Top 5 Low-cost Strategies to Boost Your Brand Awareness

You will have to tell people out loud about your presence on the market to gain a competitive edge. Brand awareness is a long way to go. First, you need to launch your products successfully and then focus on increasing your customer base by splurging on marketing. Once you have taken hold of the market, you can start to expect to be recognised by people. Brand awareness is a stage when people start recognising your business associated with its particular product or service. You are called to have reached this stage:

• When your customers have knowledge of what your business is
• They identify your logo
• They prefer your brand to others
• When they make searches using your brand name

Branding is not an overnight process. Although not all businesses need marketing campaigns at the level of detail, you will still need to spend a significant amount of money. Thankfully, there are various branding methods you can pursue without breaking the bank. Here are the ways how you can build a brand without shelling out money:

• Focus on promotional strategies

Advertising is the most common method of promoting your products. You should use emotive language in your adverts to influence people to buy your product. Emotional marketing evokes excitement, sadness and fear. For instance, limited-time offers evoke a fear of missing out. Make sure that you design your advert in a way that connects people emotionally to your product or service. Customers often do not make rational buying decisions. They have rather an emotional turn of mind when it comes to buying.

If you are on a budget, there is no need to run your advert on the television and radio. In this day and age, online platforms are the perfect choice to market your business. In addition to a website, use social media platforms to spread the word about your products and services.

Apart from advertisements, you should focus on the following:

• Product trials – product trials encourage customers to try products for free. You should give away free samples so they can check the quality of your product. A product trial can be held at a reduced cost when you want to target a large number of customers. However, companies most commonly use this method at the launch of the product.
• Special offers – special offers are made to boost sales. Special offers are made to persuade customers to buy your product. They include:
• Discounts
• Buy 1 get 1 free offers
• Free gifts
• Money-off vouchers
• Loyalty cards

You can use other marketing methods as well such as flyers, posters etc. Consider your budget and plan your marketing accordingly. If your business is new, you can take out business loans for bad credit with no guarantor to fund your marketing.

• Take advantage of being an underdog

Because you are new to the niche, it can be difficult to take hold of the market, but you do not need to underestimate yourself acting as an underdog. You will have the freedom to use your own voice. You may follow a different route or strategy to reach your customers. Many of you may find it like going against the grain, but it will benefit you in the long run. Every brand has its own identity, so make sure that you successfully manage to establish one.

• Use podcasts

The use of podcasts is on the rise among companies looking to increase brand awareness. Podcasts allow you to tell your story. You only need to focus on the marketing of your products and services. To become a brand, you will have to focus on your own story. Many people want to know your story. What inspired you to choose this niche? What your mission and vision are. What do you think makes you different from your competitors? Podcasts encourage you to choose your voice, which is not possible with TV and social media adverts.

• Publish good content

You cannot ignore the importance of creating great content to build a brand. Whether it is a website or a social media platform, you will need content to tell people out there about your products and services. Content is the way to communicate with your users.

It includes not just the specifications and features of your products but also blogs, eBooks, and the like. Identify the pain points of your users and propose a solution. It is not necessary to create content around your product or service. You should try to think beyond. Think of how you can help them.

There are several general ideas for creating content. Hang on them. For instance, if you are a finance company providing different kinds of financial products, such as equipment financing and auction financing, your content will certainly include topics related to your niche. Still, apart from them, you can share general and more relevant information, such as risks linked to long-term financing or how you can choose a good business finance broker. Your content should aim at their problems.

• Value your old customers

Of course, you will have to be constantly in search of new customers, and therefore, you will have to fine-tune your marketing, but old customers are also important. They play a more vital role in brand awareness. Old customers better know about the quality of your products and services. They are more likely to convince new prospects to buy your product or service easily.

Therefore, you should try to get reviews from them to use in your marketing materials. You can persuade your customers to give positive reviews by offering them a discount on their next purchase. Using their reviews in your marketing materials will help you win the trust of your prospects. The more people know about your business, the better.

Pay heed to loyal customers. Keep them close by offering discounts and special offers. Make sure the benefits you provide them exclusively belong to them. They should feel that you value them. When your customer attrition rate is low, you will automatically be able to run your marketing campaign on a budget.

The bottom line

Brand awareness is paramount to streak ahead. Use multiple types of marketing methods. Advertisement is one way. Use discounts, special schemes, product trials and other promotional offers. Apart from that, leverage the power of reviews from your old and existing customers.

It is a good idea to keep an eye on your competitors, but you do not need to jump on the bandwagon. Sometimes, an underdog has a higher chance of winning. Above all, focus on content. The better the content is, the sooner your business will become a brand.