You probably put a lot of thought into the design elements of your brand namely your logo and color choices. You did that because you understand that your brand needs to be both recognizable and memorable. And your own website, products, and offline marketing materials help you do just that. But what about your online presence beyond your own website?

When you promote your business on third party sites like forums, social networks, and Twitter they generally come with default profile displays. But you can make your presence there tie into your own branding. Let’s talk about why it matters and how you can do it.

While your business name and slogan are important branding tools, the design elements of your brand can be just as important. They’re things people picture when they think of your company. And when they see something like your logo they should immediately think of you and what your brand is all about.

For that to happen, your brand’s design work needs to be consistent. You drill an image into people’s minds by showing them the same thing everywhere they interact with your company.

5 Ways to Use Brand Design Elements Online

Here are some ways you can tie your existing brand design elements into other online marketing and networking.

• Add your logo to every social media profile either as your main picture (for corporate accts) or within the profile itself. You can also use your logo as your Gravatar for blog commenting and as your forum display image.

• Create backgrounds and designs (like a Twitter background) that incorporate your brand colors. If you use a personal photo for the account, you can also make use of your logo by including it in that background design without sacrificing a more personal appeal.

• Include your logo in all outgoing email and include brand colors in email newsletter formatting.

• Have your logo display at the beginning of any online video you produce so it’s included on any site embedding the video.

• Make sure e-books, white papers and reports released online all have your logo and a “brought to you by” message on the cover or in the footer of each page. When you format these Web-based documents tie the document color scheme to your brand colors.

You can take your brand’s design with you everywhere you go on the Web. Every time you network with colleagues or customers, give them another reason to remember you and your company.

Can you think of other places online where you can incorporate your company’s design and branding to convey a more consistent image? Share your own tips in the comments below.