Brand awareness is how familiar consumers are with your brand. The higher the awareness, the more people know the brand and goods you sell. And when many people know your brand, you will have a higher chance of getting better profit.
But why is brand awareness essential for retailers and restaurant owners?
There are plenty of advantages that the retail and food businesses can get with higher awareness. To keep things simple, here are the top 3:
- Increase sales
- Increase profits
- Influence the market resulting in the brand loyalty of consumers
Creating a strategy to increase brand awareness with the team is essential. You need a productive team to ensure the most effective plans that will work within the organization. When everyone is on the same page, all processes will be smoother.
How can you increase your brand awareness? Here are seven practical ways to improve our brand awareness in the retail industry, allowing you to achieve a higher level of awareness for the products and services we offer.
1. Use Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a type of social media marketing. However, instead of just posting online, use influencers, like well-known vloggers, to promote products and services. Most people rely on online product reviews and endorsements, making vloggers more powerful.
However, don’t just hire any influencer to market the products. Instead, get one with the same values and interests as your company. This will be easier for you and the influencer to create a strategy that will appeal to a large audience.
Another point you need to consider is the influencer’s number of followers. The more followers they have, the easier it would be for you to reach your audience (and potential customers). You’ll serve more customers as you advertise your products effectively.
2. Boost Your Online Presence
One of the most effective ways for any retail business to gain a bigger audience is by using social media networks. People worldwide rely on SNS to access information, including new products and services. They also check the company’s social media page to check the reviews of certain items they are interested in.
A few people who share your daily posts can help you a lot. It will create a chain reaction as other users will see your post. When they do, they will follow you on your social media pages and share your posts, creating additional marketing campaigns. Working with a brand naming agency can also help strengthen your brand identity and attract more followers.
Keep in mind that you need to create quality content to attract customers. You have to be familiar with the trend.
TIP: Use catchphrases that will help people remember your posts easily. People love watching and reading online stuff as long as it gets their attention.
Once you reach your target audience, they will be aware of your brand and help you widen your market.
3. Create Referral Programs
Brand loyalty is quite difficult to acquire, but when you have a few customers enjoying the products and services you offer, this will be the start of a good opportunity to increase your marketing reach.
Referral programs are one of the most effective ways to make consumers loyal to the brand. It is also cost-effective because you do not need to pay for their services to promote your products. Instead, you can give them discount coupons or even free items.
In a B2B referral program, for example, this approach can be particularly valuable for establishing partnerships and driving business growth.
Another popular option is to create a membership program. You’d give your customers special discounts or free items during certain events (such as their birthday) to maintain their loyalty to your brand.
TIP: We also recommend referral programs to help with your hiring and staffing efforts.
4. Run a Social Media Contest
People access their phones and computers daily to get information. They love joining contests and will happily do so if it doesn’t require too many taps or lengthy forms.
By running a social media contest, you are encouraging new consumers to try the products. Use relevant hashtags and creative visuals to spread the word and generate excitement.
Make sure that the rules are simple. Start by simply liking and sharing the posts and uploading and commenting on photos to increase your traffic on the social media platform.
For example, if you are a retailer, you can ask the contestants to upload a photo of them wearing the clothing line you are selling. You can randomly select the winner, giving them discount coupons or free products as a reward.
This will also increase your loyal customers since they would feel the thrill of winning something by joining easy contests.
5. Offer Freebies
Giving out free items is not only a good way to introduce your products in the market. It can also increase your brand awareness.
You can create a system where loyal customers can get free items if they reach a certain amount on their purchase. This will improve your sales, and at the same time, customers are likely to spread the word to their friends and family about such a great deal.
You can include free samples in your bundles if introducing a new product line.
For example, you can add a sample pack of your new item when they reach a certain amount when they buy from your store, online and offline.
People love getting discounts! They will surely grab that chance when they know they can save money on your goods. You only need a few people to start this campaign, and you will notice the increase in your profit because of word of mouth.
6. Sponsor Events
People love attending and watching events. Sports enthusiasts would either watch it live or on TV.
This is the same for contests or other big or small competitions. This is a perfect opportunity to increase your market by showing them your products exist and are effective.
Since many people attend events, they would most likely be interested in the companies that make it possible. In most common situations, you will have a booth in the event place where you can sell and offer your services.
Always find an event relevant to your products and services.
For instance, if you are selling pet goods, you could sponsor a meet and greet at the local pet shelter. This will make people realize that there is an organization that supports the local community, making them feel proud and supported.
7. Focus on Offline Campaigns
We know that we live in an online world nowadays. But that does not mean we should rely on the internet only, especially when increasing brand awareness.
Indeed, many people are always online, but you should also not take offline campaigns for granted.
Posters and billboards are two of the most effective ways to advertise your brand. Make sure that your posters and billboards are on-trend. Put your signs in front of your shop to catch your target consumers’ attention.
For instance, hang a photo of your latest menu item in the window.
Brochures and pamphlets are also great. You can include several products or services you are offering. Let your staff give out the paper on the street.
We highly recommend doing it near your store to start, as you can simply point interested parties in the right direction.
Raising brand awareness is worth the investment
Increasing brand awareness can give you a lot of benefits, especially when it comes to your ROI.
When following the tips above, it is best to combine the strategies and not just stick to a single method. You need to adjust it according to the most influential trends for your target audience if you want your efforts to have the greatest impact.
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