As a business, brand awareness is critical to influencing customer purchasing decisions. In a past report by the Content Marketing Institute, 77 percent of marketing leaders agreed that a strong brand is paramount to their growth plans. In fact, 89 percent of marketers say brand awareness is their main goal. Others insist that consistency across branding channels can boost your profits by as much as 23 percent. However, it is not enough to spend time and resources creating an ideal brand for your business if you want it to be successful. Instead, businesses must make a conscious effort to continuously promote and cultivate brand awareness amongst their key markets. Whether it is working to garner more attention for your rebranded website or investing in branded marketing materials, making moves to promote your brand identity gets the word out about your customers and increases your business’ playing field.
Re-evaluate Your Social Media And Website Designs To Complement Each Other
Your business website and social media accounts are two of the most powerful brand identity tools today. In an age when everyone is online, brand identity is no longer just about stamping a logo and catchy tagline on your business. Around 70 to 80 percent of consumers will visit a business’ website before making a purchase or heading in-store. Younger consumers also search for businesses on social media as research before buying, or after hearing a recommendation.
With these two factors being front and center in the consumer impression process, getting your branding right on them both is important – and they should complement not compete with each other. Think of them as a continuation of your logo design. Carry on the choices of brand colors, tone, and even the font used in offline materials like your printed logo. Link your social media account to the features on your website. You want visitors to instantly recognize your brand. A strong and continual brand profile helps this. Also, ensure your website is easy to navigate and mobile-friendly. Ignoring this could prevent you from getting traffic, and lower the potential for brand awareness.
Synchronize Your Brand’s Visual On All Touchpoints And Merchandise
In any marketing campaign, consistency is key. It makes your brand identity stronger, and ensures that your brand becomes easily recognizable. In other words, consistency in branding efforts builds on brand awareness. A good way to begin doing this is by creating branding merchandise with a consistent branding design.
If you haven’t yet, it is time to design a distinctive brand logo that represents the core message and tone you want your brand to evoke. Good brand logo software such as Summit Soft or Canva can help you get started. To spread the word, add your brand logo, colors and watermarks to any communications or business marketing materials you use. With the help of a heat press, you can easily (and cheaply) print promotional materials to spread your brand’s name, such as T-shirts, employee uniforms, and customer keepsakes like mugs or tote bags. Graphic imprinting devices are now a business staple, and many companies now include one in their inventory. Again, be sure to narrow down your brand visuals such as brand color, logo, and other visuals to ensure consistency across all materials you choose to produce.
Pick Active Influencers To Align With Your Brand Market
Influencer marketing is a hot marketing trend for 2021, and is expected to continue its rise in years to come. However, working with social media and celebrity influencers is not just about attracting attention and converting traffic into sales; it can be the perfect platform to further strengthen your brand identity. To do this, work with credible and active influencers on platforms that apply to your brand and target market. This is a key mistake many brands make when trialing influencer marketing.
If you’re targeting teenage consumers (generation Z), one in three of them get their news content from social media. Also, 85 percent use social media to learn about new products on the market, and flock toward video content platforms like YouTube and TikTok. This gives great insight into where to start with your influencer marketing initiative. Businesses should also be careful to work with influencers who align well with their brand. This includes the brand mission and values that are promoted in the brand identity you’re building. Customers may not be aware of your branding, but know and trust the influencers you work with. By extension, their values become your brand’s during your collaboration.
When it comes to brand identity, there is no cookie-cutter way of doing things. Consumers want brands to have a personality. Feel free to adjust these to suit your own business, its industry, and your goals. However, whether you are a new startup or a seasoned pro in the business world, the combination of these will get your brand noticed – with you controlling the narrative.
