Brand awareness plays a vital role in acquiring customers as it is the first step of the marketing funnel. Generally, it refers to the shopper's ability to recall and recognize the brand. There are various reasons to build or increase brand awareness. First, it helps to keep the brand at the top of the mind of customers.
It is a fact that consumers prefer famous brands over unknown ones. So, brand awareness is the initial step in making a well-known brand. It is like a bar of gold; the more you polish it, the more it will shine. A well-polished or prepared brand spreads like a fire. Brand awareness creates a positive perception in the customer's mind.
If shoppers know about the brand, they can be comfortable with it. As a result, when they decide, they will most likely purchase your product, not one from your competitors. Brand awareness enables businesses to achieve their goals. It can enlarge the audience, increase website traffic, maintain brand affection, and cultivate leads.
Minimal differentiation in products leads to cut-throat competition existing in the industry. Therefore, brand awareness matters a lot. It helps to improve brand equity, better sales, and high market share.
Learning the different types of brand awareness is important for marketers to make proper marketing strategies. The following are three categories of brand awareness depending on the target group's perceived importance.
Brand recognition means customers can recognize your brand in a sea of different brands. This type of awareness does not need a buyer to recall the brand name. Instead, it focuses mainly on whether consumers can recognize the brand based on visual packaging.
It is an impromptu recall of a brand through memory. Most customers are unable to recall above 3 to 5 brand names. It is because of individual and brand factors such as usage, education level, marketing strategies adopted by the company, etc. These brands make a segment of the evoked set of customers.
Top-of-mind awareness is a set of top 3 brands always purchased by the customer. It is the consideration set of customers. The ultimate goal of all marketers is to take the brand to this consideration set of customers.
For instance, Levis is the most well-known brand when you talk about jeans. Most people know its brand ambassador, advertisements, and even the advertisement song. It shows that buyers trust this brand.
The awareness about brands and the general public is not an overnight process coming from advertisements and marketing campaigns. Instead, it comes with multiple efforts aiming to create a customer base. So, the following are some ways to build brand awareness and make an everlasting impact on a target audience:
New connections give you an opportunity to learn about the hobbies, likes, dislikes, and passions of people. So, pay proper attention to how they speak and what things excite them. The brands find out these traits and advertise them accordingly.
Social interaction is critical for human beings. It helps you to remain connected, recognized, and learn new things. Similarly, a brand works, so it is essential to connect with the audience to make sales and be social. Therefore, most successful brands promote their products and services on social media platforms.
One of the effective product promotion ways is storytelling, whether promoting a brand or products. In this way, the audience can strongly recognize you or connect with you. In addition, you can add depth to an advertising campaign by telling the story related to the brand projects.
You narrate a story related to the truth. For example, you may tell customers about the founder's struggle, the brand origin, expansion over the years. People love stories, so ensure that it is authentic for making more impact.
An excellent way to establish a brand is to let famous brands talk to their audience about you. To do so, partner with well-known brands, companies, celebrities, influencers, etc., who have a large follower base. For example, Facebook intelligently used this strategy. It partnered with various niche influencers to increase the awareness of its latest product, "Facebook Watch."
One of the best ideas to promote a brand is to start a referral program. This strategy delegates the work of advertising a brand to other people at lower cost than you bear it while doing it yourself. Moreover, referrals can more powerfully convince people than advertisements.
Set up a referral program where existing customers get some amount when they bring more customers. Moreover, if you provide good commission rates, it will attract affiliates who have large followership.
To achieve a high degree of brand awareness, focus on brand associations or brand loyalty. It significantly influences your marketing efforts. The strategies mentioned above will surely help you create and increase brand awareness. It will attract a devoted audience, compel them always to buy your products, and encourage others to do the same.