Brand awareness has become a buzzword for marketers and PR specialists these days. And research has proven that it has all the right to be that popular. A survey by Stackla has shown that authenticity is a key buying factor for over 80 percent of consumers. Similarly, 46% of consumers in the United States have asserted that they are more likely to pay more to buy from brands they trust. The numbers are also similar across other major markets.
Creating a marketing strategy for brand awareness is necessary for your business to remain relevant in this day and age. To hold your ground in the market, you have to ensure that your business is top on your customers’ minds whenever they think of your industry. You can choose to handle your awareness campaign in-house or trust an experienced agency, like Sellvia brand awareness service, to grow your brand presence.
In this article, we will give you an insight into the top five marketing strategies for brand awareness. But before that, why do you even need a brand awareness strategy?
Benefits of Brand Awareness Strategies
1. They build trust
Your business is not complete without your customers. To build a company that is sustainable in the long term, you need to build trust, which would lead to brand loyalty. However, you cannot build trust if your customers do not remember you or what your business stands for. And that is precisely where brand awareness strategies come in.
They place your business right before your customers and give it a personality. When your customers can connect with your business, they will find it easier to trust you. You become a familiar brand to them, worthy of their trust and patronage.
2. They create associations
Everyone associates minor cuts with Band-aids, cola with Coke, and online searches with Google. That is what brand awareness strategies do. They link your brand to the product or service that you provide. That way, when your consumer thinks of your industry, your name pops up automatically.
3. They carve out your position in the market
With brand awareness strategies, you can create a distinction between your business and similar businesses in your industry.
For example, there are many car manufacturers, but there is just one Volvo brand. What are they known for? Safety. In all their marketing and awareness campaigns, the company asserted that their cars are specifically made “For Life,” as their slogan says. Both to protect lives and to last a lifetime.
Brand awareness strategies ensure that your customers know your brand’s position in the market and are attracted to it.
Strategies for Building Brand Awareness
Let us show you the top five marketing tactics you can use to boost your audience, increase engagements and grow your business.
1. Communicate Your Brand Personality
This is at the top of the list because it is the most important. You must have a strong and established brand personality before starting your brand awareness strategy. Your brand voice should be the same across all platforms.
To have a lasting impact on your audience, you have to be more than a company to them. Let your brand be a person. Then let that person attract your target audience with their voice. Your voice could be witty, funny, sentimental, or even rough (this works perfectly for the Harley-Davidson brand). Just make sure that your brand voice and personality are consistent with your brand and its goals.
2. Provide Free Content
These days, everyone turns to the internet for answers to their questions. So, how about making your business one of the people giving them the answers whenever they search by providing them with high-quality free content?
The best thing about this strategy is that you get to communicate with your audience in your brand voice, share your business opinions on matters related to your industry, and your audience has the opportunity to provide you feedback. This is the easiest way to humanize your brand and build a relationship with your audience.
Content must not only be written. Videos, podcasts, and infographics are forms of content growing in popularity and relevance. Diversifying your content will give your audience variety and enhance their experience with your brand. This will, in turn, encourage them to share your content and increase engagements which will boost your brand awareness.
3. Start a Referral Program
Did you know that 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they are familiar with? Word-of-mouth marketing is a compelling marketing strategy for brand awareness, and you can capitalize on that with a referral program.
Referral programs are campaigns where you offer an incentive to already existing customers when they refer your business to people they know. Having a great product or service will further boost your referral program because customers will be glad to tell people about you. The added perk will be the cherry on top.
4. Offer Freemiums
A freemium is a plan where your business offers a particular service or product line to customers for free. They will only pay for products or services that are considered premium.
Although most users will opt for the free version of the product, you will still get your win. Free versions are typically offered with the condition that your brand’s logo appears on the part of the product or service that people can see. For example, Vimeo is a video editing tool that offers free basic membership with its logo included as a watermark on the videos.
With this strategy, you get to advertise your brand every time your free users use your product. You get in front of a larger audience and boost your brand awareness.
5. Use Influencer Marketing
This is another form of word-of-mouth marketing that can boost your brand. Your business can partner with influencers in your industry that already have a network of potential customers. Your product or service should complement the influencer’s business as this would help you build valuable long-term relationships with them.
Conclusion
These brand strategies are your ticket to making your brand memorable in your customers’ minds. Be consistent with your plan and analyze your campaign results to know which of them is the best fit for your business. When you do this, you will be well on your way to building a loyal and paying customer base.
