Ever wondered why some brands become overnight hits while others take months or even years to get the recognition they deserve? Well, building brand awareness is no child’s play. You have to be smarter than the general run of marketers and possess the ability to convince your prospects that you are better than the solutions they already have on the market.
Many entrepreneurs have been lulled into believing that the answer to building brand awareness is spending big on advertisement. That does work, but it is not always the solution, especially with everyone doing it. You have to create a plan, understand your objectives, and execute your strategy knowing exactly who you are targeting and that the message will reach them.
If you are stuck in the confusion of trying to get your business known without spending a fortune on it, these 4 strategies can help you get started:
Leverage Social Media
Whether you own a brick and mortar store or your business is entirely online-run, social media is a marketing tool you cannot afford to overlook. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram have become a core part of our daily lives.
It is where friends and families meet and hold all sorts of conversations. Being able to capture their attention is the equivalent of getting into people’s homes and delivering the message about your brand in person – sort of like the old school door-to-door marketing technique, but cheaper, more convenient and arguably more effective.
All you need to do is go to your favorite platform and create a profile bearing basic information about your business. Follow these steps for the most effective marketing strategy:
- Have the same information on all platforms
- Use target marketing strategies (start by researching about your audience)
- Use visuals (pictures, videos, and infographics) to pass your message
- Utilize trends and hashtags
- Make use of influencer marketing
- Follow top brands in your niche and try to emulate
- Be consistent with your content
- Create a publishing calendar
- Provide links to your website in your profile and each of your posts
Create Business Cards
Although most marketers have migrated to digital platforms, business cards haven’t gone out of style. It is unrealistic to engage a prospect only once and expect them to remember the name of your company a week or a month later.
Business cards (tarjeta presentacion) help retain prospects that you risk losing simply because they can’t remember the name of your brand or your contact details. A single card can keep someone reminded that they met you once and made a promise to do business with you.
Studies show that entrepreneurs that give out unique business cards get more first-time customers than those who don’t. Most of the prospects you give your card may not contact you immediately, but you will be at the top of their priority list when they eventually develop a need for the type of product or service you offer.
Create Infographics About Your Business
In this internet age, visuals are proving to be the most effective way to spread word about anything, and it is easy to see why. Users are being presented with loads of content for similar products. Anyone with hundreds, if not thousands of options to choose from will certainly go for what is easy to read and understand.
Wordy pieces are ignored by people who are in need of instant solutions. If you need to put out content that will capture attention and deliver the message without leaving important details out, creating an infographic would be a great idea.
An infographic is a visual representation of data or information created to simplify complicated or long messages for easier comprehension. Researches show that the average internet user is 30 times more likely to read an infographic than a text article.
Compared to videos and still images, infographics have the edge in that they occupy less space and are more shareable.
Offer Free Trials
Everyone loves freebies, and many people believe in trying out products before committing. Letting people have a taste of your product or service without paying for them is good both for brand awareness and trust.
If you offer a software or cloud-based internet service, consider creating a free version of your product with limited features and give users the opportunity to subscribe to all features at a fee. This has worked for big companies such as Spotify and Dropbox and would certainly deliver the goods for you if you are only getting started.
Conclusion
It is not easy putting a startup on its feet and competing with established companies on a level playing field. However, with these brand awareness tips, you can bridge that gap and swiftly start realizing the objectives of your business.
Always ensure you understand your target audience and the dynamics of the market you are eyeing before launching yourself into the game.