Everyone has heard that first impressions are lasting, and the truth is that in today’s world, a brand’s opportunity to make a positive first impression occurs in the digital realm.
This is because the average American spends more than 12 hours a day interacting with media devices such as television, radio, the internet, desktop and laptop computers, and linked devices. To put it another way, people today spend more than half of their waking days engaged in technology and on digital platforms.
As a result, a company without a digital presence has a near-zero chance of finding new customers and interacting with existing ones because they aren’t looking in the correct places.
What exactly is a digital-first strategy?
Simply said, tackling any new opportunity or challenge with the notion that the answer should be as digital as feasible is known as digital-first.
What are the advantages of a digital-first strategy?
Wilson sees three primary advantages to going digital-first: business potential, customer attractiveness, and future-proofing. When it comes to commercial potential, a digital-first strategy implies your company has the opportunity to reach a worldwide audience while also scaling quickly to fulfill high demand.
“The more digital a service can be, the more money it can make from a bigger number of clients — with a cost base that does not scale linearly with customer expansion,” Wilson adds.
Logo and Branding
On the surface, your brand may appear to be nothing more than a collection of logos and colors, but it is your company’s entire identity. Your brand gives you a sense of self-identity.
In the commercial world, branding has always been important, but it may be much more essential now. Customers are exposed to new businesses every day owing to social media. This is great for consumers who have a lot of options and can do research to choose the best one, but it complicates things for businesses.
- As a growing number of people become more computer literate, the majority of us intentionally seek out the most digital experience possible — imagine online banking versus going to a traditional bank to make a payment.
- As a result, a digital-first strategy appeals to your customers substantially more – and the more positive this digital experience is, the more likely they are to use it.
- Third, using a digital-first approach allows you to take advantage of technological advancements and incorporate them into your product to improve the user experience.
- As a result, your company is considerably more likely to be future-proofed than a company that does not prioritize digital.
Branding is incomplete without logos. As a result, it’s a visual depiction of your brand or company that people remember. A logo can help to establish the availability of your products and services and make your company more memorable among your target market. Here’s why a well-designed logo is an important aspect of any company’s entire marketing strategy:
Mercedes-Benz and BMW are two well-known brands with strong logos, messages, and brand identities. Mercedes-Benz recently made headlines with a well-intentioned campaign in which the company extended an open invitation to BMW to visit the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, Germany. The museum tells the narrative of Mercedes-Benz and the brands that are affiliated with it. These firms, without a doubt, have superbly created hellogh impact logos!
Developing effective brands designing a digital identity
Companies are increasingly investing in their digital offerings while also realizing the value of having a distinct and memorable brand. However, there still appears to be a disconnect between knowing this and putting it into practice.
Similarly, perhaps digital designers and brand designers should collaborate more closely to develop agile design methods that allow identities to cohabit successfully with all of the other essential aspects of a site, app, or platform. It’s time to welcome a new era of digital branding, one in which logos and companies leap off the page and onto the screen.
In that context, they want to connect with brands
Consumers are using digital devices at an unprecedented rate to engage with businesses they support, in addition to spending an incredible amount of time with them. A brand that wanted to engage with prospects in the days before digital might place an ad in the newspaper or invest in a billboard campaign. Customers now actively seek out brands through digital media, which has shifted ownership from the brand to the consumer. This is one of the most significant shifts in consumer behavior since the internet’s inception and the subsequent expansion of digital technologies.
Customer experience is improved
Consumers want brands to be responsive on digital platforms, which is another reason why a digital-first approach to branding is critical. 60% of people think it’s a terrible customer experience if they don’t hear back from a brand after contacting them on social media, and 84 percent expect a response within 24 hours. Furthermore, if clients use social media platforms like Facebook to reach out to you for satisfaction or a problem resolution and you don’t answer immediately, half of them will never do business with you again.
Targeted Campaigns are possible with digital
Apart from being present where your prospects are, another reason to favor digital-first marketing is that it prioritizes targeted marketing in a manner that traditional marketing does not.
Some firms used to send out hardcopy newsletters to their clients and prospects before digital became the dominant route for communication between brands and their consumers. However, regardless of whether they were delivered to a 90-year-old grandmother or a 19-year-old college student, all of the newsletters were the same.
Digital implies adaptability
Another advantage of using a digital-first strategy for branding is that it allows you to be more adaptable, which is critical in a world where technology and consumer behavior are rapidly changing.
Take, for example, the impact of mobile search on digital marketing. There was a time not long ago when digital marketers didn’t have to care about how their websites looked on mobile devices because no one used them for searching.