Digital Branding: how to build a SME Brand

Branding is the process that leads to the building of a Brand, not so much on paper as in the hearts of customers. B2C enterprises realised this some time ago, but even those who work in the B2B sector can build their own identity. If the Brand building process passes through the web and becomes Digital Branding, Lombardy SMEs can extend beyond their regional market and engage in new partnerships both in Italy and abroad. Let’s take a look at how Digital Branding works and what you need to build your own business Brand.

The Brand goes far beyond a logo

SMEs often think that the Brand is just another English word for logo, but there is much more to it. A Brand is the way that the market perceives a company and comprises the colours, font and pictogram of the logo, but also all the values that these symbols bestow to the collective imaginary.

Let’s take a practical example: when we see the Ferrari logo, or that of BMW or Audi, we do not focus so much on the use of the colours – yellow, white/blue, silver – or the symbols – a horse, a chess board, 4 circles – but our mind is immediately carried towards a deeper meaning that includes speed, technology, security, reliability. This is what we mean by Brand.

Digital Branding requirements

Digital Branding means building one’s image on the web, but also in this case we need to look beyond the literal meaning of the term and understand what this English word envisages for SMEs.

A B2B company in Bergamo, Brescia or any other Italian province that decides to engage in Digital Branding must have certain requisites and values that are indispensable when building a successful Brand:

• It must acknowledge that the web is a useful tool for promoting its business
• It must acknowledge its strengths and weaknesses
• It must be prepared to invest in order to become a market benchmark
• It must seek the support of a team of communication experts

If you believe in at least 2 of the above aspects, you can view yourself as a Smart business and have a good chance of building an effective Brand. Are you ready to find out how? Let’s get started!

How to build a B2B Brand

The process of building a B2B Brand is the same as that of a B2C Brand: customers perceive the Brand from the moment they encounter it, have interacted with it, and have a clear understanding of the values it conveys.

Brand recognition occurs gradually and spontaneously, but enterprises can engage in Digital Marketing strategies to boost this process. Here are the key aspects of Digital Branding and building your own Brand:

• Make yourself known

Point zero when building a Digital Brand is its dissemination. When they come into contact with a logo, name or slogan, 80% of B2B and B2C users go straight online to see what it refers to. If they find a reference online, they expand their brand knowledge and learn how to recognise the Brand; if they don’t find anything, the brand will fade in their memory, and with it your chances of acquiring a new customer.

Opening a Facebook page and abandoning it or creating a website with 5 pages is not Digital Branding. Digital Branding is the commitment to share interesting content on a daily basis that shortens the distances between customers and enterprises.

Giulia Agliardi

• Building relations

Behind every CEO, every MD, every Purchasing Manager there’s an actual person. Let’s rid ourselves of the preconception that, when it comes to B2B enterprises, human relations are a thing of the past, and learn to talk to our customers, listen to their requests, share their objectives, and show them that our enterprise has the answers they need. The more relations we build with our business partners, the more we promote our name and trigger the process of creating a strong Brand.

• Maintaining a coordinated image

When communicating on and off the web, always try to maintain a coordinated image in terms of style, tone of voice, and topics covered. To turn your trademark into a Brand, users must learn to recognise your values through your image at first glance, so if your image changes all the time, this magic will hardly ever happen.

Many B2B SMEs in Bergamo and Brescia are founded on strong values, but due to haste or distraction they have not built their own unique image. From business cards with the old logo to Social media pages with similar but never identical names, this way of communicating is confusing for users. At Mr Keting, we build unique Brands to specifically avoid any such misunderstandings.

Paolo Cristini

•  Rely on the experts

Have you ever wondered what lies behind the great names of Italian industry? What we often refer to as logos and Brands is the sum of values, graphics and promotion strategies that are never selected haphazardly. If you want your trademark to become a Brand in your industry, represent your values and help you demonstrate who you are: rely on communication experts.

At Mr Keting we have a team of designers, copywriters and marketing experts who help you build your Brand, promote it on the web and turn it into a benchmark reference for all your customers, old and new.

Contact our Key Accounts