In your mind, you are the go-to business when your audience has specific needs arise. But, we all know that in reality, that’s more of a desire than the truth. Keeping your business top of mind isn’t easy for many, mainly because it’s an ongoing effort and takes both creative and strategic planning. A great place to start is by building a strong brand that effectively communicates your values, vision, personality and mission. Once this is defined, it will be much easier to develop your other plans and strategies tailored to creating your brand awareness.
We hope this posts gives you an idea, with some examples, of how to make your brand top of mind for your area, audience, and beyond!
Be Consistent
If there’s anything your brand needs to be, it must be consistent. Think about chain restaurants like Joe’s Crab Shack or Longhorn Steakhouse. People like to go to these kinds of places because the service, atmosphere, and overall experience are (for the most part) consistent. If an important value for your business is compassion, show it every single day. The more consistent your brand is, the more likely it will stay top of mind.
When all else fails and you aren’t sure where to start with consistency, be sure to consistently offer value to your potential, new and long-time clients.
Strive to Be Different
“Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable,” a widely-popular marketing book by Seth Godin, discusses the importance of finding ways to stand out (by being the purple cow in your field). Unfortunately, many brands believe that to be top of mind means they need to “imitate” their competitors. What they don’t realize is all that they’re doing is reminding consumers of the brand they’re competing against!
You will see more success when you find a gap or solve a problem; then you will be seen as the brand different from the rest!
One of our favorite examples of a “purple cow” brand is Dyson. There are PLENTY of vacuum brands out there, but what makes them the “Cadillac” of this space is they found the conventional vacuum only moved forward and backward. By giving vacuums 360-degree capabilities with a ball instead of wheels, they became the innovator in the vacuum industry (which was once dominated by Hoover).
Connect Emotionally
What comes to mind when you hear Sarah McLachlan? If we had to take a guess, you probably hear, “in the aaaarrrmmmms ooooofff the angel….” running through your head (we apologize if we just got “Angel” stuck in your head for the rest of the day) and picture sad photos of puppies and kittens at shelters. In case you’re in the mood to cry today, here’s the commercial we’re referring to:
This is very successful marketing work by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). They knew exactly how to pull at the heartstrings of people who care about animals. Once they saw that commercial, they felt more inclined to act now when they saw the animals in cages for themselves (and accompanied by a somber song). This commercial is over 10 years old and still remembered by many!
The truth is, consumers are more concerned with how a brand makes them feel instead of the facts. By connecting with your audience on an emotional level, they will have a better understanding of your motives and what you can do to satisfy them emotionally.
Shake Things Up
If you think about it, marketing’s primary objective is all about getting noticed. Once you get attention, people will start talking about your brand, but they’ll only talk about you when you give them something worth talking about.
Experiential marketing (which is also considered as event marketing or guerilla marketing at times) is becoming increasingly popular with brands as a part of their creative effort to get the word out. An excellent example of this happened a few ago with the “Carrie” movie remake. Check it out:
The unfortunate truth about this campaign is this YouTube video was more successful than the actual Carrie movie was in theaters. But, the big thing to take away from this was this stunt sparked a lot of conversation and buzz around the movie, which was the main goal.
This is not to say you should scare people to the point of running out of your shop without the items they paid for. Get to know what matters the most to your audience and find creative ways to get them to share how you fulfilled their needs. Keep their attention, and they’ll spread the word about your business like wildfire.
Brand awareness should always be a priority, but it’s a good thing that it’s something you’ll always work on. It will give you a chance to spot where your branding is lacking and how you can adjust yourself to be more in tune with your audience. Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll be sure to create a brand worth getting to know.
If you have any questions or thoughts about brand awareness, let us know your thoughts and concerns.