When you go shopping, how do you choose what brand to buy from? Maybe you go with the big-name brands that have never done you wrong or maybe you received a recommendation from a friend so you switch it up and try something new.
Especially for small businesses, word of mouth is a simple and effective way to build brand awareness. 83% of Americans are more likely to purchase a product or service when they receive a recommendation from their trusted people. So how do you get people to talk about your product in the first place?
Digital marketing.
Digital marketing for brand awareness is imperative for building community and clientele. It catapults your business into the realm of your target audience so you get seen.
Avenues For Brand Building Through Digital Marketing
SEO
Search Engine Optimization is how to drive traffic to your site through organic searches. SEO uses keywords and algorithms to display information ranked by most relevant. When optimized, SEO can bring website hits long after changes are initially implemented.
Getting your website to show on the first page of a search engine boosts you to the front lines of people searching for your service. SEO can be complicated and seem like a difficult area to get a start in which is why we created the Beginner’s Guide to SEO to help get you started.
Social Media Marketing
Everyone is on social media, so it would likely help if you were too. People network, gain and share information, shop, and more on their favorite platforms constantly. As a small business, creating your community online is an important tool for brand awareness.
This community is both an important part of creating meaningful relationships and advertising your service or product. Social media is also a great tool to establish tone, message, and visual aesthetics for an objectively low cost where you can get feedback and direct communication from your customers and audience to make adjustments as needed.
Once you’ve established yourself on different social media platforms, you can start to run paid ads to further brand awareness you’ve started to build on these specific platforms. These can be customized to target specific demographics based on your audience to best utilize the investment you made.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing can be a solid way to increase brand awareness through a different type of word-of-mouth marketing. They have built a following that trusts them where they can share your brand and build repertoire within that community. This can organically drive sales, engagement, and followers from utilizing the following that they have already created.
The positive side to working with influencers is that there are influencers for every niche which allows you to work with the right ones so that they can promote your brand to the appropriate audience to get the best return.
Keep your customers happy
Public feedback from your customers is essential for keeping a positive brand image and gaining new customers. 93% of consumers say that online reviews influenced their purchase decisions.
So how do you gain this feedback? Ask! When people are happy with a good or service many don’t mind leaving a positive review and might just need a little push to do so. You can start an incentive program for reviews to get the ball rolling or a referral program for guiding friends or family to your brand.
On the contrary, if someone is unhappy with your product or service you need to make it right. Offer to replace the item, give away something for free, or ask for another chance to make their experience better.
Always go above and beyond for your customers and that experience will reflect positively on your brand.
Partner with Other Brands
Collaborating with like-minded brands or local businesses you want to support is a smart way to grow your audience and brand. By doing so, both brands get exposure to new niches and customers.
You also get the chance to build trust within your community by networking with local business owners like you. Creating or sponsoring events, coproducing an advertising campaign or merchandise are just some creative ways to build this relationship.
It might seem overwhelming to try and tackle all of these from the start or all at once, but you can take one bite at a time and start to progress through them. Learn what areas you have some skill in and what others you might need some help with. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, so don’t be afraid to ask for help when trying to utilize one of these strategies.