Failing to brand your business is a way to guarantee your business does not succeed. In this age of digital marketing, average adult consumers are exposed to about 360 brands through advertisements per day. Only about 150 of those ads are even noticed by consumers. Make your branding count: build brand awareness with your target audience.
#1. Brand Specifically for Your Audience
Name ten brands you clearly are not the target audience for. Chances are that you cannot come up with ten. Successful businesses build their brand for a specific target audience for a reason. People remember best what is relevant to them. According to
To effectively brand your business or product, you must know your target audience well. Common factors to consider when creating a brand that appeals to a specific group of people include the target audiences:
- Values
- Preferences
- Unmet needs
- Interests
- Humor
- Social sensitivities
With these in mind, professional brand development is intentional in selecting logo colors and design. Facets of branding like setting a tone and selecting a clear message to represent the business are essential as well.
#2. Be an Authority Figure in Your Field
One of the best ways to stand out to businesses is to present the brand as authoritative. Brands bearing authority carry weight in consumers’ minds, especially among target audiences seeking the best available to meet their needs. A simple first step to begin creating awareness of your brand’s authority is to write informational articles.
For instance, a small healthcare business AirNeeds published an article based on reviews and guides about a perfect essential oil diffuser, that was informing consumers on the options available to them for purifying the air they breathe. This establishes AirNeeds as an authority on air purifying, not just as yet another business trying to sell their products without helping the consumer decision-making process. Consider what types of questions your target audience may have and write relevant articles that are informative in nature to present your brand as an authority on topics within your niche.
#3. Establish a Presence Where Your Target Audience Already Is
It’s hard to build awareness for a cause on an empty street. Likewise, businesses are ineffective at building brand awareness when they advertise in places their target audience isn’t visiting. A business advertising to young adults is unlikely to build brand awareness advertising in newspapers, for example. Promote your brand in places your target audience is likely to be anyway.
As part of your target audience identification and selection process, determine where your audience sees advertisements most. If you are using social media to advertise, build connections with others in your industry. AirNeeds, aforementioned example might connect with local businesses or public service providers whose audiences match their own. For example, they may connect with a non-profit sharing about the importance of air purity in the environment or a hospital teaching locals about respiratory care, because both groups will have similar audiences to AirNeeds’ targeted demographic.
#4. Use a Multi-Pronged Approach
While reaching out to your target audience where they already are is essential, limiting branding to specific advertising mediums is equally risky. Repetition is part of the process of creating brand awareness. Consumers in your target audience are more likely to remember your business, for example, if they see your brand on a social media platform and on an advertisement on a news site.
A multi-pronged approach to branding has several benefits besides repetition, though. Some of the benefits include:
- Reaching more members of your target audience
- Expanding your target demographics
- Demonstrating the versatility of your brand
- Creating a presence as a legitimate brand in various venues
Through such a diverse approach, your target audience will also be diversified. Benefits like these have the potential to grow consumers’ awareness of your brand as well as your consumer base in general.
#5. Be Consistent In All Branding Efforts
To master your multi-pronged branding approach, you will need to maintain a balance of consistency and adaptability. Every venue for advertising has a specific appeal and method of reaching target audiences.
Twitter, for instance, runs on a different algorithm than Facebook or Pinterest. More than that, each of these social sites has its own best practices for reaching consumers. An infographic is likely to be bypassed by consumers on Twitter but engaged with on Pinterest. You should adapt your advertisements to each of these venues accordingly.
At the same time, you must present your brand consistently. Though your content strategy will differ from venue to venue, building brand awareness requires your brand to be recognizable everywhere you advertise. Use the same logo on all social media channels, as well as the same (or a very similar) “about us” description.
#6. Make Clear Link Backs
Along with the importance of consistency in branding, even while adapting content for different venues, you must be consistent in linking back to your website. Your website is where your target audience will be converted to your customer base. When consumers click on a brand they recognize on Twitter and end up on a different landing page than when they visited the same brand from Facebook, their awareness decreases. They might even be confused.
Likewise, if your branding does not conveniently point consumers directly to your business’ website, consumers are unlikely to take the time to mentally connect your brand with your business or product. Consumers count on proper link backs make those connections for them.
#7. Host Interactive Experiences
As an individual, you are more likely to remember that someone was at a party if you interact with them there. Consumers find the same to be true online. The key to digital marketing is hosting interactive experiences to make your brand come to life for your target audience. Successfully branded, well-known businesses do this by:
- Hosting contests
- Replying to social media feedback
- Sharing human interest stories online
- Creating shareable, relevant images for consumers
- Posting content clearly related to brand messaging
- Encouraging interaction through digital sales, specials, giveaways, and online events
Forbes’ expert, Sharon Michael’s, recommends hosting a Facebook group or operating a blog as additional methods for interacting with your target audience online. Experiences like these are memorable for your audience and encourage them to feel loyalty to your brand, which, as a bonus, boosts their awareness of your brand.
Image: Brand awareness improvement concept. Brand manager draws growing graph with text brand awareness.
