Digi-Tips 3: Focus on Branding

understand branding

A brand is not just a logo, design, fonts, colors, or words. It’s not just a product or company. It is the sum of those and more. It is the emotional relationship and characteristics that the customer associates with your product or company.

Read a branding case study.

7 ways to use ai to generate brand names

Here are 7 strategies for using AI (and your brain) to create a brand name.

First, define key features of your brand, completing Marketing Plan Pillars 2, 3, and 4 (as much as you can of Pillar 4).

Next, copy and paste the paragraphs of these pillars into an AI chatbot, such as ChatGPT or Gemini.

Then, ask the chatbot to generate a variety of names applying each of the following strategies (separately):

1. Make an Acronym (starting letters form a word).
2. Apply Alliteration (words of the name begin with the same letter sound).
3. Incorporate the Founder’s Name.
4. Identify Local Geography or Landmarks.
5. Create a Neologism (made-up word).
6. Use Personification (imaginary person).
7. Generate Synonyms from Other Languages.

Be sure to Google your favorite potential brand names and search the US Patent and Trademark Office to ensure that you have not infringed on another company’s brand. Due diligence also includes working with an intellectual property attorney.

martech tip from mark: your brand stack

The ideal MarTech (marketing technology) stack for an SMB delivers a targeted customer approach that improves the brand experience. At a minimum, the SMB digital marketing stack includes:

• A website, blog, and landing pages (pages with forms).
• Analytics tool(s), such as Google Analytics,  for tracking campaign performances, brand name searches, engagement, and conversions.
• A customer relationship management (CRM) platform (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce, MailChimp, Constant Contact) to understand contact behavior and segment audiences.
• Email and SMS (text) marketing with automated follow-ups for those who opt in.
• Social media management tools, which help grow brand awareness and engagement, and provide search engines with “proof” that you exist.
• AI-enhanced tools for greater efficiency, along with knowing when and when NOT to use them.

Learn more about Mark Cicatello.

seo trends for 2026

Search Engine Journal recently published SEO Trends for 2026. Here are 4 key takeaways:

SEO Takeaway 1:
Ensure your brand is the top-of-mind choice to “Google.”

Prioritize emotional connection, engagement, and loyalty, not just clicks or short-term conversions.

SEO Takeaway 2:
Increase brand visibility across many platforms.

Be present in forums, videos, industry sites, and social media. LLMs (AI’s large language models) scan third-party platforms to gauge your reputation.

SEO Takeaway 3:
Measure more than clicks and conversions.

Assess brand searches, mentions, AI Visibility, brand reputation, and user-generated content to estimate brand awareness, trustworthiness, and authority.

SEO Takeaway 4:
Future-proof your SEO with branding.

Focus on authority, authenticity, and creating value for your prospects and customers. Healthy brand equity outlasts tactical SEO and drives loyalty.

search news from nancy: questions about authoritativeness and trustworthiness

In SEO, we focus on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Google emphasizes E-E-A-T as part of reliable, people-first content.

Digi-Tips™ reader Kent Smith of Byte Outfitters asked us to elaborate on A and T.

Good question, Kent. There seems to be some overlap between these, but here are a few considerations about authoritativeness and trustworthiness.

Authoritativeness.

Authoritativeness takes expertise to a new level. It indicates that not only do you have the skills, abilities, and training to do the job, but others also see you as a reputable and credible expert. This is especially important for high-risk content, such as medical, financial, and legal information. To assess authoritativeness, consider these 10 questions:

5 Authoritativeness Questions About the Author’s Content

Ask these 5 questions about the content’s authority. Is your content:

1. Original and in-depth? Or does it rehash existing info?
2. Up to date and published consistently?
3. Well-researched and unbiased?
4. Accurate and true?
5. Does your content reference reliable and trustworthy sources?

5 Authoritativeness questions to ask about the author

Ask these 5 questions about the author’s authority. As an industry leader:

1. Do others cite you, quote you, or link to your content?
2. What are your credentials? Are they detailed in your bio or author page?
3. Do you speak at industry events? Webinars?
4. Do others reference or cite you? Give you positive reviews and testimonials?
5. Are you mentioned by others or featured in media coverage?

Trustworthiness

Trustworthy content improves engagement and signals to search engines that it is valuable. Think authenticity and transparency when identifying trustworthy content.

Trustworthy content is:

• Fact checked. It is referenced and cited with reliable sources.
• Author byline. Did the author write it? Did AI write it?
• Transparent. It has an “About Us” page, contact details, and a privacy policy.
• Secure. Uses an SSL (https:// not simply http://). Protects others’ info.
• Reputable. Personal, product, and company reviews are positive, and others link to your content. The brand has an impeccable reputation. What kind of influence does the brand have?
• Expertly written. Your qualifications, experience, and certifications are available and demonstrate your subject-matter expertise.
• Unbiased. Is the content self-serving?
• True. It is not deceptive, misleading, harboring hidden text (e.g., white on white, black on black), or showcasing “fake” reviews.

Learn more about Nancy Burgess.

fave branding quote of the month

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and
five minutes to ruin it.
If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

-Warren Buffett

Need an example. Think “Coldplay concert.”

complimentary martech stack consultations

Free 30-minute marketing technology stack consultation and recommendations. What would it take to get your marketing stack up to date? Call to schedule.

Offer expires December 31, 2025.

Call to schedule.