Build Brand Awareness with These 10 Tips
Today, any tech-savvy individual can create a website or a small online business with a modest budget. However, building a brand that’s unique, impactful, and memorable takes tons of work, money, and time. Naturally, if you have created one for your business, then you must have huge expectations. The problem is that more often than not, you don’t get the desired results because your work isn’t done after setting up a brand. To make it successful, you have to build awareness around it too.
The following are the top 10 ways you can build brand awareness without breaking the bank:
- Take Advantage of Social Media
You may already know how to use social media for lead generation like most businesses, but do you know that you can use it for brand awareness as well? Yes, by coming closer to your target audience on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, you can grow your brand faster and create a positive brand image too.
There are many ways you can engage with your customers on social media. For instance, you can respond to their comments, share their stories from your business profile, personally thank them for feedback, etc.
- Host Webinars
Knowledge is invaluable, and if you are offering it for free, then you can easily attract thousands of users towards your brand. All you have to do is host a webinar i.e. an online seminar on a popular topic every once in a while. You can do it either way- uploading a prerecorded video or going live. This is because as long as you are offering useful and interesting information to the people in an easy-to-understand language, you are all set. Just remember to pick subjects that are directly related to your brand and help in making it an authority in the industry.
- Write Guests Posts
Many entrepreneurs are of the opinion that guest blogging is a plain waste of time and it’s better to publish the articles on your own websites. However, their shortsightedness only robs them of new leads and business growth. This is because guest blogging is a proven strategy that can go a long way in spreading the name of your brand.
It’s true that you should update your official blog on a regular basis for SEO and customer engagement. However, writing guest posts for other popular blogs also allows you to reach new markets in the most direct manner. Plus, your social network grows and backlink profile gets fortified when you take this path. What else do you need? So, just read a guide or two on writing guests posts that drive traffic to your website and start using this technique to your advantage!
- Sponsor Events
Any branding expert worth their salt will tell you how important it is to create brand identity to breathe life into your business. You can accomplish that and increase brand awareness by sponsoring select events that are attended by your target demographic.
Exhibitions, concerts, festivals, etc. are some of the events where you grow brand awareness through customized water bottles, caps, t-shirts, etc. So, why not sponsor a few yourself and reach hundreds of thousands of people at each event? Just be sure to pick the events wisely- they should resonate with the interests and values that your brand stands with.
- Network with Influencers
Digital marketing is quite different from traditional marketing and you can’t transfer the techniques of one to the other. For instance, celebrity endorsements are quite effective in traditional marketing. However, in this age of digital marketing, customers trust social media stars more than celebrities. This trend has given rise to influencer marketing in which popular social media users who have hundreds of thousands of followers/fans promote the products and services of different brands.
If you have never tried influencer marketing, then it’s strongly recommended that you give it a go to see for yourself how it can contribute to brand awareness in the most natural and authentic way possible All you have to do is find the right influencers with tools like Awario or BuzzStrean and incentivize them to promote your brand. You can offer them free products for reviews, give exclusive interviews, or just pay appropriate compensation, whatever works for you.
- Work on SEO
The majority of people who use Google Search don’t visit page 2 of the search results. So, if you want to gain more online visibility, then you need to work on getting on page 1 for as many search queries as possible. For that, mastering SEO i.e. Search Engine Optimization is a must. Fortunately, there are many tutorials and in-depth guides on the web that you can check out.
- Run Giveaway Contests on Social Media
Giveaway contests are a great way to build hype for your brand as everyone loves free stuff. However, it’s important that make each of these contests count. For instance, try to format them in a way that they are able to reach as many users as possible. You can do this by asking the participants to share and like the contest post to become eligible for participation. You can also encourage them to tag their friends to increase their chances of winning, etc.
- Launch Retargeting Campaigns
Rebranding is a digital marketing technique in which advertisements track the users who visit your website but leave without converting into paying customers. When they visit other websites, they see your advertisements repeatedly which nudges them to come back to your website.
- Set up a Referral Program
Word of mouth marketing is still quite relevant and can help in increasing brand awareness. So, you can launch a referral program under which your customers can earn discounts for referring your brand to their friends and acquaintances. There are many brands that are already doing this, and you can study their referral programs for inspiration.
- Write an eBook
Writing a book has become a lot easier today, thanks to the online publishing industry and eBooks. By writing an educational and informative eBook that others can benefit from, you can reach a large number of people and promote your brand in a natural manner. You can also sell the eBook for free to those who sign up for a newsletter on your website. This way you can also improve the ROI of your email marketing campaigns.
So, there you have it- some of the best ways to encourage brand awareness and expand your customer base. Implement as many of them as possible and you will surely see an impact.
Originally published at Entrepreneur News and Startup Guide.
