When you own a small business, the path to success is paved with brand awareness, as it’s crucial that customers know your brand in order for your business to thrive! This should be the primary goal in your marketing strategy – your business needs to get out there and be known by potential customers, so they can start showering it with the attention and love it deserves.
Brand awareness focuses on the core essence of your business – you have to show its value in order to earn loyalty and respect from your audience. Plus, if you build your brand awareness just right, you’ll also be able to improve customer retention! Let’s get started with five simple steps.
1. Be present on social media
You can’t ignore the power of social media networks – they have a huge influence over your audience! Make sure you go where your consumers go, and build a solid social media presence, so those consumers can easily go from their feed to your business page. Start by choosing the best social media platform to feature on, based on your business industry and target audience, and then build brand awareness through regular and interesting content to attract readers – who might become followers, and then customers. You can also maintain a strong social media presence by adding a human touch to your brand – through comments, likes and image-sharing.
2. Be consistent throughout customer experience
One of the most important pillars in a business-customer relationship is trust – which can lead to priceless loyalty – so be consistent throughout the whole journey of every single customer’s experience! Customers have high expectations that need to be met when they hand over their payment details, and it’s essential that you deliver a consistent level of value throughout that process, regardless of where it takes place (online or in person). Omni-channel payment processing solutions can help you build brand awareness through customer experience by simplifying the checkout process with different payment options; plus providing you with real-time data so you can resolve issues as they occur and deliver excellent customer service. Happy customer, happy business!
3. Be adaptable to your audience
No business can build brand awareness without engaging with their audience. According to the State of the Connected Customer report from Salesforce, 66% of consumers are likely to change brands if they feel they’re being treated like numbers, instead of individuals. That’s why it’s so important to understand who your potential customers are in order to know exactly how to attract their precious attention. Your business, however small, should always be flexible and adaptable to customers. Start by segmenting your audience based on demographics and interests, to then personalize communications accordingly. From segmented email campaigns to interest-focused content marketing, one of the ways you can build brand awareness is by delivering the personalized experience your audience wants.
Building brand awareness for your small business can be done in different ways, you just have to find the right strategy. But as long as you know your audience like the palm of your hand, keep your customers satisfied, and spread the word through high quality and personalized communications, your business will be just fine.
Joana Teixeira is a former journalist, now writer and digital marketing enthusiast. Born and raised by the sea, was brought up in Portugal and is now living in London, the melting pot of Europe.