Every business needs to promote themselves in order to be seen. Creating brand awareness is important for a business and can help reach your ideal audience. This can help your brand stand out amongst competitors and drive more traffic to your products or services.
With dozens of ways to promote your brand, it may be confusing to know which method is the best for you. Should you promote your brand online or take a more traditional approach? Some methods may be better suited for certain types of business. Certain factors like marketing budget and target audience can play a role in finding which method is best for your business.
What To Know Before Promoting Your Brand
Before you start promoting your brand and using part of your marketing budget, make sure you consider the following.
- Know Your Target Audience: Know who it is you want to discover your brand. You should know certain demographics, behaviors, and even geographics about your audience. Things such as age, occupation, income, hobbies, region, etc. The more you know about the people looking for your product or service, the easier it will be to reach them.
- Know Your Brand Identity: What are the things that represent your brand and will make people choose you over your competitors? Getting your business in front of people is only half the battle. How will you ensure they remember you and want to come back? Think about what you want to communicate with your audience.
- Know Your Strategy: Once you know your audience and have a strong brand identity, choose the best method to promote your brand. This way you can maximize your return on investment.
- Know Your Competitors: It’s always good to know what your competitors are up to. This can show you their strengths and your opportunities for growth. It can help your business catch up and surpass your competitors.
Digital Marketing Methods
Digital marketing is the most popular way to connect with a broad group of people quickly. You can tailor your audience to reach your ideal customer easily. However, this may require a larger budget. Some popular ways to promote a brand online include:
Content Marketing
Creating valuable content, such as informative articles and study cases, can help build trust with your audience. It can also increase the company’s reputation and online authority. Content marketing also improves your website’s search engine ranking, driving more organic traffic to your site.
This method of promotion is unique because its goal is to capture the interest of individuals rather than just promote a brand.
For example, instead of running ads about dog toys, you can create informational blogs about the best dog toys for certain breeds. This can increase awareness while bringing traffic with informational intent rather than only transactional intent.
Paid Digital Advertising
While growing your brand organically can be beneficial, sometimes you need to reach your audience quicker. Paid advertising pushes traffic to your business quickly and provides you with valuable data that you can use to optimize future campaigns.
Some common forms of advertising online include Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Cost Per Mille (CPM). This method is great for both B2C and B2B businesses and has a lot of options that allow you to target your audience.
Tip: Paid advertising does not require a minimum budget but will require a larger budget for better results. Advertising campaigns should be monitored and optimized in order to achieve to best results.
Part of content marketing and paid advertising involves social media, which can be its own promotional method.
Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms, like Instagram, TikTok, and others, are great for promoting a brand. You can engage with your audience directly and build a community. Creating a successful social media campaign can lead to more engagement and awareness for your business.
Social media is ideal for businesses targeting consumers. A business targeting other businesses may see little success with this method. Majority of the people online are looking for things for themselves rather than a business.
Stay consistent with your brand on social media, and make sure you’re creating unique content for your audience. Keeping a consistent brand image and voice helps build trust among your followers.
Tip: Know the audience that is on each social media platform. Some social media apps are better suited for different audiences. For example, TikTok may be better for a younger audience, while Facebook would be better for an older audience.
Traditional Marketing Methods
Print Advertising
Although digital marketing is dominant, print advertising is still effective. Different types of print advertising include brochures, magazine ads, and billboards. This type of advertising is ideal for local businesses to target their audience within their area.
For example, a local law firm that specializes in car accidents will get a lot of impressions from a billboard ad.
Networking and Events
Attending trade shows and industry events allows you to connect with potential customers and partners. Personal interactions are a great way to leave an impression on your brand and meet with decision-making individuals who may be harder to reach online.
Promotional Products
Promotional items are tangible products that are usually branded with your brand’s logo or contact information. Items like custom USB flash drives, mugs, and T-shirts can be given away at events to make meaningful connections. Promotional products that are beneficial to the recipient are kept for a long period of time. Every time it is used, the logo is shown to the recipient and those around, giving your brand more awareness.
Tip: It’s essential to select products that align with your brand and audience. For example, business card flash drives might be ideal for an innovative tech brand, while eco-friendly products may appeal to an environmentally friendly business.
Steps To Take After
Regardless of which method(s) you choose, one thing you must do after is analyze the results. Using tools like Google Analytics and social media insights can help you understand your return on investment. What worked and what didn’t? What can be done to perform better?
This can help determine whether it is worth promoting your brand using that method. You can adjust your strategies based on these findings to improve future campaigns.
Conclusion
Promoting your brand requires a mix of strategies that are tailored to your goals. Whether it’s through digital marketing or traditional methods, each method plays a role in increasing your brand awareness.
Experiment with different approaches and always analyze your results. Even if your campaign does well, there is always room for improvement. Even if your campaign doesn’t do well, it’s not a full loss. You’ve gained insights that can help you adjust and optimize your future campaigns.