Business Bullets - Marketing

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room” - There are thousands of businesses out there in the UK alone, all looking for a spot in the public eye, which means for smaller businesses and startup companies, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is a lack of recognition.

But how do businesses looking to stand out make an impression?

In the digital age, there are an increasing amount of effective methods brands can use to stand out from the competition, helping generate attention, as well as perhaps even more importantly, increase leads and sales. From social media and online advertising to websites and branding decisions, let’s look at some of the most important methods available for increasing your brand awareness.

Build Your Social Media Presence

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Instagram offer a huge range of opportunities for brands looking to promote themselves online and build an online following. Often free, social media allows businesses to extend their reach massively, by allowing businesses to share news and updates with their audience, as well as acting as a platform to engage with and gain attention from those interested in the brand.

By posting throughout the day, sharing relevant content and staying on topic you’re likely to find that those who are genuinely interested in your brand and your content are following you online, increasing your follower count and pulling in new audiences who are much more likely to check out your website and the products or services you offer.

Optimise Your Website

Having a professional, functional website is one of the most important ways you can help your brand stand out, as well as being an ideal way to generate more business. A website that stays on brand, incorporating your brand colours, logo and message into its design, as well as including search engine optimised text, can be an effective way to establish your brand from the get go.

With so many websites out there it’s essential that you stand out, especially if your website is the first thing your audience is likely to come across. Your website should act as your online business card, offering all the information your customers need but still managing to look attractive and appealing in the process.

Paid Ads

According to studies, paid ads are found to increase customer awareness significantly, even if these ads aren’t always clicked on. For many, searching Google or Bing for products and services has become the norm, in fact, there are more people that ever using search engines to find information, so why not be there for these users and show your ads when they need you? Paid ads can generate sales, drive traffic and ultimately increase awareness.

Using paid advertising gives you control over both your budget and the message you want to put across to your audience, helping you target the perfect audience for your business, as well as letting you track exactly how your ads are going with its inbuilt tracking tools, so you can keep optimising your ads for success.

What are you waiting for?

Businesses are constantly looking for new, innovative ways of engaging with both new and existing audiences and increasing brand awareness is something that businesses need to be taking seriously if they want to stay ahead of the competition. Whilst it does take time, effort and plenty of experimentation, by implementing the above steps, as well as utilising your own creative ideas, you can be establishing your business as a recognisable brand that generates the results it really wants!