What is Brand Awareness and Why is it Important?
Brand Awareness is the cornerstone of every successful Brand Building campaign. After all, the ability to market your brand depends on awareness. How can people buy-in if they don’t even know you exist? Think Amazon without the Internet or Facebook without any photos. But exactly what is brand awareness?
What is Brand Awareness?
To fully grasp the meaning and importance of brand awareness, we first need to establish a working definition of Brand Building. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, Brand Building is the way in which “a company creates or improves customers’ knowledge and opinions of a brand.”
Brand awareness is the initial step towards increased visibility and recognition of a product or service. Essentially, it is the process of creating positive associations through repeated exposure. A variety of marketing strategies can be used to boost awareness, enhance reputation, and ultimately increase sales revenue. The article What Is Branding? Branding Definition and Benefits by Shopify dives into the details of branding.
Now that we understand the theory behind brand awareness, let’s move on to successful execution. What does brand awareness look like in action?
How to Build Brand Awareness
This section was adapted from 15 Go-To Tactics To Expand Brand Awareness by Forbes and discusses the key aspects of brand awareness.
1. Create Consistent Messaging
Consistency is a vital component of brand awareness. Ask yourself these questions: What makes your company unique? Why should customers choose your brand over the competition? The more you can distinguish your specific product or service, the more recognizable it will become. Consistent messaging and user experience are key to differentiating your brand. Bear in mind that messaging should be consistent across all channels. This includes uniformity in elements such as graphics, language, and tone.
2. Build Trust Through Testimonials
What better way to build trust than by using testimonials? Instead of telling customers why your brand is the best, show them through consumer and/or employee testimonials. Social proof is a powerful determinant of brand awareness and future buying habits.
3. Incentivize Referrals
Consider offering a reward or discount for referrals. As old-fashioned as it may sound, word-of-mouth never goes out of style. If customers are motivated to share your brand with others, everyone benefits from this exchange. Get your name out there with a solid referral campaign.
4. Incentivize Referrals
Consider offering a reward or discount for referrals. As old-fashioned as it may sound, word-of-mouth never goes out of style. If customers are motivated to share your brand with others, everyone benefits from this exchange. Get your name out there with a solid referral campaign.
5. Maintain a Strong Social Media Presence
It goes without saying that our digital world requires a strong digital presence. Brand awareness would be next to impossible without using social media in today’s marketplace. A multi-media campaign, otherwise known as an omni channel approach, is key to increased visibility and relevance.
6. Develop Strategic Alliances
Collaboration with like-minded corporations is always a good idea. Try pairing with non-competitive brands that have a similar mission and value system as yours. This can become a mutually beneficial arrangement for both organizations. You might even want to consider aligning with a social media influencer to further elevate brand awareness.
The Takeaway
What is brand awareness and why is it important? As evidenced throughout the article, the purpose of brand awareness is to increase recognition and preference for a particular brand. Without making a conscious effort to define your brand and market it accordingly, customers may be unaware of your product or service. In a worst-case scenario, people may have limited awareness of your brand and form their own opinions – for better or worse. Take the time to establish your brand through a targeted brand awareness campaign.
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One of our specialties is the ability to approach business and marketing from a holistic point of view. We work together to pinpoint where in the market you stand out and what your key opportunities are. Through forward-looking collaboration, Futureproof provides optimized custom solutions to meet your business objectives. Think of us as your partnership for the future. Contact us today and discover new possibilities to grow your business!
BONUS Resource: Many industry professionals use the terms brand awareness and brand recognition interchangeably however, there are some key differences. Check out the Forbes article What Is The Difference Between Brand Awareness And Brand Recognition?