If no one knows your product or service exists, it matters not how exceptional or useful it is. Every business needs to focus some of their energy on increasing brand awareness. This is done in various ways, but one of the primary ways to achieve it is through carefully planned marketing efforts.
Before you embark on implementing a plan, you must first identify the target market. Better results and increased revenues are realized when the advertising is aimed at people who are likely to buy your product or service. One of the biggest mistakes many businesses make is not identifying their target market.
A brand awareness marketing strategy is a task that is ongoing. It is not for the impatient business owner because it takes time. A well rounded plan is the best marketing approach. This means not limiting your marketing efforts to only one type of ad campaign. Here are a few ideas for increasing brand awareness:
* Social media marketing
* Google AdWords
* Article marketing
* Media ads
* Billboards
* Email marketing
* Direct mail campaigns
* Promotional products
The methods that work best depend largely on the type of business. The competition is another factor that must be contended with. It requires some creative endeavor to go up against a popular competitor who already holds a high percentage of the market share. It is important to implement memorable brand graphics and labeling so that over time, seeing it is automatically associated with your brand or product.
Not every method of marketing is best for every business. When getting the information out there to promote your brand, it is not just the exposure that accomplishes this. What is in the content being circulated is also important. Otherwise it won’t catch the attention of your prospective buyers.
Increasing brand awareness does take both money and time, but it is essential if your product or service is to stand out among the competition and make the business profitable. There are businesses solely dedicated to providing this service, and many companies find it invaluable in their marketing strategy when it comes to return on investment.
Today I wanted to start off with a very controversial topic, the difference between clients and consumers. First and foremost there is a difference, and the difference lies in their definition:
• Client -a person or organization taking advice from a solicitor, accountant, or other professional person
• Consumer-somebody or something that consumes something by eating it, drinking it, or using it up
I am going to stretch the definition of client a bit and say that your business is a professional establishment, you have liability and people come to you for a good or service…to me that makes them your client. It doesn’t matter what the product or service is, you are a professional entity ( it says so on your business license)…so you have clients. Consumers on the other hand do just that; they take, they consume and use whatever it is completely…in short they give nothing back. So given the choice between the two options would you rather sell to clients or to consumers?
This is important because your marketing strategy sets you up to sell to either, it matters most specifically where you get your customers from , and what the pricing strategy is for your product or service. A consumer will look for the one time sale at the lowest price, they only want to take. They do not see the value in your brand or your business and want to leave you with the least amount of money that they can and only return if you can provide that again and again, in short there is no loyalty. On the alternative side of the coin there are clients, and clients come back to a professional and value their advice or product, they give relative the value they are getting from the service ( when is the last time you saw the cheapest solicitor…and only saw them once), that makes you a client.
As you move forward in your business and set your policies you have to ask yourself whether you are attracting consumers or clients with your efforts, and if the answer is consumers then you had best change the direction and strategy of your product…placement because as noted in the definition they will leave nothing behind for you to sustain yourself on, they will consume you. On the flip side clients will give relative to your worth, they will reciprocate in the relationship and will make you a better company through their interaction.
