Calling all small business owners! Have you recently launched a startup and aren’t sure how to gain customers? Or are you an established company but find you’re having difficulty getting attention? Whichever category you fall in, spreading brand awareness is essential for attracting customers and ultimately, boost your profits and margins.
Competing against large corporations with multi-million dollarmarketing budgets with limited resources, is a challenge. Not to worry! Here are some effective strategies for boosting brand awareness that won’t break the bank.
Take to Social Media
Arguably one of the best marketing tactics for boosting brand awareness is using social media. In 2022, just about every business has a social media presence. Consider how many individuals have accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Businesses can reach more potential customers by utilizing social media. This can be done by creating business accounts and pages that show what the business offers.
The great thing about social media is you don’t have to spend a cent to get noticed. Once your page is up and running and you know your target audience, you can start creating content, sending out invitations, and ultimately, getting your voice heard. We don’t expect you to sit behind your desk all day monitoring your social media feeds. Instead, have a team in place to take over proceedings. You can use data analytics to track who is visiting your pages, the time of day or night they do so, and what content is gaining the most traction.
Create Merchandise
If you’ve got a killer company logo, why not show it off? Sure, it may be housed on your website and social media pages, but you may want to go one step further and create your own merchandise. After all, what better way to showcase your brand than by customers flaunting your products when they’re out and about? If you operate in-person, something as simple as putting your business logo on pens and coffee mugs will boost brand awareness significantly (provided customers take them home!).
You can also look into getting personalized t-shirts printed to pop your logo on. Bolt Printing can help you with this. They provide fast t-shirt printing services that can be delivered directly to your business within days. If you want to outfit your team with a uniform, they offer custom t-shirt wholesale services too, meaning if you buy in bulk, you could save tons of money!
Attend a Networking Event
There is a reason why networking events are so popular. Take a look to see if any are taking place in your area. If there are, you should consider attending so that you can mingle with others in your industry. Networking events serve as brilliant opportunities to converse with like-minded individuals, and, most importantly, make long-lasting connections.
You never know, you could end up attending a networking eventand secure a new client! Before you venture to one, it’s wise to get some business cards printed. As you engage with others in your field, you can hand over a business card so your company sticks in their mind. Just make sure you display your contact details clearly and links to your social media pages. Also, dress the part! Don’t show up in a pair of slacks. Instead, present yourself professionally so you’re taken seriously.
Launch a Blog
Do you enjoy writing? If the answer is yes, setting up a blog is a no-brainer. You can use your blog to write about the latest goings on in your business, as well as have tutorials, reviews and guides on your products or services. While most customers will check out your social media channel and website first, they’ll be impressed if you’ve got a blog in place, too. Creating digital content is a modern way to boost brand awareness. You can do this in-house, or you can look to outsource to relevant experts. You may find it best to do a bit of both to save time and money.
For your blog to gain traction, make sure you’re delivering relevant content. To keep readers hooked, it’s wise to break up text with images and video. Make sure to regularly update your blog, too. If you let things slide, readers won’t stick around! To get your blog out there, consider guest posting. This involves you reaching out to other bloggers in your field and offering to write a post for them. In return, they will house a link to your blog. If you go down this route, you’ll gain a following before you know it!
Revamp Your Website
It’s time to take a look at your business website. Are you entirely happy with the layout? If the answer is no, a revamp may be in order. When potential customers and clients check out your page, you’ll want them to be wowed from the onset. Your business website needs to portray your brand in a positive light. For this to happen, it’s vital your website is easy to navigate. When you consider how many people use their smartphones to surf the web, your page must be optimized accordingly.
You don’t have to be a web design expert to give your website a fresh look. A few minor changes can yield brilliant results. It may be wise to hire a specialist to take a look at your page. They can give advice on how to improve readability and get more people flocking to your page. Having a good grasp of SEO (search engine optimization) is key. Using the right SEO strategies will rank your website higher on search engine results.
Use Email Marketing
Whether you want to bring in new customers or keep hold of your existing audience, email marketing is a must. All your customers will have an email address, so use this to your advantage! You should be sending out newsletters and updates about your brand that customers can check out. To avoid your content going straight into their trash can, pay attention to how your emails look.
For starters, it’s a good idea to address the customer by name. This is what will make them take notice. Also, be careful of how many emails you send out. You may think you’re doing a good thing sending update after update. But customers can quickly get turned off by this and end up unsubscribing from your newsletter! Make sure the subject line captivates your audience too. You’ll want them to be intrigued enough to click on the email, rather than sending it off to the junk folder within seconds.
It’s simple. The more people who are aware of your brand and offerings, the more success you’ll have. Regardless of what sector of business you’re in, there will always be competitors fighting for the same customers. To get noticed and ahead of rivals, there are plenty of tactics you can try out today that will get your brand recognized by the masses and hopefully, translate interest into sales.
You don’t need an expensive budget to make this happen. As long as you know what actions to take and have the time, resources, and motivation to do it, you can quickly start your journey to boosting brand awareness and keeping your small business operation in check.
