Before I jump into the main topic at hand, I wanted to get a little personal and touch on how/why I haven’t had a chance to post something in a while. Back in March, I attended my cousin’s wedding in NYC. It was a lovely wedding. A picture of the happy couple below <3.
In the process I decided to straighten my hair at Drybar.
I have been stalking Drybar for a few years now, because I love love love their branding. Being in the US was the perfect excuse to try them out, as they aren’t in Canada, yet. Their visual branding is abslutely stunning. From the cute message on the elevator doors, indicating there are located downstairs to the cute yellow blow dryer light fixtures to the clean white walls. Even their product packaging, just enhanced and made you feel like – yes, this is totally worth it. Oh and while I was getting my hair done, I was watching one of my fave chic flicks, Punch Drunk Love, with my fave, Adam Sandler. Doesn’t get better than this.
Here’s a few pictures of my adventures at Drybar.
My experience was fantastic and I think Drybar does such a great job at brand awareness. Which leads me into my blog post topic, 5 ways to increase brand awareness. It is my strong belief that, branding is an experience.
Whether you are selling a product or a service, you want your brand to stand out from the crowd.
Your ultimate marketing goal should be to have your target market think of your brand, when they are in need. If they don’t know you, you are not getting any business. How can they buy your products or invest in your brand if they don’t know who you are?
To grow your brand, you need to make attention your number one priority. If you have people’s attention, you have a chance at earning their trust and business.
Here are a few ways you can make sure your customers and target market think of you and your brand first when they are looking to purchase something you are offering.
5 Ways to Increase Brand Awareness
1. Tell your story.
People relate to people and their stories. With the increased rate of stay at home moms’ growing businesses, there are also a lot of moms that subscribe toward such mom-owned businesses. Why? Because they relate to the business on a person to person level. There is a connection that builds trust and loyalty. When you feel that a brand “gets you” and is addressing an issue in your life, why would you not want to build a relationship with them?
Things to consider: Does your logo, adverts and social media post reflect this story? Are peple able to recognize and engage with you because your visuals tell your story?
2. Bring value by addressing an issue.
Don’t be that person that just shoves their product/service in front of people’s faces. Try providing some value to your customers. So much so that they practically beg you to take their money. Are you addressing an issue that makes the lives of your customers significantly better? Having a service or product that adds value or saves time can be pretty beneficial in growing your customer base. Customers are loyal to favorite brands. They help in telling your brand story. How? Through word of mouth, tweeting, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat etc.
Things to consider: Putting out a series of videos, blog posts or a book perhaps that might provide a welth of information to your target market is a great way to build recognition and trust.
3. Provide “wow” customer service.
I shop online a lot. One of my favourite places to shop is The Hudson Bay Company. I always manage to order stuff that’s $50 or above which entitles me to free shipping. I almost always get my packages in the next 36 hrs – max. And when I open my packages, there is always a small white card that is signed by the person who packaged or put my package together. Something so simple like a “packaged by” card adds a “wow” to my experience. And the free shipping with quick delivery makes my heart sing. Will I order from them, even though I know they are slightly more expensive than the competing stores? Yes, absolutely.
There is this quote by Maya Angelou that sums this up perfectly. It goes like this,
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou
This is coming at an opportune time given the whole fiasco with United Airways. After such customer brutality, how do you think the customer feels? And will he remember? Will we all remember?
Things to consider: Adding special details to your packaging – like perhaps a thank you card or a sticker always adds that touch of “extra special”. So your marketing budget might need to be increased a little. But the return might be worth it.
4. Maintain a certain level of social activity, be it online or off.
It always helps to meet people at scial gatherings and events – making one on one connection is always great. But what about online? One way to help your target market know, like and trust you is to write a blog that informs, entertains and educates. The key to a successful blog is consistency. You develop a loyal following by regularly providing blog posts that offer quality information and ongoing value to your target market.
Another way to be social is through outlets like Facebook and Instagram. Both have the “going live on video” feature and that is fantastic to connect/interact with your potential clients one-on-one live. I’ve seen churches host live services, workout trainers host live workout sessions, painting sessions, etc. There is just so much you can do. All it takes is one person to share and the possibilities are endless.
Things to consider: Ensure that the quality of what you put out is something you would want your brand associated with, be it a video or a social media ad, a flyer etc.
5. Be Consistent.
Consistency is key. When people take a step back to look at your brand as a whole, is everything consistent? Colours, logos, images, service, quality etc? There is power in the little details, so don’t neglect them. It is one way you will be in the forefront of the minds of your target market.
Conclusion
Brands struggle because of obscurity. If your brand is not generating awareness, you are not giving customers a chance to engage with you and your product or service.
Are you doing one or all of the points above? Do you have anything to contribute that was important to your brand growth? Please do share in the comments below.
