Brand awareness is one of those things that are hard to define or even to talk about, but everyone knows when a business has it. It isn’t always something that a brand can directly translate into sales or bigger revenue, but both depend on it.
The goal is for customers to be aware of your business and the values it represents without being too pushy and in your face about it. If you do it right, the brand you’ve created will become synonymous with certain products or with the quality itself.
Choosing a name before you start building brand awareness
This is the obvious first step, and it’s a crucial one. Choosing a name for your business will define all future marketing strategies, visual identities, and how your company is perceived. Luckily, there are a lot of unique and brandable business names available. The one you choose has to be meaningful both to you personally and to the business itself. Once you decide on one, there’s no turning back. Rebranding a business by giving it a new name is hard work, and it’s usually a sign that something went very wrong. Choose carefully.
Visual identity as a brand awareness
The business should be recognizable just based on its visual style, without any words or explanations. This means that the colors, fonts, and overall aesthetic you choose need to translate to every media and advertising channel. From ads and commercials you make to business cards and the website, everyone should know that this is your business as soon as they see it. If you’re running a blog or using social media (and you should do both), make sure that this aesthetic is noticeable there as well.
Related: 9 Steps to Start a Charity
Don’t be afraid to educate
If your product is new and groundbreaking in the industry, you will have to educate the users on it. Businesses are often reluctant to do so because they think it will alienate the customers and take too much time and money. This is false. Letting the users become familiarized with your products and the changes they bring will only expand your brand awareness and make the product more ubiquitous. A good way to accomplish this is by using the services from people who are known and trusted in your industry to explain the product.
Sponsor something to build your brand awareness
Your business needs to be seen as a part of a larger community. Take an interest in local politics and public affairs and contribute if you can. The contribution could do this by associating yourself with a charity or a cause. You could also support local youth by paying for their education in return for them working in your company as interns. This way, your business will be associated with something more than profits and sales, and you get to help people. It’s important to find a line between calling others to help out and using charity to advertise yourself. The latter is in poor taste.
Tell your story
There’s usually more behind a business than the desire to make money. A business owner often has a drive that has helped them start a business and maintain it. Telling the story of how the company came to be and what motivated you to start could make you more relatable. Sometimes these stories become a part of national folklore and create a broader picture of how the business was created.
Building up brand awareness is a tricky business. Some do it right away, and for others, it takes years. There’s no clear recipe. Just try to show what your business is all about.
