Increasing brand recognition can be a bit of a mystery to people, and they cannot figure out what they are doing wrong. No matter what you do, you need to realize that it requires time - success will not come overnight. If you take a look at famous brands, you will notice that it took them many years to get to where they are now, but all of them have preserved their tradition, while at the same time keeping up with new trends. It isn't because they are sentimental, but because they understand that strong core brand values and a good brand story are what creates an emotional connection between a brand and its loyal customers.
1. Create a unique website with plenty of great content
A well-designed website is the key to success for any modern business. It is recommended by all the experts, but somehow we still see very badly designed websites, some of which don't even work properly. If you want to increase your brand awareness, then you need to invest in your website design and enrich it with plenty of interesting and informative content including detailed descriptions, high resolution images, lengthy blog posts and videos.
When writing your blog posts, make sure that they are related to your field, and are of high quality. Badly written posts stuffed with keywords make visitors click away and this will raise red flags with search engines. So, pay some attention to the articles being published on your website. Longer, well-researched articles such as guides, case studies, opinion pieces on the latest developments in the industry and similar content with an engaging, easy to read tone and lots of useful information will help you gain popularity over time.
Share your content on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and Pinterest. Don't neglect LinkedIn, as it is the largest professional social network. Pay attention to the hottest trending topics and pop culture news, and make sure to post at the time of day when most of your target audience is online.
2. Are you really unique?
This is the hard part, but if you want to be recognized, you need to be different from all the other companies in your niche. Some brands simply got lucky and became recognized, and some even made a very good move at the right time, but they all had a creative brand name and logo that stood out, grabbed people's attention and did a great job of conveying their brand philosophy.
As naming your company is the first and one of the most important steps in launching your brand, take the time to think it through and ask your friends and acquaintances about their thoughts - you'll definitely need a second opinion on this one. Look at the other brands in your niche, and try to find what it is that they are doing wrong, what customers are complaining about or some of the things that are sadly lacking in the industry, but have great potential to engage your target audience.
Exploit any bad decisions that your competitors have made, jump on every opportunity to offer something that others are not offering and find a way to give everything your own personal touch.
3. Don't let people forget about you
Many brands start working on brand recognition, and when they reach a certain level of success, they stop reaching out. Don't be like them! Don't stop the moment you get a few loyal clients. You need to work hard on staying relevant, because if you allow people to forget you, they will simply turn to another company.
Another big mistake a lot of companies make is rebranding several times within a few years, based solely on their gut feeling that it is time for a change. If your business is doing well and more people are familiar with your brand, changing things will only hurt your brand recognition. Do some market research and work on garnering more attention for your brand for the first few years. You have no business revitalizing a brand that is fairly new and doing OK on the market.
4. Make an offer no one could ever refuse
If you want to improve your brand recognition, you need to provide your customers with something that will engage them on a deeper level. Some will never come back, but if you properly align your brand values with those of your primary audience, the majority will.
Offer your loyal clients some kind of a discount or a gift, or find another way to reward them. Providing an amazing customer experience and offering great customer service is also a good way to get some goodwill for your company, and earn yourself quite a few new brand ambassadors. Never underestimate good word of mouth marketing.
Work on your brand recognition, and with a combination of knowledge, effort and a bit of luck, you will certainly reach your goals. However, you should continuously work on improving, learning what the customers want and need, and finding new ways of engaging your target audience. Be present on social media, find the companies in your field to partner up with and don't give up.
