By Melissa Matson, Chief Brand Architect & Founder of EMBR Brand Agency.
So let’s just get one thing straight.
Visibility is not just a game for the marketeers.
It’s not just about the channels you use to get your message out there.
It’s not just about getting high engagement rates.
It’s not just about becoming the next viral sensation and getting as many eyes as possible on your business.
It’s about building a cohesive brand visibility strategy that increases brand awareness, whilst at the same time, maintaining brand integrity as it grows.
What is Brand Visibility?
Brand visibility is being seen by the right audience and the impression that the right audience has when they interact with your brand. It’s what they think. It’s how they feel. It’s the way they compare your brand to others and the impact that has on any future buying decisions.
They will subconsciously decide whether your brand is credible, or not. An authority, or not. A brand they want to know more about, or not.
Therefore, getting your visibility strategy right is just as important from the perspective of a brand custodian as it is from the point of view of any marketeer.
Visibility is more than just being seen by your audience. It’s about making a connection, sharing your story, delivering your message and creating a unique experience that evokes an emotional response.
Being seen by your audience doesn’t automatically mean that they will buy from you. Far from it. In order to make a purchasing decision, your audience actually has to feel something. Your brand communication has to evoke an emotion in order to galvanise action.
And this is basic neuroscience.
As humans, a huge part of our decision making process is carried out at a deeper subconscious level. So no matter how many times your audience sees your brand out there, if they don’t feel anything towards it, they’re never going to buy from you.
This is where your brand comes in.
In order to be noticed by your audience you need three things:
- An Engaging Brand Experience
A memorable brand experience is a remarkable one. Churning out the same predictable boring content as everyone else in your industry just ain’t going to cut it. You’ve got to create audience-brand interactions that are exciting, intriguing. informative or at the very least different to others if you’re going to stand out from the crowd.
Remarkability is a key component for brand visibility.
Original creativity and story-telling will be your competitive advantage, so lean into what makes you unique and invest you energies there.
Think about how you want your audience to feel when they interact with you and your business, then create powerful experiences that help them get to that place.
- Human Connection
As humans we have a desire for connection. Brands that prioritise building this connection with their audience, digging deep into what makes them tick and communicating in a way that makes their audience feel heard and understood, are the ones that will triumph in the visibility game.
If you want increased visibility and engagement, create in a way that prioritises real human connection with your audience.
Show them the persona behind the brand and show them that you really care. Whether you’re a product or service based business, brand engagement and loyalty will increase if your audience feels personally connected to you.
And remember, emotion is the biggest purchase driver so a powerful brand strategy that prioritises human connection really is a non-negotiable.
- Consistency and Recognition
Brand visibility and the impact it has on brand awareness is not all created equal.
Your audience’s brand recognition will not be as strong the first time they see your brand as it will be the 7th or 20th time.
Therefore consistency and repetition are key.
Consistently repeating the same visual identity elements of your branding such as logo, colour palette, imagery and fonts (preferably having a solid set of brand guidelines in place), makes it more likely that your audience, when they do interact with your brand, recognise and associate it with what you do.
Likewise, a consistent tone of voice and brand personality will also support the feeling of familiarity, resulting in a more powerful brand impression when visibility is achieved.
The more familiar a brand is to someone, the more likely they are to purchase from you as a trusted authority in your space.
Summary
Getting visibility for your business is essential for growth, but it’s not just a role for the marketeers.
It’s our responsibility as brand owners is to continue to have a seat at the table, long after the brand strategy and guidelines have been issued.
Business visibility should be a collaborative venture between the brand custodians and marketing experts.
A collaborative approach will put the consumer at the heart of any visibility strategy, making it easier to convert the right audience into actual paying clients and customers. A win-win situation all round right?
