Developing brand awareness should be an integral part of any businesses’ marketing strategy. The more familiar people are with a brand, the more they trust it, and ultimately the more likely they are to buy its products or use its services.
Here, James Bosley, marketing manager at Esendex, discusses some of the most effective strategies businesses can implement to build brand awareness.
Blog content
Blogging is one of the simplest yet most effective ways for companies to maintain and develop their brand awareness online. You should look to write articles that will interest your audience while showcasing your expertise on a particular topic. For starters, try to think about the kind of questions your target audience may be asking about a particular topic and then write a blog article that answers these questions. Not only will this help to increase traffic to your website by people reading your blog to find out the answers to their questions, it will also help to establish your business as a go-to place for industry news and updates.
The key to writing good blog content is to ensure that you are adding value to your reader, whether that be by offering advice on a topic or simply discussing the latest research related to your industry. There’s also the option of introducing tutorials, infographics, interviews and even whitepapers to your blog, which can further help to showcase your authority on a topic.
Creating a calendar of events to hook marketing efforts into
From awareness days to large-scale events in the sporting, music and fashion industry, there are an almost endless amount of marketing opportunities for businesses to take advantage of. Tying your marketing campaigns into major events (or even smaller industry-specific events) is a great way to capture the attention of your audience who are more likely to engage with content they can relate to or are passionate about.
For example, this summer was a brilliant opportunity for companies to take advantage of the buzz which was created around Euro 2020 and the Olympics. Try to think about the kind of events your target audience are interested in and begin building a calendar with all of these on. This will allow you to start identifying some of the best marketing opportunities for your business not just over the course of the next month but also for the upcoming year. Many of these events will take place annually too, meaning once you’ve hooked onto it once you’ll have a framework to build on for next time.
With occasions such as Halloween and Bonfire Night coming up over the course of the next few months, now is the time to start thinking about any seasonal marketing opportunities you can explore.
Speaking at events
While the pandemic put a temporary pause on in-person events, as we begin to return to a ‘new normal’ there are a growing number of opportunities for businesses to interact and engage with new audiences and customers. In most industries, there are regular webinars and conferences that you can attend and be a guest speaker at. Speaking at these events help to showcase the expertise you have to a wider audience and also boost the visibility of your company.
Every year we host Esendex Live where businesses come together to discuss how they can improve their communication strategies. Although signing up for public speaking opportunities can seem daunting at first, it’s a brilliant way to get in front of potential customers and impress them with your in-depth knowledge.
PR
Another really effective way of building brand awareness is through PR, and many businesses are sitting on stories the press would love to cover! It’s important to remember that your news doesn’t have to be aimed at top tier national publications such as The Times or Daily Mail. Simple updates such as new hires, client wins or office expansions will often be of interest to trade publications or local newspapers. Contact details for journalists are usually available online and a quick search of a news publication’s website will often give you an idea if the story you have will be of interest. Journalists are extremely busy, so if you don’t get a response when you email them the first time don’t be afraid to drop them a follow-up email – persistence is often the key…just don’t overdo it!
SEO (search engine optimisation)
Although SEO has always played an important role in building a brand’s awareness, over the years its implementation has changed greatly. Gone are the days where businesses could flood their website’s landing pages with their brand name and top keywords to achieve a high ranking in the SERPs (search engine results pages). Having said this, the premise remains the same; implementing an effective SEO strategy will give your website the best chance of ranking higher than your competitors when consumers search for relevant terms related to your business. There are a number of elements which should make up an SEO strategy; these include backlink acquisition, keyword optimisation, local SEO and blogging.
PPC (pay-per-click)
On top of maximising the potential of organic search through SEO strategies, businesses should also be aware of the power of PPC advertising. Essentially, you can attempt to buy visits to your site rather than ‘earning’ them through organic visits. PPC works by companies bidding for an ad placement in a search engine’s sponsored links section when someone searches for a keyword related to their business. Every time the ad is clicked, the business has to pay the search engine a fee. Although this may seem like a costly strategy, if you have created an effective PPC campaign the visits will end up being worth far more than the price you pay for it. In addition to this, even if users don’t click on your PPC ad, seeing your name at the top of the search results helps you to build authority and brand awareness.
