Note From Steve: This post is written by a guest blogger

In some form or another you will have come into contact with the growing excitement that surrounds online, social and digital marketing, and the way in which it can vastly improve your business. We’ve all heard of those massive success stories – of small brands going viral online – and it’s no surprise that we all want a piece of the action.

Being such a dominant medium in the media landscape today, branding yourself your business online is paramount to your success. However being such a widely used medium, social media is no secret to all business- so make sure you’re one step ahead of your competitors with these tips on pitfalls and common mistakes to avoid.

1. Keep in mind the mantra “Quality not quantity”, this couldn’t be any more true for the case of your businesses online presence. Regular updates are advised, but make sure the numbers of your posts aren’t jeopardizing the quality. Without quality, it won’t matter how frequently you post. Quality is the first priority; make sure you’re broadcasting the highest level of quality to attract customers interest.

2. You can’t escape social media, and why should you- make use of the multi-platform digital revolution by reaching out to a wide base of potential customers by linking up social media accounts. The more social media accounts you have the better, make sure you’re covering each popular social media platform to strengthen your online presence.

3. Add a personal touch to your site! Customers want more than a cold, impersonal and personality-less business. You can do this by small but effective touches, such as adding mini bios of your employees. Present your employees as a team of friendly faces that will not stop at any length to ensure the best possible customer service. You really need to earn customers trust in order to maintain a loyal customer base; customers want to know that you’re not just a voice on the other side of the phone line- but a friendly, highly capable employee keen to help them whenever they need assistance.

4. Every detail should be careful considered and constructed with your customer in mind, and this certainly includes the typography you use. Each style of typography speaks to a certain target audience, whether it’s something fresh and quirky for under 20 year olds, or something more formal if your business is in law or insurance. Small touches like these account for a lot, and make a difference to the overall look and feel of your website- so ensure you’re investing time and attention.

5. You will have been relentlessly nagged and lectured on the importance of logos- but a strong logo really is your way in to attracting a large customer. Customers want a business they can identify with, one they can spot and pick out from a crowd of personality-less businesses that lack a strong image. Again, your target audience and customer must be considered in the creation of you logo- make sure it’s something that will appeal and stand out to them.

6. Use images as a powerful tool to attract people to your page, and bring your brand to their attention. Images speak a lot more than text, when aimlessly looking at internet pages online, people either don’t have the time or interest to read a massive section of text. Whilst an interesting image has the opposite effect. This doesn’t mean going over the top here- no one wants to be bombarded with a dizzying array of bright, colourful and headache inducing images if you’re target audience is say- over 50’s.

It’s important to create the perfect balance here, taking your target audiences preferences as the main basis for any detail-big or small- that you include with your businesses online social media presence. With images, you need to imprint something memorable, quirky and very “you” as a brand in order to maintain customers attention. Stick with a theme and style and explore with images that customers can come to identify you with.

Images by: Loren Kerns – CC BY 2.0