Is an organization also a brand? We believe it is. The biggest reason to invest in competitive branding is to grow margins by increasing your target audience’s brand preference. In many ways, organizational branding is no different from branding a product or service. Just as with products and services, a good brand should highlight what makes the organization unique, identify what audience it serves, and convey its purposes.

Branding is about persuasion. It all revolves around the set of organizational beliefs, which should drive the target audience to covet your brand. Before clients do business, they need to be convinced first. And what’s more important than a first impression online?

Curious how you can elevate your branding and online presence? Here are some of the important online marketing tools that you should utilize:

1. Website

A good website is a must. Remember that your organization’s website has to represent your members. It should create a positive first impression for buyers who want to do business with you.

• Clearly state your unique value proposition (UVP) and what your services are. Don’t forget to cater to the question how your organization can help the reader out.
• Place relevant keywords on your website for higher ranking in search engines. This effort is part of search engine optimization (SEO).
• Utilize blogs on your website to regularly share updates of your organization and members’ achievements. For example their certifications, awards that they have won, upcoming projects, or new laws and regulations in countries relevant to your business sector.

2. Social media

Being active on social media will definitely help your website’s SEO. Besides that, social media gives you a wider reach and helps you strengthen the brand awareness of your organization.

• Start branding on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Post regularly and create posts with high engagements. Entice shares, likes, and comments of your audience. An ambassador strategy among your employees or – if you are an association – members will help you reach a broader audience: ask them to share and like your posts.
• Share stories, including the people behind the organization. Humanize your organization – social media should be fun and not too formal. ?
• Use relevant #hashtags, mentions, and share posts from your members’ personal social media pages.
• Share links from your website – such as blogs – to your social media pages. These are called backlinks and work wonders for your SEO efforts.
• Join relevant groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Keep a close eye on what happens in these groups. This will keep you up-to-date with the latest market trends. Also, collaboration opportunities might arise from actively taking part in groups.

3. E-mailing campaigning (e-newsletter)

Regularly send updates to your members and existing clients. This will ensure that you stay top of mind of key clients. So, what should you share in these e-newsletters? For associations, subjects such as upcoming training and workshops, new regulations, market trends, and new projects are always good to share. Also, give a spotlight position to association members. For example, create a member of the month section in which you introduce a member and their skills. This way, you build authority for both the organization and the members. For businesses, you could think along the line of new products, spotlighting employees, showcasing the facilities and projects you have been working on.

4. Positive external links

External links are hyperlinks that point from another domain to your domain. For example, when a website quotes a part of your blog and links it to the blog post on your website. When this occurs, it is considered an external link to your site. Similarly, if you link to another website yourself, this is also considered an external link. External links positively affect your SEO.

If you are affiliated with the government in your country, make links on your websites to these governmental sites too. Ensure that your website only links to reputable business sites and trade directories. Linking to sites with a bad reputation – or just having a lot of broken, not working links – can have a negative influence on your SEO.

Curious about what Globally Cool has to offer in terms of branding, promotion, and online marketing?