Brand Awareness may seem like a vague idea, and in reality, it is. If you’re a marketer or business owner who likes to measure success with neat numbers, brand awareness is likely to make you feel uncomfortable.
But just because it’s not a perfectly measurable metric doesn’t mean it’s not important. Brand awareness is very important for the success of a business and for marketing goals in general. This is why.
Why is it important to know about a brand?
Trust grows when people know about a brand. When people do a lot of research and ask other people what they think before buying something, brand trust is everything. Once a customer builds a relationship with your brand, they are more likely to buy from you again without much thought. This bridges the gap between trust and loyalty.
This brand trust is built through brand awareness. When you give your brand a face, people are more likely to trust it. Efforts to raise brand awareness give your brand a personality and a way to be honest, get feedback, and tell a story. All of these are ways that people build trust with each other. The relationship between a person and a brand isn’t any different.
Brand awareness makes people think of the brand.
Brand awareness increases the recall value of a brand which means when you need a product, you think about the brand instead of the product that you need. For eg,, When you need to search anything online, you think about the Google. When you need shoes, you think about Nike or Adidas. When you think about mineral water, you think about Bisleri or Aquafina.
Do you agree? Most likely. But… you may have noticed that some of the words above have capital letters. These are not nouns or verbs; they are brands.
This is what building a brand does. It makes us think of certain brands when we do certain things or buy certain things. This makes us subconsciously want to replace common words with branded terms. Before we know it, something as simple as a paper cut or a picnic will be doing our advertising for us.
Brand awareness increases the value of a brand.
Brand equity is the value of a brand, which is based on how consumers feel about and interact with the brand. Positive experiences and perceptions equal positive brand equity, and the same is true for negative ideas.
Here are some good things that come from having a strong brand:
- Prices go up because people think it’s worth more.
- Stock prices that go up
- The ability to grow a business by adding new products or services to a line
- More social impact because of the value of the brand name
A Brand can establish and increase its brand equity by making people aware of the brand and always talking about the good things that have happened with the brand. Brand equity starts with people knowing about the brand.
Once a consumer knows about a brand, they start to recognise it without help, look for it when they want to buy something, start to like it more than other similar brands, and build a loyalty that makes them buy more and tell their friends and family about it.
This is why brand awareness is so important. It builds trust with your customers, makes them think of your brand in a good way, and gives your brand the valuable brand equity it needs to become a household name and a consumer staple.
How can you build brand awareness and make people to know your brand?
It takes time for your audience and the general public to learn about your brand. It doesn’t happen because of a simple ad or marketing campaign, either.
Strong brand awareness comes from many different things going on at the same time that go beyond just trying to get paying customers.
If you think that a few product ads on Facebook will make people more aware of your brand, you won’t get very far. The consumer will be focused on the product, not the brand, and the ad won’t have any effect beyond making a sale.
Here are some ways to build brand awareness and leave an impression on your audience that will last:
1. Don’t always act formal like a business.
What do you like to learn about a new friend as you get to know them? I like to find out about people’s interests, passions, likes and dislikes, and other things. I also listen to how they talk, what they like to talk about, and what makes them really happy.
These are the things about your brand that you should decide on and talk about. To make an impression on your audience, you need to be more than just a company that sells things. How would you describe yourself in other ways? What would you say if you had to tell a new friend about your brand?
2. Socialize.
No matter how outgoing or quiet you are, everyone benefits from socialising and spending time with other people. It’s how we stay in touch with each other, learn new things, and make ourselves known.
Your brand is the same way. If you only try to connect with people when you want to sell something or get help, you won’t be known for anything other than being a business with a single goal (and the same goes for a person).
To get people to know about your brand, you have to be social. Post about things that have nothing to do with your product or service on social media. Interact with your audience by asking questions, making comments on posts, or retweeting or sharing content you like. Treat your social media accounts like you’re a person trying to make friends, not a business trying to make money.
Research shows that online socialisation makes up more than half of a brand’s reputation. Being social makes you more aware and lets you be known.
3. Let people know your story.
Storytelling is a very effective way to market something, whether it’s a product or your own brand. Why? Because it gives your audience something real to hold on to.
Putting together a story about your brand gives it personality and depth. And if you use this story in your marketing, you’re automatically promoting your brand along with your products or services.
What should the point of your story be? Anything, as long as it’s true. It can be the story of your company’s founder, the story of how your first product idea came about, or the story of how your small business made it in this big world.
People like to hear about each other in stories. Authenticity makes a big difference and can lead to a big increase in brand awareness.
4. Make it easy to share.
Make it easy for your audience to share your content, no matter what industry you’re in, what products you sell, or how you market them. This could include blog posts, paid content, videos, posts on social media, or product pages. As long as it can be shared, it doesn’t matter what it is.
The best way to build trust and familiarity with customers is through word-of-mouth marketing. If a friend or family member recommends a product or service, that person will pay attention to that product… and brand. Is this a brand that you should look into? Do they sell other great products that I can trust? What do they talk about on their social media accounts?
If you make it easy for people to post about your stuff, they will spread the word about your brand by just clicking “Share.”
Impact is at the heart of brand awareness. It’s about interacting with your audience in ways that don’t just ask for money, participation, or loyalty.
Imagine meeting someone new who wanted to be your friend. You’d probably laugh and walk away if they asked for any of the above, right? This is not only a shallow way to be friends, but it also doesn’t change you in any way.
The same goes for getting your audience to know and like your brand.
