The best online platforms to use.

Following from the previous post on the paths we recommend to building your brand, here are some platforms that can aid your journey.

These are social media platforms which rely on shared content to build your brand among a relevant audience. Social media marketing has become a science in itself, and our view is that at the early stage of your brand story, some investment of time is perhaps sufficient to understand and develop your brand online.. gradually, some hiring of “expertise”could help you on accelerate your journey.

If you are a B2B brand,

Your website is a great place to start. Blogs/ white papers and case studies are good examples of how you can demonstrate your brand’s capabilities and differentiation.

Content here also helps customers searching for your services reach you through google’s search algorithms. It may not be a bad idea at all at this stage to speak to “SEO” experts that can help you identify what topics to right on so that the search leads right to your doorstep.

A website audit, and a directory of articles suggested by an expert will be very useful in creating relevant content. Content is the key here and what you present will enrich not only your own web site but other platforms where you could share the same.

Typically content on your website should follow the following rules:

• Once in two days is a reasonable start point.
• The content could be your own or re-shared from elsewhere, ideally with your take on the subject.
• Content here could be blogs- 500-1000 words, white papers, videos, case studies.
• Articles about functional expertise/ industry matters do better than those promoting the brand directly.
• Interspersing personal journeys along with the brand (1/6 articles) helps to build authenticity and engagement as well.

Outside of your website, Linkedin is a great place to start.

As a social medium for professional connect, Linkedin rewards you for professionally relevant content. It is also a medium that rewards for sufficient, not excessive engagement.

Depending on how the content is relevant to the audience, you will start to connect with relevant professionals from within and outside your network.

Linkedin content rules are not very different from what you are positing on your web site:

• Once in two days is a reasonable start point.
• The content could be your own or re-shared from elsewhere, ideally with your take on the subject.
• Content here could be blogs- 500-1000 words, white papers, videos, case studies.
• Articles about functional expertise/ industry matters do better than those promoting the brand directly.
• On Linkedin, consider this: Interspersing personal journeys along with the brand (1/6 articles) helps to build authenticity and engagement as well.

Over time, this network becomes a powerful recipient for your brand’s products and services.

Then there is MEDIUM.com. Medium has great curation and readership and the audience is expecting to be engaged with long format notes on the platform. There is no distraction from videos/gifs or banners. Medium however only allows own content to be published and not re-shares. All the other rules of writing on linkedin apply equally on Medium.

Overtime you could develop presence on other platforms (eg- Quora), but to start with, two is great.

Remember the 30 min rule. 30 Mins a day goes a long way in building your brand online. Time is your best friend.

For B2C brands, the routes are slightly different.

Facebook remains the largest platform for B2C audiences. Content here has to be engaging- either visually or through text. And therefore some professional help may not be a bad idea. Facebook, however is quite inexpensive when it comes to promoting your content. Hence using facebook with the help of an expert or digital marketing agency that can design and transmit content would be a good idea. No matter what your budget, there will be choices.

Instagram — Instagram would allow short videos and images to help build your brand. Once again, once the content is ready, it is a good idea to promote it in order to attract the early followers. Instagram content however needs to be very well thought through and designed failing which it can appear as uninteresting clutter. Spend some time on Instagram, and look at other brands in your category. See international examples. And then take a call on how you wish to engage on this social media platform.

Youtube — Use this extensively as you start to build out your brand story visually. Videos are of different types- and depending on the stage of the purchase funnel your audience falls into, you can create different formats. Again, a professional agency would be useful to help ideate and create this. We highlight again that there are options for each price point that should be explored before you make a decision.

Your journey in building your brand is a mix of the messages you need to create and share and the platforms that could work best for you. While your website is a good starting point, there are brands that exist only on Linkedin or Facebook or Instagram for that matter.

The world of digital marketing is fascinating. It is growing, evolving and changing. One should not enter it with the view of mastering it, as much as one should enter it with the view that it is inevitable and non negotiable for your brand to be present online. And that with a bit of curiosity and time, you can learn enough to ensure your monies are well spent and your brand begins to create differentiation in the marketplace.

Good luck.