Whether you are running your own business, developing an online strategy for an existing business, or trying to promote yourself as an online influencer or media figure, knowing how to build and maintain a complete and cohesive online presence is extremely important. Whatever your endeavor, the success or failure of it can be largely dependent on how well you use the internet to promote yourself or your business. After all, the internet is the most popular way to reach new audiences and potential consumers.
Knowing where you should start when building an online presence can be difficult. There are so many different aspects to consider, and it is easy to feel lost or overwhelmed. This guide is here to help you through the process of building an online presence step-by-step.
Identify Your Brand Persona
If your business was a person, what would that person be like? How would they present, act, and communicate with others? This concept is known as a “brand persona”. A brand persona needs to be cohesive across all online activity and all channels if audiences are going to remember your company. If your business is simply yourself (e.g., if you are an influencer, blogger, comedian, or media figure), think about what aspects of your personality you want to present most and emphasize these.
If you are struggling to come up with a brand persona, think about your target market. You can use your target audience to develop a “buyer persona”, which is much the same concept but applied to the audience that you are trying to appeal to. Make sure that your brand persona is appealing to your buyer persona.
Once you have your brand persona, make sure to apply it to all of your online channels.
Come Up with Visual Branding
Visuals are extremely important, especially on the internet. Your visual branding includes your logo, the look of your website and other channels, and any images or video content that you share. Your visual branding can be used to reinforce your brand persona—for example, if you are a law firm you will want a more formal visual look, whereas if you are a YouTube comedian you will probably want something a little more cartoonish and informal.
If you aren’t a natural graphic design expert, why not outsource your visual design?
Use as Many Channels as Possible
When it comes to online channels, the general rule is “the more the merrier!” Each new online platform you use, from social media apps to video streaming sites, increases the reach of your online presence and introduces you to a new audience.
However, you should balance the number of different channels with what you are able to effectively use. It is all well and good creating accounts on literally every site or platform, but if you are unable to create effective content for all of them and keep each one updated, this can be counterproductive and actually do harm to your brand. If you try to spin too many plates at once, you can end up breaking them all!
The best strategy is usually to use as many channels as you can without sacrificing the quality of the content you post to each one.
Your Company Website
Your own website is the cornerstone of any online presence. Here you can host your own online store, promote your mailing list, and link to your other channels. Plus, you can customize the way your site looks and its web accessibility to your heart’s content! If you are wondering where to host your site, there are plenty of web hosting platforms available.
Twitter is a great way to connect with the wider world and share messages quickly to followers and potential followers. Hashtags allow you to target your audience directly and accurately, ad the short-form, informal nature of the site makes it great for quick communication.
Facebook is still the world’s most popular social media site, and a useful “all-rounder”. When it comes to business, it also has a host of free analytics tools on offer, as well as the option for paid targeted ads on a one-off or recurring basis.
Also owned by Facebook, photo-sharing app Instagram is a great app for more visual forms of marketing.
YouTube
If you have a little knowledge of how to create video content, YouTube is a great way to share it with the world.
TikTok
TikTok is perhaps the most recent social media sensation and is actually surprisingly easy to use. If you want to create video clips that are straight to the point and possibly too short for YouTube, this app can be great. What’s more, the algorithm can target your desired audience with laser precision.
LinkedIn is the most popular business-focused social network. If your company is a little more formal and traditional, a LinkedIn presence is probably a better bet than TikTok for example!
Link All of Your Channels
Once you have created accounts on each of your chosen channels, it is essential to provide links from each channel to each other channel. If it helps, you can even draw a visual representation of the links between all of your different channels. This map can help you to conceptualize your general online strategy.
Plan a Content Calendar
Once you have built your online presence, it is essential to keep sharing interesting and relevant content to each channel. It can be difficult to know what to share and when, but designing a content calendar and following it can really help you here.
Communicate with Followers
Communication is a two-way street. You cannot simply put content out into the world and ignore the responses. This doesn’t mean you have to respond to Direct Messages from every single one of your followers (although if your business is focused on customer service, it may be wise to!), but you should be open to hearing what they have to say.
Be Prepared to Adapt
One of the benefits of communicating with followers is the ability to get feedback on your online presence and content. This feedback can help you to make changes for the better. Don’t be stubborn—the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and the needs of your audience is the most important factor in business success.
