For your small business to succeed and drive sales it is critical that you raise brand awareness among your target market. To do so you must understand the different channels through which you can communicate your brand message to your target audience and which of these channels they actually use. Often certain messages are appropriate on some channels but not on others. This could be a photo which would be suitable for Instagram for example but we will come back to building your brand on social media in a later post.
Before looking at how you can communicate your brand you must identify the goals for awareness of your brand. Once this is decided you will have to decide on the budget which will depend on the nature of your business and size of your target market. Once these have been identified you can decide on the channels in which to use to communicate your brand.
- Advertising – This can be local, national or international through magazines, newspapers, directories or broadcast media such as radio or TV.
- Direct Mail – You can mail your target audience either by post or through email.
- Public Relations – Examples of this can be through blogs, sending press releases to relevant publications or journalists.
- Sponsorship – Sponsoring sports clubs or teams, charitable events, or a TV or radio programme can be a great way of reaching your target audience.
- Events – Events held by your company either on site or at another venue can build brand awareness. These events could be seminars, conferences, or expos.
- Promotional items – Having branded items can also build brand awareness such as pens or USB sticks.
- Search Engine – Your business can use Google AdWords in order to help build your online presence. Most people use the internet to find a local business which is where Google AdWords will come in handy as you can use keywords in order to show your ads when relevant terms are searched for.
- Cold Calling – Another way of communicating your brand message is through telesales or cold calling potential customers.
Identifying and establishing your businesses values will help you in building brand awareness. Your messages will be more consistent across different channels if clear values are set and all employees are informed of these values. Our guide to building your brand can help you understand brand identity and how to establish your brand values.
