The Oxford English Dictionary defines brand awareness as ‘the extent to which consumers are familiar with the qualities or image of a particular brand of goods or services’. Simplified, this is the scale of how recognisable your brand is to its consumers. Brand awareness is one of the major consistencies between B2B and B2C marketing and is non-negotiable for any organisation.
Here are a few tips aimed towards building and maintaining brand awareness as a small business.
1. Utilise email marketing
Having a long list of names on your email list is one thing, but enticing those individuals to a) actually open your email and b) engage with your links and call to action (CTA) is another skill entirely. Take a strategic approach to what content you choose to send out and whether this adds value for your readers, and then frequently test different content to see what best drives traffic to your goal destination – this is likely your business webpage.
People aren’t always predictable and so a/b testing is a great way to avoid making assumptions that ultimately cause your brand awareness email campaigns to fail.
2. Nurture strategic partnerships
Begin by identifying fellow small businesses which offer products or services that may complement your own. From this, brainstorm ways to work together to combine your audience’s reach. In the same way that two heads are better than one, the benefits of two audiences far outweigh doing it alone. This can include charity partnerships that give a taste of what causes are close to your heart, prospective audiences will identify well with this ‘realness’ though it’s important to not lose sight in this instance of the most important benefit being supporting an important cause.
3. Host events
Despite a rocky few years for most, there is still no substitute for face-to-face interactions. Hosting events is an ideal way to facilitate this and as such, you can get existing and prospective customers/clients in a room together in ways that aren’t yet matched online. This is prime time to expose these clients to your brand in a mutually beneficial way.
4. Combine online and offline marketing efforts
Paying for a half-page advert in the local community leaflet or magazine can be great for getting leads and building your brand awareness. However, to make this even more effective, you’ll need to combine your marketing and advertising efforts through digital channels as well.
Don’t be afraid to enter the digital age. Intimidating for some, granted, but nevertheless a world of endless possibilities awaits that you can take advantage of, with the best part being that some of these may not cost you a penny. So don’t limit your brand awareness efforts but take advantage of all the marketing avenues both offline and online. Get on social media and optimise your website for SEO. Pitch your small business through relevant blogs, influencers and online industry publications and watch your audience grow.
Want to know how we can help grow your business and increase your brand awareness both offline and online? Contact us today or give us a call on 01604 267677.
