When it comes to creating a successful, long-lasting business, brand awareness isn't just desirable—it's essential. Customers (both consumers and businesses) have an increasingly wide range of options from which to choose, so building a memorable and recognisable presence is crucial for standing out in the sea of competitors.
In addition to standing out strong brand awareness can help increase perceived value, foster customer trust and loyalty, and make it simpler to enter new markets. Although building a brand takes time, the advantages can be long-lasting and help a company succeed overall.
But how do you go about doing this? We explore the 7 key steps to building powerful brand awareness and how, if followed, you can take your business to new heights. Let's dive into what these steps are and how they can be implemented strategically with creative and compelling tactics certain to get results!
1. Consistency
Whether through weeks, months, or even years, maintaining a steady presence over time will increase your business’s recognition and build trust with your target audience. By committing to a long-term effort in providing customers with recognisable ad campaigns, products, logos and services, companies can build familiarity and loyalty with customers that are much more likely to stay for the long haul. Although it may take a while, patience is key for businesses to reap the rewards.
2. Relevance vs. Reach
Ensure your messaging resonates with your target audience and addresses their needs, wants, and pain points will be crucial. It’s all very well reaching a large volume of people but if they’re not buying what you’re selling then your effectiveness may suffer. That said, sometimes just getting your brand out there can return dividends over the long term. What might not be right today, say a mortgage, could be vital tomorrow and having good brand awareness with all will go a long way.
3. Creativity
With thousands of ads bombarding us daily ensuring you stand out from the competition is vital. Creating unique and engaging campaigns that capture attention and differentiate your brand will always help you to stand out. Use storytelling to emotionally connect with your audience and bring your brand to life. Put them and their needs and wants at the heart of what you do. Only by talking in the language can you resonate and appeal to the consumer.
4. Channels
Every channel has strengths and weaknesses, and each can be essential to achieving success. TV, radio, out of home, digital channels, content initiatives and PR all play a valuable role in getting your message out there; by using multiple sources to reach potential customers you are increasing the chances of making an impact. Tailoring each message to the different platforms’ audiences can maximise impact and allow your creative teams to bring richer concepts to life. Combining channels to make sure your audience receives consistent messages via multiple touchpoints can help ensure that you have an effective brand awareness campaign.
5. Measurement
By measuring how people interact with the brand across different channels, you can garner valuable insights that help guide decisions and inform marketing strategies. Brand trackers can be used to measure brand awareness, search volumes for products and mentions on social media platforms as well as other sources of information, allowing you to optimise content for maximum visibility and impact. As brands become increasingly competitive in today's digital world, measurement has never been more important.
6. Engagement
Engagement plays an incredibly important role when it comes to building brand awareness. Social media gives us platforms to interact with our target audience, and engagement can come from “liking” a post, commenting on one or even creating user generated content (UGC) that aligns with your brand image. Ultimately, the more visible and interactive you are as a brand, the more likely you are to be seen, heard, and remembered by consumers.
7. Authenticity
In an age where Gen Z and Millennials are looking for transparent, genuine companies to trust, authentic messaging and brand awareness is essential. It's something that can't be faked or given a generic approach. Something as simple as staying true to your values, transparent communication and maintaining integrity can go a long way in creating trustful relationships. Being authentic sets you apart from competitors and allows customers to better connect with their favourite brands, making it easier for them to recognise your business when making decisions.
Building a successful business isn't just about having great products or services - establishing and growing your brand is key too. When it comes to increasing awareness, taking a strategic approach can develop customer trust and loyalty which will create an unforgettable identity for you in the long term. Despite how much time and dedication this takes, putting effort into raising awareness now will certainly be worth it down the line!
Find out how our range of digital marketing services can support you to increase your brand awareness.
