What is brand awareness?

Brand awareness is the first stage in the marketing funnel. This is where a prospect begins to learn about what a business does and importantly who they are: the brand.

Brand awareness might be measured using quantitative measures, for example, the number of impressions generated by a sponsored advert on Instagram, or by using qualitative measures such as feedback surveys.

It’s important to know how to market your business through an effective brand awareness strategy, as this stage is designed to draw those potential consumers closer to the brand and the places they can engage with it – where engagement is the second stage of the marketing funnel.

Brand awareness is the first step in moving your target audience to a particular action. That could be downloading an app, making a purchase, completing an enquiry form, subscribing to an email list etc. Ultimately, it’s the first step in fulfilling business objectives such as reaching sales goals, increasing audience reach and generating more leads.

Why is brand awareness important?

Building brand awareness isn’t just about putting your name in front of other people – it’s also about making sure they don’t forget it. Building mind-share is the first step towards building market share.

Research has shown that 1/3 of consumers already know which brand they intend to purchase from when they go shopping. The strength of association plays a huge role in consumer decision-making. Effective brand awareness should hopefully lead to people thinking of your brand when they think about a particular category of product.

But before consumers go to your brand, your brand has to first go to them. Below are some of the top reasons that make brand awareness so important.

1. Brand awareness builds mind-share

When consumers think of a product or service, there will be certain ones that spring to mind for them. All businesses want their brand to be the first that comes into a consumer’s mind when making their product or service considerations. So, when it comes to searching for options they’ll start with your brand and look at what you offer, rather than starting with a generic search for items in that category.

Brand awareness research has shown that consumers are more likely to buy from brands they have heard of. One reason is that it reduces the risk that they will get an inferior product or have to engage with a service with an unknown reputation.

While many consumers want the cheapest alternative, many consumers prefer to buy from brands they know as it gives them confidence that the brand will deliver high quality in both product and service.

2. Brand awareness builds trust with a brand

As brand awareness grows, brands will notice a network effect. This is where the value of a product or service increases in value as it is adopted by more people. It’s been shown that there is a clear link between trust and action.

As more people become familiar with a brand, word of mouth recommendations and testimonials will help encourage other potential consumers of the value of a product or service, which in turn will spread to others. Familiarity with your brand helps to generate the ultimate benefit of organic growth through peer recommendation.

3. Brand awareness helps generate higher quality leads

The greater the number of people who are aware of your brand, the higher chance you give yourself of generating higher-quality leads – i.e. prospects that have indicated their interest in your brand.

Through a carefully planned out content marketing strategy, you are able to better put your brand in front of consumers who are more likely to move to the next stage of the marketing funnel: interest and engagement and ultimately to the action stage.

4. Brand awareness helps to differentiate your brand

All brands and their products and services will have unique selling points. These are what makes your brand and its offerings stand out from the competition. A brand awareness strategy is important in showing potential consumers what your business can offer them that others can’t.

Being able to differentiate from the competition is particularly important for small businesses in their efforts to grow by helping them to stand out. This makes a focused brand strategy even more essential as part of a small business’s marketing approach.

5. Brand awareness builds consumer perception

When you put yourself in front of your consumers, they aren’t just learning about your brand name and what you offer, it’s also where they develop a feel for your brand and connect on a more emotional level.

Part of a brand strategy is to develop a brand face and voice and by developing a brand personality it becomes easier for consumers to build trust with it. This makes your brand more approachable to engage with and easier to remember.

Once you’ve developed a brand personality you can then look to start reaching your audience through appropriate channels such as social media.

If you want to get started building your brand awareness strategy or just want to know more about how it can be effective for your business, contact us today!