With 30 million small businesses in operation around the US, it can be hard to cut through the clutter and find customers. That’s particularly true in a world where consumers are being more careful with their money than ever given today’s economic conditions.
Among the many roads you can go down to drive sales as a business, one of the best, long-term things you should focus on is brand ads. Brand ads (or “brand advertisements”) are things you do to create affinity for your brand within your target market.
Below, our team shares with you a handful of methods you can lean on now to start making people familiar with your business. Keep reading to discover them!
1. Be Consistent
When your level of brand awareness has hit a point of ubiquity, people should be able to glance at your logo and know everything about the quality of your products, the voice of your advertising, and more. To achieve that familiarity, the most important thing you need to do is be consistent with your brand ads and products.
People know that when they’re shopping with Apple or Velvet Caviar, they’re going to get clean, well-designed, intuitive products. People know that when they see ads from Geico in their social feeds, those ads are going to be funny.
Figure out what you want consumers to associate with your brand and ensure that all facets of your organization support that end.
2. Reward Referrals
Building brand awareness is just as much about spreading the word as it is about making sure that word is consistent. Among the best ways we’ve found to spread the word about brands is to reward consumers for telling their friends and family to shop with you.
This can be achieved by launching a referral program.
Referral programs engage existing customers by offering them gifts in exchange for bringing new people through your doors. As long as the rewards you give cost less than the average lifetime value of your customer, you’ll manage to not only turn a profit on new customers but will rapidly scale the number of people that are familiar with your brand.
3. Guest Post
There’s not a lot of chatter about guest posting anymore when it comes to spreading brand awareness. That’s a shame because we think blogging/guest posting is still a very much viable way to get your brand in front of groups of motivated customers.
Guest posting is simple. Find a popular blog that caters to an audience who would enjoy your products/services. Then, ask the owner of that blog if you can write a post on their website that drives value for their audience and plugs your business throughout.
The hope is that people will be so moved by your post on taking care of dogs, custom self inking stamps, or whatever else you write about that they’ll check out your business as a consequence. Even if they don’t, just getting your brand in front of a new audience will build passive awareness that could convert into sales down the line.
4. Cross-Promote
If your brand is in the business of washing cars, why not find a local mechanic and ask them to advertise your car wash to their customers. After all, the mechanic’s customers all have cars and at some point, those cars will need to be washed.
In return, you could tell your car wash customers that if they need to get their vehicles serviced, they should visit the mechanic you’ve partnered with.
This process of promotion between adjacent businesses is called cross-promotion. It’s a great, mutually beneficial, and free way to exchange brand awareness with local businesses.
5. Get Social
While social media isn’t a fit for every brand marketing strategy, it is for most. So, if you’re not on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or anywhere else, make sure you’re consciously avoiding those platforms because they don’t make sense, not because you’re too intimidated to figure them out.
Today, there’s an online platform that caters to just about every type of audience segment. By being present on the same social platform your audience loves, you can share organic content that can help establish your brand as a credible resource in your field.
Needless to say, that awareness/credibility can go a long way when people are in the market for what you’re selling.
6. Invest in Paid Ads
Not getting the organic traction on social media you’re hoping for? To fast-forward your online engagement results, invest in paid ads.
Paid ads can help you generate immediate brand attention since platforms will push your message to the top of relevant user’s feeds. From there, people might opt to click on whatever ad you’re running and make a purchase.
Similar to the other type of brand awareness strategies we’ve shared, even if people don’t click on your paid ads, seeing them is enough to build passive awareness that might grow into affinity at a later date.
Start Imarmplementing Unique Ways to Lay Out Your Brand Ads Now
You can read about various brand ads strategies until you’re blue in the face. Knowing how to create bread awareness though isn’t going to make people anymore aware of your products/services. Only putting in the work is going to do that.
By now, you certainly have more than a few strategies you can hit the ground running with. If you find yourself in need of more, check out additional brand awareness strategies online.
Our team happens to have a few more waiting for you on our blog that you can read now!
