Brand awareness isn’t something businesses can ignore.

We know, we know – it can feel like there are a million and one things to do without us popping up to add more marketing strategy tips to your list! That said, though, brand awareness really is a marketing essential and we’ve got a bet on that we’ll have you convinced by the end of today’s post.

So, what is brand awareness? 🤔🤔🤔

Essentially, brand awareness is about making sure potential customers know that your brand exists. It’s the foundation of all your future marketing strategies, because clients can’t decide to buy from you without having at least some knowledge of your brand. Think of it as the very start of your marketing funnel: the first step in helping new customers decide to engage with your business. In short, brand awareness is about helping your target customers recognise and remember your brand.

Brand awareness will help you increase market share

Let’s start with the biggy: brand awareness lets you corner more of your target market. We love thinking of the example of searching for running shoes. As Nike, would you rather your customers Googled “comfortable running shoes” or “Nike running shoes”? 

Of course, you’d rather your brand was synonymous in their minds with what you offer. Brand awareness can help you position your business as a customer’s go-to for their current problem. By creating campaigns that emphasise again and again what needs your brand meets, you can help customers associate you with tackling those issues even on a subconscious level.

Brand awareness can help you improve brand perception

Let’s imagine you are a budget hotel brand. You survey your customers and discover that over the years, your brand has become viewed as a cheap, no-frills option that they use as a last resort. Not the most appealing prospect as a brand, is it?

Enter brand awareness to save the day! Yes, you can use brand awareness campaigns to not only help customers hear about you for the first time, but also to improve the way they regard your brand. You might decide to partner with travel influencers to bring in a younger audience. Perhaps you could create a series of campaigns that explain everything you do for the environment. Maybe you launch a campaign which highlights your recent refurbishments and rebrand, poking fun at your previous reputation.

These are all examples of using brand awareness to bolster your brand perception, and there are plenty of brands who have done this successfully! Just think of McDonald’s before its 2010s healthy options campaigns, Starbucks before its “third place” repositioning, or Spotify before it became a tastemaker.

If they can do it - so can you. 

You can use brand awareness to create customer trust

Brand awareness isn’t just about making sure people know about your business; it’s about ensuring they trust it, too. Just because we can recognise a brand doesn’t mean that we see it as reliable, morally sound, or authentic. This is why brand awareness campaigns should also focus on customers who know your brand already, as well as those who don’t. You could create campaigns on your company’s values, on your dependable service, or the human side of your business to help build customer trust and loyalty.

Brand awareness helps bring sales in faster

Successful brand awareness campaigns save time. Think about it: without a solid awareness of and respect for your brand, every sale would be slower due to a period of brand education and trust building for every new client. Instead, creating brand awareness campaigns that focus on creating brand recognition and trust will speed things up as clients are open, receptive, and warmer when they come to purchase. 

Customers can become advocates for your business

Best of all, brand awareness over time turns people into your brand ambassadors. If you’ve successfully implemented yourselves as the best at what you do in your market, your customers will naturally start to recommend you in conversations with their peers.

Word-of-mouth marketing is huge; one study found that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over any other form of marketing.

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So, there you have it. My compelling arguments for the importance of Brand Awareness. 

Convinced? 

If you’ve got any burning questions about this topic, drop me a line on LinkedIn.‍

#marketingadvice #brandawareness #tips

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