Brand awareness means “the extent to which consumers are familiar with the qualities or image of a particular brand of goods or services.” Occasionally, a brand will become so well known that they will replace the generic terms used for similar products, for example, Coca-Cola. However, this is not as easy as it looks. Nevertheless, there are many ways you can boost your brand’s image and increase a consumer’s brand awareness. Here are a few:

Website domain and social media handles

One way of cementing your brand and making it memorable for a potential consumer is by having a short and interesting website domain. It will make your website’s name easily memorable because, after all, convenience is key. You can then extend this to any social media platforms you might use. Ensure that these names are consistent, or at least similar so that your consumers can easily find your business, and this will also look uniform in any marketing campaigns you might run.

By having a consistent website name and social media handles, your business card, for example, can look neat and uniform and this can help your consumers spread your brand name through word of mouth and look up any related websites and events as a result.

Social media styles and image

Having a consistent style online can make your brand look aesthetically attractive and uniform. Think of the Instagram pages you’ve seen where there is a clear theme, and every photo is well curated and fits the whole theme, whether this is color or style. You can do a similar thing for your online profiles. For example, when posting on Twitter, use images with your company’s logo and a distinct color scheme. A picture speaks a thousand words, and you may not even have to use all of the character limits. You can use this space to link to your website and any offers, blog posts and so on instead.

Another way to increase brand awareness and produce a consistent image is through infographics. These are bright and colorful images that display interesting data, charts and any statistics that are relevant to your business and that your consumers may find interesting. Photos are more likely to get shared online than posts with longer words, so this may be a great tool to increase your following, building your brand and social reach.

Another way is by encouraging your existing followers and potential consumers to engage and interact with your content. It can be through running social media contests, giveaways and polls that allow people to vote, comment and like as well as tag anyone else who may be interested. This will ensure that your links and photos are shared widely with friends and families and increase potential click-throughs to your website and social media pages.

It is best to choose the social media platform that will maximize your reach but also fits with your particular line of business. Spreading yourself thin across multiple social media channels will just give more work to you and may be less effective and placing most of your energy on only a handful of platforms. It can be as simple as differentiating whether you want to focus more on sharing images, which means that Instagram and Pinterest may suit you best, or written content, which means Twitter and potentially Facebook may be best. Know where your audiences are likely to be and perhaps, make your decision this way.

Paid social posts, PPC and how to fund them

Another way to garner customers is through PPC and social media ads. PPC stands for paid per click and with SEO becoming increasingly competitive every day, PPC may be a smart solution for your brand to make its mark on Google. Using targeted keyword searches, you can pay for your business’s website to appear on top of Google searches, and even if customers do not click on the link, simply seeing the brand’s name have been shown to make an impression and can be one way to build brand awareness.

Paying for PPC may seem daunting, but you can find different ways to raise funds. It can be through crowdfunding, sponsorships, and loans. Even if you do not have a good credit rating, there are still possibilities for you to apply for loans and you can find out more information about this through this helpful website.

Similarly, paid social advertising is becoming an increasingly popular choice for marketing on social media. It includes investing in Twitter and Facebook ads and may be a relatively cheaper way of getting your brand seen on social media. Paid social advertising helps you target a specific audience and may help increase click-throughs to your website and promotions you may have. As with social media posts, ensure that your image branding remains consistent, perhaps add your logo, so when potential customers see these ads, they will know who exactly this brand is.

Guest posts and partnerships

Lastly, you may even invite external guests to write guest posts and articles for your website. Not only will this ensure consistent content on your website and build alliances with other organizations, but publishing guest posts may make lasting impressions on potential consumers and can introduce new audiences to your website.

Why not turn to your local area and collaborate with other organizations? Partnering with local businesses can also help you attract new customers and can help you get involved in local events such as producing pop-up stalls, conferences, seminars, and festivals that can open new avenues for marketing and collaboration.

Likewise, your local area may have magazine and news publications that can help advertise any events, offers, and promotions that your brand has – reach out to these organizations. Making these contacts may prove useful in the long run and can help you reach wider and new audiences you may otherwise never reach.

Make sure that the techniques you implement complement your area of business and that you are constantly learning about new ways to make your brand known and adapting existing marketing styles accordingly. With these different ways of making sure your brand reaches as many of your audience (and potential new consumers), you can ensure that your brand’s name is known not only online but in your local area.