6 Effective Ways to Boost Brand Awareness for Your Small Business
In a world filled with meticulous consumers, credibility and brand trust are everything. No matter the quality of the goods or services you have to offer, if your brand fails to create an identity that sets itself apart from the rest, then your business isn’t likely to go very far. This is why brand awareness is a critical factor in the success of any business endeavor.
In a nutshell, brand awareness is how well consumers recognize your products and services. When prospective customers are comfortable with your branding, it gives you an edge over the competition. They are more likely to choose or buy from you because they know and trust you.
Need a hand with cultivating the reputation of your brand?
These tips can help increase brand awareness for your small business and, at the same time, boost your SEO strategy.
1. Build a Strong Social Media Presence
To create awareness around your brand, you need to reach as many people as possible. And what’s a better and more efficient way to do that than through social media?
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have grown to become some of the most powerful marketing tools today. Maintaining an active presence on social media by posting regular updates and using the platforms to interact with audiences is one of the most impactful ways to promote and advocate for your business.
2. Run Social Media Ads
If you’re already on social media but you’re still having trouble growing your brand’s following, it may be time to capitalize on social media ads.
With so much competition going on, you can’t rely on organic social media marketing alone. Running ads on social media platforms is relatively cheap but very effective. You can set your ads to target specific age groups, locations, gender, and interests to increase your chance of reaching new people who might be interested in your products or services.
3. Distribute Your Content through Guest Posts
While it’s great for brands to have their own blogs, you can only drive so much mileage from posting content on your website. This is why you should consider guest posting, too.
Writing blog posts for websites relevant to your niche is a powerful way to get your name out there. However, simply pitching run-of-the-mill content won’t cut it. You need to publish quality guest posts to make a good and lasting impression on readers.
4. Collaborate with Influencers
Influencers are called influencers for a reason.
Consumers trust the recommendations of influencers more than advertisements or celebrity endorsements, so why not give influencer marketing a try?
Choose a trusted influencer relevant to your niche and collaborate with them. Even a simple mention from their Facebook and Instagram posts or stories can potentially drive hundreds or even thousands of traffic to your website/social media page.
5. Start a Referral Program
Raise brand awareness through word-of-mouth marketing by incentivizing your existing customers to make them advocates of your brand. People will gladly spread the word about your brand and vouch for it if they get an added perk for doing so.
Starting a referral program is an effective method for increasing reach and promoting products/services because it brings awareness from a very reliable source – friends and family.
6. Give Your Brand A Unique but Relatable Identity
A surefire way to create a buzz around your brand is by giving it a memorable but relatable personality. You can go for fun or even outrageous, as long as it aligns with your messaging.
One compelling marketing tactic to try is storytelling. Crafting a narrative around your brand will humanize it and help it connect more deeply with audiences.
What should your narrative be about? Anything – as long as it’s genuine and sincere. Creating an identity that’s both authentic and impactful will pique people’s interests and move them to get to know you more.
Brand awareness doesn’t happen by chance or through some stroke of luck. People won’t learn about your small business if you don’t take the initiative to put yourself out there.
Consumers nowadays have an infinite number of choices. You need to find ways to consistently get your brand in front so you’re top-of-mind when they’re finally ready to make a purchase.
About the Author
Shawn Byrne is the founder and CEO of SEOPhoenix.net. Shawn started his career in I.T. troubleshooting workstations, servers, and networks, then went on to doing SEO as a side project and quickly found success in ranking websites. It was easy for him to grasp not only the algorithms but also the technical side which most SEO strategists miss and neglect because of its complexities. SEO Phoenix then grew based on its own rankings and referrals.
