Friday, March 29, 2024

How to Increase Brand Awareness: A Complete Guide and Effective Strategies

Brand awareness can seem like an abstract concept, especially to those who are used to relying on hard numbers. Nevertheless, this topic is relevant among marketers and is of interest to anyone who seeks to achieve success in the business world. Our article will help you figure out why you need to increase brand awareness and how best to do it.

Why increase brand awareness?

When the target audience is familiar with the company’s products, such an enterprise is called trendy, noteworthy, or popular. The owners of this business get everything: sales, customer confidence, high ratings, and superiority among competitors.

In a world where people rely on research, statistics, and the opinions of others, brand trust is essential to the success of any business. When a company name is heard, customers are more likely to associate a particular product or service with it. Accordingly, repeat purchases will be more frequent, and the gap between brand trust and complete customer loyalty is a matter of time.

Advertising is the engine of progress. So they said before, but this statement is relevant to this day, because few people understand the goods they purchase. When choosing a new gadget, few people distinguish between Apple products and Xiaomi, but they end up buying Apple.

Trying not to be late for work, many will prefer to snack at McDonalds, although around the corner they sell delicious sandwiches that use less oil and better quality meat.

If you’re in need of new jeans, Colin’s or Levis are more likely to drop by than any other store, as we associate these brands with premium jeans and a wide selection.

The conclusion follows from this: increasing brand awareness is just as important as improving product quality. If you offer a great product, but no one knows about you, what’s the point?

Awareness levels

At first glance, recognition seems like a very simple concept. There are two options: people know about you, or they don’t. However, in order to make a brand recognizable using the right strategy, it is important to understand how quickly users can remember the company, what associations it evokes, and so on.

There are 5 levels of brand recognition:

  1. Negative association: If a company has a bad reputation due to a scandal, bad reviews, or compromising third-party publications, customers will intentionally avoid the venture.
  2. Unrecognized brand: In this case, it is difficult to measure the popularity of the company, because no one knows about it. Products do not resonate in the minds of consumers when they are looking for a product.
  3. Recognizable with hints: If the client hears the slogan or sees the logo of the company, he will immediately remember the range of products, the name, and much more.
  4. Brand preference: Choosing between two manufacturers, the buyer chooses your company.
  5. Commitment: Highest brand rating. Products will be purchased no matter what. These brands include Apple, McDonald’s, Levis, Toyota, Peugeot, Coca-Cola, and others. Please note that all these companies have stains on their reputation, but this does not affect their turnover in any way.

A business can live or die by its reputation, so making a brand recognizable shouldn’t be your only goal. Getting a positive response in the hearts of buyers is what really matters.

How to measure online awareness?

There is an opinion that whoever is not popular on the network is not popular at all. The business has migrated to the virtual world, and the sooner you realize this, the sooner you figure out how to break into the TOP of Google and increase sales.

We’ve rounded up the 3 most effective tools to measure your brand’s online awareness.

  • Traffic

To track the number of people who googled you, bookmarked you, clicked on your website, and many other metrics, use Google Analytics, SimilarWeb, or Ahrefs. Over time, this analysis will give you an idea of ​​the changes in brand awareness.

  • Social networks

People love to share their opinions about politics, the weather, the opening of a new shopping center, goods, services, and anything that can be discussed. Why not eavesdrop on them talking about your company? This is much more effective than sending questionnaires by mail asking for your opinion.

  • Interview

If you have an established customer base, ask them how they found out about your company. Such a study can be carried out through mailing lists, by phone, on a website, or on a page on a social network. For example, if your blog is the most popular about you, great – focus on it, and publish more articles, thereby expanding your audience.

7 Ways to Increase Brand Awareness

There are many strategies for making a brand recognizable, but here are a few that you can try out today.

Focus on social media

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, and other networks are now at the peak of their popularity and relevance. They have become powerful tools for promoting products on the Internet. Not taking advantage of social media marketing opportunities is an unforgivable mistake.

Focus on those sites where your products will resonate and be relevant. For example, if the field of activity requires the presence of high-quality photos, try to conquer Pinterest and Instagram. If you’re creating content worth sharing or even tagging friends, Facebook is your focus.

Find out where your audience sits and start creating valuable content for subscribers. Useful information, bright photos, contests, and polls are the most effective ways to increase brand awareness.

Remember SEO

You knew that most consumers don’t look past the first page of search results, and many only look at the first five positions. What does it say? To increase brand awareness, you need to be at the top of search engines. Natural links and good content with the right keywords are what you should be working on day in and day out. It is these strategies that will bring you to the first position.

If SEO seems to be something incomprehensible to you at this stage, do not neglect the help of specialists. They will cost money, but all-round optimization, enhanced by link building, will increase the credibility of your company and help promote your brand in the long run.

Make content marketing work

To increase brand awareness, start a blog. If your material is unique with the right keywords, Google will raise the site to the top, thereby making your business more attractive to the target audience. Sites where you can select keywords for use in articles: Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, Semrush.

Place blog posts not only on your website, but also on industry sites. This way you will increase your audience reach and earn quality inbound links that Google appreciates. Here’s how it works:

  • Do your research. Use keywords to find blogs related to your niche. Many of them offer the possibility of guest accommodation, often for free.
  • Make a list of sites that accept guest posts. Check each resource’s blog content, comment sections, and social channels to better understand who their audience is and how they interact with the content.
  • Read the rules and requirements presented on the site.
  • Contact the editor via email or call.
  • Create a quality post and remember uniqueness. No one will post your article if it is copied from another site. Insert a link to your home page or one of your blog articles in the text.

Reach out to influencers

Now many are subscribed to various blogs of interest. Advantages: the ability to follow interesting personalities, learn useful information, get a boost of motivation and good mood. Through social networks, people also learn about different novelties, products, or services.

Ordering ads from bloggers is very smart, as they directly interact with your potential customers. As a rule, information in this form is perceived better than obviously paid advertising (banners, video clips, etc.). Making a brand recognizable is easier when opinion leaders talk about it. People trust them, and so do your business.

Promote referral programs

Refer a friend and get a discount. This strategy is as old as the world, but no one has yet refused a good bonus, gifts, or percentage of sales. Your customers will be happy to help you make your brand recognizable, you just need to help them. Think about what kind of referral program will work for your business.

  • 56% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product after learning about it from friends and acquaintances.
  • 92% of buyers trust recommendations more than advertising.
  • People who are referred by friends are three times more likely to make purchases than those who are attracted by advertising.

Word of mouth is still at the top of customer acquisition methods, only now it’s called WOM or word of mouth marketing.

Order media advertising

Media advertising means banners, videos, advertising tabs and other tools to attract attention. If you want to become familiar with users, this method is what you need. However, over the years, users have developed a defensive reaction or banner blindness. They do not notice this kind of advertising, moreover, they ignore it, perceiving it as an irritant.

Consider contextual advertising

Contextual advertising is the first links in the search results marked “Advertising”. Alas, we all tend to selectively ignore ads when searching, which is why paid results can’t be as effective as organic traffic. People don’t trust them.

Retargeting is a more efficient type of contextual advertising. For example, a user is looking for sunglasses and you are selling them. By setting up retargeting, your store will appear in front of a potential buyers from time to time. By choosing the right title and photos, you can attract it to your site.

Contextual advertising is especially effective if it is topical and placed on sites that are best suited for your brand. Then the chances of attracting the target audience are much higher.

Conclusion

Raising brand awareness is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. It is important to remember that this is not a one-month or one-year task. Competition in the market dictates its own rules, forcing it to warm up the interest of customers every day. Apply effective strategies, in the end, your brand will not leave the lips of users.

Priyanka Sharma
Priyanka Sharma
I am Priyanka, currently dedicating myself entirely to writing for ournethelps.com. In my role as a writer, I am committed to producing content of exceptional quality and collaborate closely with the ONH Team to ensure the delivery of outstanding material. Outside of work, my hobbies include creating humorous videos for my Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook channels.

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