may be true, a great deal more of them aren’t or are simply misunderstood. We’ll go over the top 10 digital branding misconceptions so that you can build your digital brand with all the facts.
Top 10 Digital Branding Misconceptions
What are the big digital branding misconceptions? We’ve gathered up 10 to go over with you.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #1: Invasion of Privacy
As crazy as it sounds, if your brand is on social media and you’re using it to market your business, then you’re going to want people to see what you’re doing.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t have a private account where you can post personal things that aren’t work-related, however, if you intend to find new clients and referrals, then you should have a profile you can use for your brand or consider not having a social media profile at all.
The real issue is that you shouldn’t have anything you want to hide from your readers. Your account will not be full of Supreme Court decisions or any other life-changing information for your clients and potential clients.
If you are really worried about personal messages, then simply avoid the social media inbox and use your email instead.
Your connections will expand your reach and have intrinsic value. Go public so that you can acquire as many of them as you can.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #2: I Have to Be On All the Time
You don’t have to be on all the time. In fact, being on constantly can destroy your productivity. No one can be on all the time.
You should focus on making regular posts, but these can easily be scheduled to be published online without you needing to be there. However, when you post, remember that quality is better than quantity. Focus on a few high-quality posts for your brand.
After your post has been made available online, block out time to respond to comments and go over new information that you’ll want to post. You can also schedule your posts for the weekend and spend your real-time offline.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #3: It’s Just One More Thing to Manage
When you’re managing your brand, you can feel overwhelmed by all the little things that you need to do that turn into one big thing. However, this doesn’t have to be the case.
By blocking your time and using a scheduling tool to set up your posts days, and even weeks ahead, you can free up your life and oversee your digital branding intermittently.
A great tool to use for this is HootSuite.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #4: I’ll Be Lost in the Shuffle
Making regular posts can make you feel less like a fish in a tidal wave and can also change the outlook of others. The best thing you can do to improve your outlook is to post your new content and then post it again. You should also post your old content and then post it again.
To stay in the forefront of people’s minds, you have to continually remind them of your existence. You won’t want to be overtly salesy here, but holding out can be an effective form of emarketing.
The people that you reach out to won’t even mind. There’s so much information continually flowing through social media channels, that they probably won’t even notice your brand’s duplicate post. Just be sure to add in some content from experts in your field to even things out and feel more interesting.
SEE ALSO: 8 Link Building Strategies to Enhance Your Digital Brand
Digital Branding Misconceptions #5: It’s Just a Game of Selfies
Even though everyone and their dog, literally, are taking selfies, that isn’t the only thing circulating online. There is actually a large amount of useful content to be found online as well.
Social media shouldn’t be the primary publication tool for your brand, which will eliminate most selfies from your brand’s radar. Your blog should be the primary publication tool for your brand. However, with that being said, social media may just be where a lot of your content is distributed.
To make this technique work for you, simply dive into the content stream in your specific area and figure out who the active experts are. Follow them, or maintain awareness of their posts in some other fashion so that you can repost what they write but with the inclusion of your content. Your content will be improved by association.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #6: I Don’t Want to Have to Blog
Content marketing is very popular right now. It makes sense because its an easy way to broadcast your expertise. Much of your success or lack of success in your digital brand will be dependent on the strength of your content management, aka your ability to consistently put out excellent content.
It is important that you take the time to get your content right. This is especially true when you’re introducing and reintroducing someone else’s content. If done right, they will be much more likely to return the favor and reintroduce your content on their blog. Influencing the influencers is a great way to invade their class, and will only be possible if you curate effectively.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #7: It’s Full of Internet Weirdos
Nerds are definitely perceived the way they used to be. However, the internet may still be riddled with freaks, but that isn’t an accurate representation of the entire online population.
There are many people on the internet who are invested in creating and maintaining a professional online persona just like you. These people may be lawyers, doctors, or any other kind of professional just trying to build their brand.
When dealing with people on the internet, you just need to figure out who is worth following and who isn’t. It usually isn’t that hard to determine who is a legitimate face of their brand and who isn’t. Avatars instead of pictures and limited bios are usually a dead giveaway.
The internet will give you an unlimited number of people to network with, and you get to choose who you want for your personal network and who you want referrals from. It’s really all up to you.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #8: It Won’t Make Me Any Money
Your digital brand won’t make you any money right away. However, it will be beneficial to your pockets in the long run. You can’t just make up a digital brand and sit back and wait for the referrals to come pouring in. You need to push your digital brand for it to be effective.
Pushing your brand will involve pushing your blog posts into several different channels. This will help your clients and referrals see the combination that is your business profile. You may never know which channels it was that brought certain referrals back to you, but without the effort, you’ll miss out on those referrals in the first place.
More likely than not, it will be a combination of factors that will lead people back to you. These factors are usually your online presence, with both your blog and your social media outlets being a major factor, and the references of others both online and in person.
You won’t be able to divvy up every dollar you make off of your digital brand, but a large percentage of the money you make will most likely come from your online activities, which is where your digital brand will be the most helpful to you.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #9: It’s an Ethics Minefield
The internet is an ebattleground that deals with modern ethics in real-time interactions. This can be enough to scare anyone away from using the internet to build their brand.
However, it is important to remember that it isn’t as common as you might think that potential clients are surveying your business to find it’s flaws in the public online forums.
Most of the potential clients that you’ll find online still hold a sense of decorum and circumspection. They are more than capable of finding their way to your digital brand’s contact form and to your phone number. You can also make it easier for them to find your brand’s contact information by specifically guiding them there yourself.
Just remember that there are still limitations on what you can post. Just because your potential clients aren’t looking for problems doesn’t mean you can post whatever you want. Don’t discuss any of your clients or what they have hired you to do on any public forums unless they have permitted you. Include disclaimers you may need for the information that you post.
Being smart about what you post is half the battle in avoiding an ethics showdown from your online posts. Remember not to share any information that you wouldn’t be willing to share in person.
Digital Branding Misconceptions #10: There are More Important Things to Do
This could be the case for just about any activity. However, the fact remains that most people spend most of their time on the internet. The average person is never truly able to disengage from it.
This is why it is so important to apply rigid time management and task management protocols so that you can block out a specific time and adhere to the marketing plan you have developed for your digital brand.
Final Thoughts
Don’t let any of the misconceptions surrounding digital branding keep you from utilizing this option for your business. There are so many more positive aspects of digital branding than they are negative ones. Brush aside the misconceptions and get starting building your online presence with your digital brand.
What are you thoughts about digital branding?
