Building brand awareness for your business is more important than ever as consumers look for greater transparency and two-way communication. When consumers can use social media, websites, blogs, and other resources to connect with their favorite brands, they're more likely to remain loyal to those companies. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways for you to raise awareness and recognition with your brand.
Give Away Free Gifts
When building brand awareness, few things work as well as giving away free gifts to your customers. There are several ways you can do this, but a common strategy is to offer free gifts to customers who submit pictures of themselves using your products. You can also give away free gifts during the checkout process. While the simple act of showing your generosity will be effective in spreading brand awareness, you can do more for your brand if the gifts are personalized. When you give away T-shirts, coffee mugs, backpacks, or other items, make sure each gift has your brand logo and brand name embossed or woven into the product. This will ensure the gifts you provide to your customers will continue to spread brand recognition over a long period of time.
Give Something Back
Something consumers love as much as brand transparency is corporate responsibility, which is why so many larger corporations get involved in social issues. This doesn't mean you have to get your brand involved in every cause that gains media attention. That can actually make your brand seem opportunistic and disingenuous. It's better to choose one cause that holds special meaning for you or for your brand. For example, if your business processes fresh vegetables for canning, getting involved in causes that address famine or hunger can be an appropriate approach. As your customers see that you're contributing to a worthy cause, they will feel better about supporting your brand. They will also develop greater trust in your brand and encourage others to follow your brand.
Acknowledge Your Customers
Word of mouth is essential in getting your brand known among a broader base of consumers, so you'll want to do things that will positively impact your existing customers. This may involve sending out greeting cards to customers on their birthdays. You can make an even bigger impact if you include a discount coupon in the card, which your customers can use upon their next purchase from your business. A veterinarian who uses custom stationery to express condolences for a customer's loss of their pet will be remembered fondly when that individual adopts a new pet. Small gestures that make lasting impressions will encourage your customers to help you spread brand awareness.
Ask For Reviews
Customer reviews are essential to every business for a variety of reasons. While positive reviews do help in marketing your business and improving overall growth, they also help in increasing brand awareness among new groups of consumers. When a customer searches for a product on an eCommerce website, they may get thousands of results. One of the ways in which these results are organized is by the customer rating. If your product has received the largest number of positive ratings when compared to your competitor's products, your product will be ranked at the top of the results. When this happens frequently, more consumers will become aware of your brand and its products.
Be a Guest
You can choose an employee with a sparkling personality if you're not confident in your public speaking skills, but a representative for your brand should be making regular public appearances. You can appear on podcasts and vlogs that deal with content related to your brand's products. You can also exchange guest blog posts with other similar businesses to expose each other to new groups of consumers. If you don't want to work with a direct competitor, consider guest blogging with a business in the same field. For example, if you sell hair care products, you could exchange guest blogs with a hair stylist in your community. Whether blogging or appearing on podcasts, be sure the content you share is relevant, informative, and entertaining.
Raising brand awareness doesn't have to be an entirely serious matter. You should feel free to use your sense of creativity in coming up with unique ways to connect with your customers. A brand that's willing to risk making mistakes in an effort to connect with the public will do more in raising awareness than brands that play it safe.