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Brand Awareness: What is it and How to Build it

Every small business, from pest control companies and roofers to restaurants and dentists, has a brand. It's what sets you apart from your competitors and makes you recognizable to your target audience.

Building brand awareness is essential to the success of any small business. But what exactly is brand awareness, and how can you build it for your business?

What is brand awareness?

Simply put, brand awareness is the degree of consumer recognition of a brand. It's how familiar your target audience is with your business and its products or services.

There are three levels of brand awareness:

  • Top-of-mind - This is when your target consumers think of your brand first when they need a product or service in your industry.
  • Recall - This is when consumers can remember your brand after seeing or hearing it, but they might not think of it first.
  • Recognition - This is when consumers see your brand and can recognize it, but they might not be able to recall the name.

So, how do you become the first counselor, interior designer or eye doctor people think of in your area?

6 ways to build brand awareness for your business

#1. Start with a solid foundation

Before you start promoting your brand, make sure you have a strong foundation in place. This includes having a well-defined brand identity, such as a professional logo and consistent branding across all of your marketing materials.

Your small business website is also key to building brand awareness. It should be visually appealing, easy to navigate and informative. Be sure to include your brand name, logo and contact information on every page.

If you don't have the time or resources to design and develop a website yourself, you can use a web builder, like Websites 360®, to create a professional-looking site in just a few hours.

#2. Get involved in your community

One of the best ways to build brand awareness is to get involved in your local community. This could mean sponsoring a Little League team, exhibiting at a trade show or participating in a charity event.

When you're active in your community, people will start to associate your business with positive experiences and begin to recognize your brand.

Another great way to get involved in your community is to partner with other local businesses. This could be something as simple as offering a discount to customers who show their receipt from another business.

For example, if you own a yoga studio, you could offer a free week of classes to customers who show their receipt from a nearby health food store.

Not only will this help you build brand awareness, but it will also help you develop relationships with other local businesses.

There are many other ways to get involved in your community. The key is to find something that fits well with your business and target audience.

#3. Use social media

Social media is a fantastic place to connect with your target audience and build brand awareness. But it's important to use it in the right way.

First, you need to identify which social media platforms your target audience is using. Then, you need to create content that appeals to them.

For example, if you're targeting millennials, you might want to use Snapchat or Instagram. If you're targeting baby boomers, Facebook might be a better option.

Once you've identified the right platform, it's important to create content that is interesting and engaging. This could include blog posts, infographics, images or even video content.

Be sure to post regularly and interact with your followers to encourage engagement. If you're not sure where to start, there are plenty of social media tools, like Hootsuite, that can help you get started.

Building brand awareness on social media takes time and effort, but it's a great way to connect with your target audience.

#4. Take advantage of email marketing

Email marketing is an effective tool for staying top of mind with your leads and customers. And, there are many things you can do to build a more effective email campaign.

First, you need to build a list of subscribers. You can do this by adding an opt-in form to your website or blog, or by running a contest or giveaway.

Once you have a list of subscribers, you need to create email content that is interesting and engaging. This could include blog posts, coupon codes, images or even video content.

Be sure to segment your list so you're sending the most relevant information to each group of subscribers. And, don't forget to include a call-to-action in every email to encourage your subscribers to take action.

Email marketing is a great way to build brand awareness and connect with your target audience.

#5. Focus on your customer service

Your customers are the lifeblood of your business. So, it's important to focus on providing excellent customer service.

There are many things you can do to improve your customer service, but one of the most important is to simply be available when your customers need you.

This could mean having a live chat on your website, or offering customer support over the phone.

No matter how you do it, be sure to provide a high level of customer service. This will help create a positive association with your brand and encourage customers to come back in the future.

Customer service is an important part of any business, but it's especially important for small businesses.

#6. Build a strong reputation

Your reputation is everything. And, as a small business, it's important to build a strong reputation from the start.

Not only should you focus on delivering on your promises and providing a next-level customer experience, but you should also focus on getting five-star reviews.

Encourage your customers to leave reviews on popular review sites, like Google and Yelp. The more five-star reviews you have, the more likely people are to trust your business.

Plus, the more reviews you have and the higher your average star rating, the more visible your business will be in the local search results.

Building a strong reputation takes time, but it's well worth the effort.

Building brand awareness is an important part of any business, but it's especially important for small businesses.

Start by creating a modern, professional website for your business with Websites 360. Get started.

Originally published on 5/19/22