Online Branding ... Yes, It's That Important for Professional Services Firms

Lee W. Frederiksen, Ph.D. of Hinge Marketing posted "Why Online Branding Matters." It's an easy and insightful read. Lee begins the post with:

Online branding may be the most important marketing concept that you never think about. Granted, you may spend your brainpower thinking about online marketing and how you can generate more leads, but online branding is the Cinderella of the digital world.

He then goes on to define online branding and follows that with the question: Why Should You Care? He answers that with this piece of spot-on advice:

This one is actually pretty easy. Let's start with your professional services brand. As I have blogged about before, your firm's brand can be thought of as your reputation times your visibility. The greater these factors, the stronger your brand:

    Reputation x Visibility= Brand Strength

So what is the first thing you do to check out a potential new vendor or business partner? Visit their website? Google them? Read their LinkedIn profile?

Your online presence is arguably the single most important factor shaping people's impression of your firm's reputation and boosting it's visibility. (emphasis mine)

Lee then gives you five places to start to strengthen your online brand. Every managing partner and CMO of a professional services firm should take a few minutes to read Lee's post and then review your online branding efforts. It will be worth your time.