Six ways online libraries can strengthen your brand

If you use WordPress or another content management system, you already have the ability to provide new and prospective clients with documents through your website. This capability opens up doors for new ways of interacting with people and can help your audience use your site to solve problems and strengthen their connection with your brand.

print and web

There has traditionally been a gulf between the web and print world and it is still fairly common for organizations to have a different look and feel and different messages in both arenas. This weakens the brand and creates inefficiencies because of the redundant work needed for both.

an economical solution

Even if a consistent brand presence is outside your budget, you can still create a stronger connection between your website and your printed materials very easily. Many organizations have PDF versions of their print collateral online, but what many don’t know is that software tools can help you create libraries of documents that make it easier than ever to maintain and access groupings of documents.  These tools can also integrate other online resources such as Dropbox, Paypal, or Constant Contact. Our favorite tool for this application is powerful and quite economical ($45).

Here are six ways online libraries can strengthen your brand:

1. You can create groupings of documents that relate to specific subjects, processes, or events, including having the option of having a single document fit into multiple categories. Creating an online packet of materials for an event would be very easy to do.
2. provide paper-based or electronic forms that allow people to communicate with you
3. create secure access to private or sensitive documents such as meeting notes
4. put paid for content behind a paywall or provide access to content after prospects complete a form
5. create a library of specialized content from a wide variety of partners and collaborators, positioning your brand as an information hub
6. integrate your website content with Dropbox and other online resources

examples

We have helped multiple clients use document libraries like the resource library we created for the Power Past Coal campaign. There are a wide variety of tools that help you create these libraries. Our first choice is a tool called WP Download Manager.

next steps

You can start creating a library using the native functionality of your CMS and build on it using free or paid for tools as you see fit. As always, contact us if you have questions or need help.