The document discusses online branding and provides strategies for effective online branding. It defines online branding as using the internet and websites, blogs, social media, etc. to position a brand in the marketplace. Key aspects of online branding discussed include creating an effective website, using blogs to generate content and establish expertise, leveraging social media to stay connected to audiences, and producing quality content to gain visibility. The document also outlines challenges of online branding like information overload and managing different communication channels. Overall, it presents online branding as an important technique for companies to build their brand awareness through digital channels.

1. ONLINE BRANDING
by
Siddharth Bhatnagar

2. i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I am highly indebted to Dr. Sheena for his guidance and for giving me the opportunity to
work on this captivating seminar ‘Online Branding’. Her constant supervision and help
played a key role in the successful completion of this seminar.
Siddharth Bhatnagar

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CONTENTS
Particulars Page No.
Acknowledgement i
Chapter-1: Introduction 1
Chapter-2: Online Branding 2
Chapter-3: Strategies for Online Branding 5
Chapter-4: Advantage and Challenges 7
Chapter-5: Conclusion 9
References 10

4. 1
Chapter 1
Introduction
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes an organization or
product from its rivals in the eyes of the customer. A brand is in essence a promise to its
customers of they can expect from their products, as well as emotional benefits. When a
customer is familiar with a brand, or favours it incomparably to its competitors, this is when a
corporation has reached a high level of brand equity.
Branding is a set of marketing and communication methods that help to distinguish a
company or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting impression in the minds of
customers. The key components that form a brand's toolbox include a brand’s identity, brand
communication such as by logos and trademarks, brand awareness, brand loyalty, and various
branding (brand management) strategies. Many companies believe that there is often little to
differentiate between several types of products in the 21st century, and therefore branding is
one of a few remaining forms of product differentiation.
In marketing, brand management is the analysis and planning on how that brand is perceived
in the market. Developing a good relationship with the target market is essential for brand
management. Tangible elements of brand management include the product itself; look, price,
the packaging, etc. The intangible elements are the experience that the consumer has had with
the brand, and also the relationship that they have with that brand. A brand manager would
oversee all aspects of the consumer's brand association as well as relationships with members
of the supply chain.
Online branding, also referred to as Internet branding is a brand management technique that
uses the World Wide Web as a medium for positioning a brand in the marketplace. Branding
in the digital age is increasingly important with the advancements of the internet. Most
businesses are exploring various online channels, which include search engine, social media,
online press releases, online marketplace, to establish strong relationships with consumers
and to build their brands awareness.

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Chapter 2
Online Branding
Online branding is a method that uses the web to position a brand in the marketplace.
Marketing tools such as websites, optimization, social media, blogging, are also used as a
means of branding. Branding can be recognized as an attempt to bring customers to your
brand, product, and practice.
Websites
Creating an effective website is considered a very important act of branding. Websites are
designed for the organizations/companies to represent themselves to potential and current
clients. Websites display not only information about the organization, but also information
about the services/products they offers. The purpose of a website is to inform and educate the
audience, so that they remain informed and updated. Make the website unique by adding
pictures, special effects, motion, or videos. Make it inviting and appealing for the audience.
Example: Harley Owners Group (HoG) is a website used to facilitate the branding of Harley
Davidson Motorcycle Company among the owners.
Blogs
Blogs may help increase traffic to any website, as well as establish the professional expertise
of an organization. Blogs are written in a less formal manner than a regular website, and will
keep audience updated on things that are important to them- such as changes to the
operations. Organizations can blog on just about any subject, including current plans, or even
provide tips that will benefit the audience. Blog about recent accomplishments and future
plans as well, increase the audiences’ trust in the organization.
Example: Evernote uses its Blog to push its Branding practices to its current users as well as
the potential users.

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Social Media
Social media will help organizations to stay connected to audiences. It allows for constant
communication between organization and current/potential customers. Not to mention,
audience will like it if organization use social media. Popular social media websites such as
Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or YouTube cab be used for the same.
There are three C’s that go along with branding: clarity, consistency, and constancy.
 Clarity: Make sure you are clear for your audience. Make it clear who you are, who
your competitors are, and who your target patients are.
 Consistency: Get your point across, repeat your message.
 Constancy: Be faithful and dependable for your patients. This means sticking to the
rules of privacy of patients and giving it your best interest to keep them and their
information secure and safe.
It’s also important to remember that with online branding comes online reviews. Some
reviews may be positive, others negative, and some reviews may even be falsified. Take
every review seriously, and remember to engage with the review’s posters, to ensure
continued trust in your practice.
Some professionals believe that the goal of online branding is to have consumers continually
recognise a brand. Others focus on integrating online branding with the overall brand
experience of customers in relation to a company, product, or other branded entity. From this
perspective, brand recognition is viewed as one component among many, such as brand
differentiation (from competitors) and the "Collaboration Age" brand dialog facilitated by
Internet and mobile communications. Website development is a key component of online
branding as a website is used by companies and individuals to present products and services
of a brand. Focusing on a website's appearance, functions, and company message to provide a
positive experience to visitors is all part of online branding. Website development for online
branding also includes utilizing a blog to generate content for readers interested in topics

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related to the brand. It has been both recommended and advised against to guest blog on other
websites for the purpose of online branding as guest blogging has become more spammy and
recommended against using guest posting for building incoming links to a website.
Internet branding also involves social media interaction and integration. Display and content
networks used with repetition are one method of integrating a brand with social media.
Behavioural targeting, re-messaging, and site-specific targeting are used as a way to keep a
brand in front of a target audience. Branding through social media involves sharing
knowledge about the brand and continuously interacting with customers. Using sites like
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube to share knowledge about a brand is a popular
form of online branding through social media.
Example: Almost all the companies such as UPS, Walmart, Mountain Dew etc use social
media for branding purposes, they convey their brand’s value through different social media
platforms.

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Chapter 3
Strategies for Online Branding
Be Consistent With Branding
Ask the question: “What is the business really about?” It is very important to display a
consistent branding strategy across all online channels. This creates brand recognition and
helps to reinforce the brand. It is common for a business to use several channels to reach out
to customers. For example, a business may use its website, several social networks, blogs,
document sharing sites, and more.
Optimize Your Website
As we know, creating and maintaining a website is one of the most important branding tools
for any business. Website optimization for optimal performance on search engines is one of
the first things companies can do to drive traffic to a website and improve the brand’s
visibility.
Social Media
Social Media Marketing is one of the most effective and cost effective ways to promote both
small businesses and corporations; and, enhance the visibility of your brand. Social Media
Marketing promotes visibility, brand loyalty, recognition, and can also grow the sales. In
addition, social media marketing allows small businesses and established ones to compete
with an advantage. It enables businesses to reach worldwide audiences.
Produce and Distribute Great Quality Content
Creating and distributing quality content is the best way to gain visibility online. It is one of
the most effective marketing strategies to promote the business and create brand recognition
online. Creating quality content has become essential to any successful marketing strategy
today.

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Press Release Marketing
Press release distribution is a very effective and inexpensive way to enhance brand visibility
and recognition. If it is picked up by Google News, your company will receive additional
coverage for your brand.
Leverage Video Marketing
Businesses of all sizes and scale can benefit from video marketing i.e., YouTube, Vimeo,
Metcafe, etc. Posting branded videos relevant to a company’s niche is a very effective way to
promote the business, drive traffic to the website, and get the brand noticed in front of a
targeted audience.
Start a Blog
Having a blog can enhance brand visibility and improve the chances of success. In fact,
blogging is one of the most effective ways to improve the visibility of the brand online.
Blogging greatly improves in search engine rank, establishes validity in the brand and
increases reach. In addition, blogging helps to cultivate relationships with customers and
other influencers.

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Chapter 4
Advantages and Challenges
Advantages
Strengthen the Customer Relationship
The Internet is a powerful branding tool for many businesses as it offers numerous ways to
promote a business. Interactivity as one of the natures of the Internet helps companies
communicate the brand messages instantly and talk to consumers directly, generating
exclusive and individual interactions with them. Consumers’ potential purchasing behaviours
can be influenced by brand knowledge and familiarity, so that good online branding can
establish closer customer connections with brands and strengthen customer loyalty and
relationship.
Develop Brand Alliances
Online branding involves different brand positioning and marketing strategies, which can not
only differentiate separately branded products but also bring together endorser brands. For
example, Library Websites are a prime example of such linking between the university
website and other database or publisher websites such as FirstSearch and SpringerLink. In the
new economy with the convergence of technology, online branding provides the opportunity
for companies to develop brands alliances and networks to maximise the brand influence.
Diverse the Brand Meaning
Online branding makes the company have the chance to communicate with customers
directly and also provides the opportunity to gather customer information for companies to
build a database of customer purchase pattern. The data can be used to segment customers
into specific groups with specific needs, even offer customised services. Therefore, the
customisation and targeting to smaller groups may generate the diversity of experience with
the same brand. The same brands have different meanings for different groups of customer.

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Challenges
Information Overload
The Web is a complicated place, it holds a vast number of websites, each of which has
numerous information contained within it. It is an open place for every business, and how to
differentiate brand image through the same communicate channels is a challenge for many
companies, especially for those that customers have little brand knowledge about them before
they implement online branding strategy. Failed cases always underestimate either the
complexity or the connectivity of the web.
Management of different Communication Channels
Online branding, in general, will cover most popular social media platforms with different
websites or mobile applications. Companies need to make sure the consistency of the
branding content across these channels.
In addition, it is also a challenge for the company to find and solve the complaint comments
on brands in time, minimising the negative effect.

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Chapter 5
Conclusion
It is clear that consumers rely upon more than one medium in order to enhance their brand
related knowledge. It means that they use the combination of various sources for making final
purchase decision. Along with the traditional sources, they heavily rely on modern marketing
tool i.e. online branding.
Consumers do require detailed information about the brand so as to evaluate its strengths &
weaknesses; this ample amount of information then saves their time by allowing them to
make the purchase decision quickly. It is also revealed that main reason for growing
importance of online branding is the increasing literacy about internet among people.
People have identified that internet is truly advantageous through which they can serve their
various purposes mainly social networking, online shopping & media sharing (photo, music,
video). This efficacy of internet has intensified their tendency of being online. Today’s
consumers strongly feel that every company must use this efficacy to strengthen its marketing
efforts. So that they will get motivated to use online marketing with the intent of getting
access to exclusive content about the brand and getting discount and sharing their feedback
about brand with the advertiser. With the advent of internet technology, consumers’
preference towards traditional marketing tools has decreased. Most popular traditional
marketing tools are television & print media.
The major benefits of online branding are its capability of interaction between consumers and
advertisers followed by availability of wide range of information & ease. These benefits
make online branding superior than traditional branding. But at the same time consumers are
susceptible about the user-safety side of internet. They feel that online branding is unsafe as it
may lead to increase in frauds & privacy issue.

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References
 https://advicemedia.com/blog/patient-communication/importance-of-online-branding/
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand
 https://searchengineland.com/5-key-strategies-to-build-your-brand-online-39420
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_management
 https://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-kay-green/online-brand-presence_b_3140951.html
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_branding
 https://www.rug.nl/cic/downloads/rugcic_report_summary_201203.pdf