Brand awareness should be one of the cornerstones for a business that is looking to establish itself and build a sustainable future.
Right now, there is a big emphasis on getting consumers to know your brand. Whether it is products, messaging, or even a logo, the more people are familiar with the business, the more they are comfortable picking you instead of a competitor they are not too familiar with.
In addition, brand awareness also translates to word of mouth. If someone asks a friend or family member where they ought to get goods or services, a familiar brand is the first thing that comes to mind, right?
There is no denying that brand awareness is important. The question is, how to create a solid strategy that boosts that awareness?
As a rule of thumb, the goal is to get noticed by as much of a relevant demographic as possible. And using somewhat known marketing methods with a little bit of an original touch is not a bad approach.
Giveaways
Freebies are one of the best ideas to consider for your brand awareness campaigns. People love free stuff even if they do not necessarily need it.
Throwing an extra or two in a customer’s order also helps with the overall shopping experience. It is common for online stores to reward loyal customers with perks like free shipping or discounts.
Giveaways can come in other forms. You might organize a raffle for the best review that customers leave on a website or create a social media giveaway post.
Taking things to another level by utilizing the giveaway method to promote the brand is also worth a shout. For instance, create custom merchandise and use that as prizes.
T-shirts, mugs, hoodies, face masks, and other merchandise work as a prize, and it also promotes the brand, raising its awareness.
Hiring professional designers is not even necessary because brands can utilize a t shirt mockup generator tool to quickly add the design and start manufacturing.
Creative Fabrica is a well-known website for mockups in various categories like t-shirts, mugs, caps, wall frames etc.
Local Events
Making the most out of local events right now is a bit difficult because of the ongoing restrictions. The pandemic made it difficult for brands to attend fairs, conventions, and other events that attract a lot of people.
The lack of attendees is quite demoralizing, and investing money in such a thing is not the wisest strategy.
However, there is still value in attending live events and meeting new people while trying to promote the brand. Even if things are pretty slow right now, they are bound to improve.
But for now, try to see if there are any possible events your business can attend to get itself out there and get noticed. Maybe a small charity gathering that is looking for sponsors? Or a sports event?
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is another great way to raise brand awareness. Right now, influencers, specifically on social media platforms like Instagram, are the go-to method for both small and big brands that are looking to advertise themselves.
An average person trusts celebrities they follow, which cannot be said about big corporations. After all, if that was not the case, influencers would not be making so much money.
Promotional posts with an influencer are valuable so long as they promote the brand to relevant audiences. For instance, if your brand sells dog accessories, it would not make sense to collaborate with an influencer who is in the yoga or traveling niche, right?
In case you do not have that much money to persuade an A-tier influencer to work with you, look for micro-influencers. Just because they have fewer followers, it does not mean that they provide less value.
If anything, micro-influencers could be worth more because they are cheaper but still get a lot of engagement on their content.
Podcasts
As a pastime, podcasts are growing in popularity. In the US alone, roughly 50 percent of people listen to a podcast at least once a month. For some, podcasts are a source of education. Others treat it as a form of pure entertainment.
It is common for podcast hosts to monetize the content via shoutouts. Brands that sponsor a podcast episode get a mention, and this is one of the sources to raise brand awareness on podcasts.
Another method is to be a guest on a podcast and talk about your business. Depending on the niche, there might not be that many podcasts available, but so long as you get invited and appear on one or two, it is still good enough to add more juice to the brand awareness campaign.
Guest Blogs
Guest posts on various blogs are a common strategy to boost SEO ratings. Backlinks bring juice to your website.
On the other hand, it is also worth noting that if someone reads a guest post, they will also become aware of the brand on the website where the post is published.
Most blog owners are more than happy to accept guest posts so long as the content is valuable to their site. Some offer the publishing for free, though you can expect to pay money for the majority of the time when arranging a guest post on a blog.