What is Brand Awareness?
Brand awareness is the extent to which customers recognize your brand name when seeking out a product. For example, have you ever asked for Coke when you just wanted a soda? Or Tylenol when you just needed a painkiller? You might not be poised or planning to take over the world like these two brands, but building brand awareness can be as simple as ensuring customers know your business, choosing your product over others that might be cheaper, or searching for your specific business or product name online.
Why is Brand Awareness Important?
When you have achieved true brand awareness, customers easily recognize your brand logo, packaging, offerings, name and quality. Great brand awareness is the key to building customer loyalty and recognition, word of mouth, credibility and confidence in your product, and even attracting talent to take your business to the next level of success.
When you have achieved true brand awareness, customers easily recognize your brand logo, packaging...
Creating this type of brand awareness doesn’t happen overnight, but the proliferation of digital marketing allows more businesses the opportunity to develop and grow their brand faster, and easier.
How Does Digital Marketing Increase Brand Awareness?
80% of a social marketers job involves creating and increasing brand awareness. Digital marketing gives businesses access to a broad customer base via the internet, and platforms like Facebook or Instagram, that customers use daily.
Digital marketing gives businesses access to a broad customer base via the internet, and platforms like Facebook or Instagram...
Businesses need to meet customers where they live, and show them how their product can better their daily lives. Check out a few commonly used tips and tricks online businesses are using to increase brand awareness.
Tips To Increase Brand Awareness
1. Guest blogging for other sites
Guest blogging gets your brand into the hands and heads of consumers for free, by leveraging the popularity of other sites and products. Search Google for the most widely searched industry keywords, and use them and a carefully hidden link to your webpage, to create an article to submit as a “guest post” on another site. Be sure to research submission guidelines and the “voice” of the site, before writing your article.
2. Create shareable infographics
Infographics are easy and fast reading, requiring just moments to get your point across, rather than the minutes it takes to read and absorb an article or advertising material.
It’s important to create an immediate reaction and connection with graphics and hard facts...
Attention span is getting shorter, with consumers taking just seconds to decide if your information is useful to them. It’s important to create an immediate reaction and connection with graphics and hard facts, that consumers can take to the bank.
3. Improve your SEO
Some businesses fall into the trap of creating too many digital materials, or writing complex and highly-technical posts about their products. It’s critical to make use of the right words and phrases, to funnel customers to your content – and that means a great search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Make use of free SEO tools like SEMrush, or hire a marketing agency with SEO writers on staff, to easily take advantage of this industry standard practice.
4. Participate in or sponsor local events
Digital businesses without a local presence are missing out on valuable searches for their particular brand, which could further influence search engines to move you up the results page.
Local customers are more likely to be repeat customers...
Consider getting out in your community to build brand awareness, by participating in local events or charities. Local customers are more likely to be repeat customers, and are far more likely to remember your brand and product – a benefit you should always take advantage of.
5. Offer great customer service
90% of American customers factor in customer service when choosing a brand. As digital marketing platforms make it easier for businesses to reach a broader audience, it also makes it easier for unsatisfied customers to publish their bad experience.
It’s important to offer brand-boosting options like fast and free shipping, or custom shipping labels, to remind customers that you are committed to their satisfaction. Also, consider leveraging technology to add features like an AI-enabled chatbot solution, to address customer issues 24/7.
5. Try a referral or reward program
Surprisingly, both digital marketing and brand awareness rely on word of mouth (albeit digital) to attract and keep customers. Happy customers means future growth, and implementing a referral or reward program to further engage customers, is a great way to give your brand a great reputation and encourage repeat business. Consider offering discounts for customer referrals, or a points system, where customers can trade points for free gifts or products.
Brand awareness has always been critical to the longevity of any business. Consumers have always, and will always, trust brands they recognize over new or poorly promoted brands. Great brand awareness is as easy as creating a careful plan and doing the right research – all the tools are at your fingertips! Just reach out and take them!
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