When it comes to business, your brand is everything. It’s how your customers and potential customers get to know your company and what you do. When people trust and recognise brands, they’re much more likely to do business with that company than one they know nothing about.
As such, it’s important to build your brand and get it out in the world so that it’s instantly recognisable. Here’s how you can do just that:
Be Consistent in Your Brand
Consistency is key when it comes to brand awareness. Your brand is the personality of your business; if your company were a person, the brand is a combination of their key characteristics. Whether you’re sending out email marketing, flyers, Facebook ads or a Twitter post, the tone and style should be the same. It’s incredibly jarring when a company has a drastically different style of communication across multiple channels, you need to keep it consistent to better build a recognisable brand for your business.
This can be done by ensuring that your marketing team have a clear understanding of what kind of message and personality you’re trying to get across and that they’re all working together to keep everything your business sends out “on brand”. Consistency will help cement your brand in your customer’s consciousness.
Improve Your SEO
You may be aware that when people search online for something, they don’t look past the first few search results before they click on one. Well, that’s because it’s true. 75% of people never scroll past the first page of search engines. And given that 81% of people do some online research before making a purchase, having that kind of exposure in the online world is vital.
Using SEO to get your website up the search engine rankings is a sure-fire way to draw traffic to your site, putting your company and brand at the forefront of people’s awareness. It can seem intimidating, but it’s easy to implement.
First, you need to research relevant keywords, the words your target audience will type in search engines to find your business. These words should be incorporated into your content and match the kinds of searches people do at the beginning of their buyer’s journey. There are some excellent guides to optimising your site for SEO online; Google has one of its own.
Tell Your Story
People want businesses to feel more human, like they’re dealing with people rather than a soulless, faceless organisation. That’s why, when a brand has a story, people are more likely to resonate with it. It’s the story of how your company came to be, where you started and how you got to where you are now. This can be something as simple as a page on your site with some historical photographs that show your company’s beginnings. All of this helps to humanise your organisation and give a more personal voice to your brand.
Be Active on Social Media
Almost half of the world’s population is on social media, so if you’re not making full use of it, you’re at a serious disadvantage. Fortunately, there are so many different platforms that lend themselves really well to all sorts of different businesses.
For retailers, Instagram is a Godsend. This image-focused platform is perfect for businesses wanting to show off their wares, and better still, their posts are even shoppable so consumers can purchase through Instagram – and this is shown to be an increasing trend amongst consumers.
Facebook is great for information, and customers will often look for a business’s Facebook page to help check whether a company is legitimate; so, an inactive Facebook page could potentially put customers off. You can also use it to interact with customers directly, helping to cement your brand.
Then there’s Pinterest and the emerging video platform TikTok. All social media sites are incredibly popular with their demographics, and you should pick at least two platforms and really utilise an effective social media strategy on them to get your brand some exposure.
Use Promotional Merchandise
One of the simplest ways to create brand awareness is to use promotional merchandise with your brand. Promotional gifts are a great way to thank customers for their business, as well as remind them about your company and the services you provide. Things like branded pens and cups with your company name and logo and contact details are a great way to draw back customers in the future.
Your branding should be on all your promotional materials, your ads and any marketing you send out so you can create a consistent, well-formed brand. At Fill n’ Away, if you need helium canisters or helium balloon kits for an event, we can provide this in your very own branded box, to help establish your brand.