Have you ever heard people refer to themselves as “Nike people,” or “Apple people”? This is exactly what brand awareness can do for a brand: embed it into consumer lifestyles and purchase habits so that they never have to think twice before becoming a customer – time and time again.
Brand awareness is, thus, often seen as the first stage of the marketing funnel. By creating brand awareness, you can cast a wide net across your audience of potential buyers. Our easy-to-follow insider tips and tricks will help you better understand brand awareness, establish it among your audience, and leave an imprint.
Ready to catch some customers’ hearts?
What Is Online Brand Awareness?
When you need a tissue, do you ask for a tissue or a Kleenex? What about when you cut yourself? Do you look for a plastic bandage or a Band-Aid? These are proprietary eponyms, and they’re the apex of brand awareness. These brands have become so well-known, they’ve replaced the generic terms for those products. For a brand to become a proprietary eponym is pretty much the pinnacle of brand awareness.
Still, in the digital world, it can be extremely challenging to stick out as a brand. Don’t give up yet! There might be a few stones you have left unturned, like leveraging HARO Services to get exposure. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves – first things first. What are we talking about here?
Brand awareness is how consumers recognize and remember your business. Raising brand awareness is the process of building a strong online presence by creating content that attracts attention and builds trust among consumers. The greater the brand awareness you have – the more audiences will be familiar with your logo, messaging, and products.
So, today, we’re going to equip you to do just that.
The Importance of Online Brand Awareness
Brand awareness tells people who you are and what you stand for. It helps them understand why they should care about your business and what makes you stand out from the crowd. Think about it. Since customers already recognize your brand, they will be more likely to buy from you than an unfamiliar competitor.
In a world where consumers rely on other people’s opinions before making a purchase – trustworthiness is everything. Once a consumer bonds to your brand, they’re more likely to repeat purchases with little to no forethought, bridging the gap between trust and loyalty.
Brand awareness fosters trust. Trust leads to conversions and revenue.
Useful Insider Tips for Raising Online Brand Awareness in 2024
Having a brand is not enough. To make it convert, you must strengthen its associations in the minds of your target audience. The more familiar people are with something – the more they trust and gravitate to it. It’s psychology 101.
While there’s no quick fix for becoming a household name, here are some top insider strategies and tips for raising online brand awareness to help you launch (and continue) your efforts and make your brand memorable in 2024.
Use HARO Services
Following the cold-call methods, you may spend weeks or months pitching to people who will never even respond, in hopes of raising brand awareness. This can be slow and frustrating, with very little reward. Surely there’s an alternative, right? Luckily, there is.
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an “I scratch your back – you scratch mine” kind of online service. HARO pairs journalists looking for expert insights, research data, and opinions with people or businesses that can provide it. In return for your industry insight, you get a featured spot on industry-specific publications and have the potential to gain high-authority backlinks to your website.
How does HARO Work?
By using HARO services, the journalists get their expert, while the experts gain exposure. Aside from the recognition and credibility it provides your brand with, it will also boost your website’s SEO, as you receive backlinks from authoritative news sites. It’s the crème de la crème of raising brand awareness.
Here are some of the many potential benefits of using HARO:
- Gaining visibility in the industry
- Reaching your target market
- Driving traffic to your website
- Getting found by those searching for your product or service
- Branding yourself as an industry expert
- Developing relationships with journalists, bloggers…
- Receiving free publicity
- Making your content research and creation easier
- Connecting with prospective collaborators
Since you’re competing against many other industry experts, if you want to land the link – you need a pitch that will stand out. So, for the best results, you’ll want someone with experience in your corner. That’s where Play Media’s HARO Services come in.
Leverage Referral Programs and Freebies
Looking to spread awareness of your brand is not the time to be asking people to pay up. Instead, how about giving them a taste of what you have to offer? One way to raise online brand awareness is through old-fashioned word-of-mouth. Let your loyal customers be your best advocates. Users will gladly spread the word of your product or service when they know they’ll get something in return.
So, offer a perk for every friend they refer. Giving people a taste of what you have to offer without the commitment of payment, like free samples or freemiums is the ultimate brand-building and awareness-raising hack.
Guest Blogging
Looking to increase online brand awareness with minimal effort? Play smart. Leverage the traffic that’s already arriving at another website to get more eyes on your brand. However, run-of-the-mill content won’t cut it – you need to be guest publishing high-quality stuff. Create memorable, valuable content and you’ll be introduced to new audiences and make a lasting impression that will pique interest.
Partner Up Smart
Big-name brands have worked hard to achieve the level of loyalty and trust that makes them recognizable and successful. Why not use their strong trust signals to raise awareness about your own brand? Ensure you partner up the right counterpart – a brand that offers a product or service complementary to your own. This way, consumers will start to associate your brand with a well-known one and be more likely to view your brand in a favorable light.
Harness the Power of Social Media
An important stop on the online brand awareness-raising train comes from social media. Are you creating content that’s worthy of sending to a friend? Maybe even tagging them? It all comes down to creating high-quality content that triggers an emotional response and adds value to a follower’s life so that they wouldn’t want to keep it to themselves.
Not enough? Run a social media contest or a giveaway! By asking your followers to tag, share, or re-post your content in exchange for a chance to win a prize, they provide you with organic exposure and brand awareness.
Make Your Brand Memorable
Building brand awareness doesn’t have to be as daunting as it might seem. Use our insider tips for raising online brand awareness in 2024 and remember that building brand awareness isn’t a “one and done.” Don’t depend on quick fixes, never take your foot off the pedal, and keep testing new strategies to see what makes the biggest impact and wins over the audience’s hearts.
And remember – your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touchpoints. Authenticity is powerful. Be personal. Connect with people, tell a story and make it shareable.
Everybody will talk about your brand in no time!
