What is brand awareness? Simply put, it’s the level of recognition your business has with consumers. Brand awareness is essential because it helps you get customers and sales.
The key to getting the right kind of exposure for your brand is to create a consistent and memorable presence for yourself in all your marketing efforts, including social media, print ads, blogs, and more.
One of the most important aspects of a brand’s marketing strategy is brand awareness. Brand awareness is increasing the number of people who know about your brand and its products or services. It can be accomplished through advertising, PR and marketing campaigns, events like conferences or trade shows, word-of-mouth referrals, social media engagement, and more.
Brand recognition is not the same as brand awareness. It is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear a company name versus how many people actually know what it does (or could do). A company with high brand recognition may have no idea who they are or what they do if they don’t engage with consumers regularly.
We build our brand awareness by being a leading provider of custom and powerful ecommerce plugins, extensions, and apps. We meet our clients by emphasizing the importance of online platforms like WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and Shopify.
Want some tips on your brand awareness? Try these:
Know Your Audience
Before you get all excited about the next big thing, you have to know your audience. The marketing industry is littered with failed campaigns that were developed without any consideration of who they were targeting, which is why it’s essential to understand the ideal customer for your brand.
To start, define and research your target audience by answering questions like:
- Who are they?
- What do they want?
- Where do they live?
- What do they care about?
- Why should I listen to what this person has to say about my product or service?
- How will it help me (or my brand) grow in 2022?
You can also identify potential customers by researching where people go online and how often, as well as who engages in certain activities/events or purchases products from specific brands regularly.
Be Where They Are
As your brand grows, it’s important to be where your customers are. Be where they are online and offline. If you’re not already using social media in some way, start doing so! You can connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok.
Search engine marketing is another excellent way to reach out to people who are actively looking for what you’re selling, as opposed to being forced into your content through ads or sponsored posts.
Email marketing is another must-have in today’s market—it gives you an opportunity to send targeted messages directly into the inboxes of interested parties who’ve subscribed to receive updates from your company or organization.
Create Scarcity
If you don’t have anything to sell, the best way to create a sense of urgency is to use time-sensitive offers. This can be as simple as a limited time offer on your website or through an email marketing campaign where you let people know that there are only so many products available. If they miss out, they will miss out on something special.
Here is an example:
In 2022, I think more brands will start creating scarcity by using limited edition products and services. We already see this happening in fashion with items like Yeezy sneakers being released periodically by Kanye West, where people line up outside stores waiting for hours just to get their hands on one pair of shoes (and sometimes pay upwards of $1000 per shoe).
Use Social Proof – User-Generated Content
User-generated content is one of the best ways to make a brand seem more relatable. When you ask your customers to share their stories, they’ll be more likely to engage because they see themselves as part of the community. This can help improve brand awareness by giving you access to authentic content that isn’t directly from an influencer or professional blogger.
You could encourage people on social media with phrases like “Tag us in your story if you love our new product!” or “Share how much fun it was for everyone at [your event]!”
By doing this, it gives people an opportunity not only to share their experience but also to have others see what happened without having any adverse effect on anyone involved (i.e., no one likes reading negative comments).
Also see: Why Encouraging UGC is the Key to Higher Ecommerce Sales?
Create a Brand Story
The brand story is the narrative of your brand. It’s what you tell people about yourself to help them understand why they should buy from you, work with you, and/or be part of your community.
The best way to create a successful brand story is by taking a consistent approach across all channels: in person, on social media, and even when speaking at an event.
Your brand story should be unique, memorable, and, most importantly, authentic. Don’t try too hard. You can’t force people into buying something they don’t want or need because it’s popular right now. If you do happen to stumble upon something that resonates with people, it’ll feel like magic!
Work on SEO
You have probably heard of SEO, the process of optimizing your content and website to get a higher ranking in search engine results pages. If you haven’t optimized your website for search engines, then chances are that you are not getting any visitors from search engine traffic. If this is the case, then it is time to start working on SEO!
Search engines play an important role in brand awareness strategy because they provide an effective platform for businesses to reach their target audience. So, if you want more people who are interested in your products or services, don’t forget about search engine optimization on page and off!
Use Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms are an excellent way to reach your target audience, especially if you have a product or service that would interest them. There are many different social media platforms available, each with its unique benefits.
To make the most out of these platforms, they must fit within your budget while still reaching out at an appropriate level to not overwhelm potential customers with information overload. So, stick to 1-3 platforms while you are getting started and nail down an effective strategy you can adjust later on to other platforms as you grow.
Build a Referral Program
If your customer has been pleased with their experience, they are more likely to refer you to their friends and family. However, to do so more often, you may need to encourage them with some sort of incentive.
Creating a referral program is a great way to encourage customers to share your business with others. You can offer them rewards or discounts for referring new customers and/or existing clients. The key is making sure that it’s easy for people who are referred by these loyal customers as well as those who use the referral code themselves.
Having robust website security is a big factor in this endeavour, so be sure to check out our plugins at OPMC that can boost your protection from fraudsters.
Leverage Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a form of word-of-mouth marketing, which means that the influencer has a large following on social media. As a result, they can be paid to promote products or services. The more followers an influencer has, the more they’ll earn.
The main benefit of leveraging influencers is that they’re already trusted by your target audience and are viewed as experts in their field. They have built up trust over time with their followers because they’re honest, transparent, and consistent in what they share online.
Find someone aligned with your brand values and target audience so you can work together on an authentic partnership that benefits everyone involved.
Push Short Form Video
Push the short form video and start incorporating it into your content strategy. Short form videos are the most engaging, most effective, and most widely used form of content. They have a high retention rate and can be easily shared on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
The best part about short form videos is that it’s not just for marketing. You can use it to build brand awareness or increase sales by creating an explainer video for your product or service.
Unify Your Brand Awareness Strategy Across All Channels
In the past, you may have used different strategies for each channel. But now, it’s important to unify your brand awareness strategy across all channels. This will increase customer understanding and improve customer experience.
If you want people coming back repeatedly, then ensure everything is consistent with your overall brand strategy. Anytime there is anything out of place or confusing about what they’re seeing online, work hard until all inconsistencies are eliminated, so everyone feels confident about navigating your online brand.
Brand awareness is the most critical aspect of any business. Customers become more likely to buy from you and recommend you to others when they are aware of your brand. Brand awareness also helps in building credibility. If a customer trusts your brand enough to know what it stands for, they will likely buy from you again in the future.
