A strong social media presence and traditional marketing efforts both build brand awareness, but there are several other things you can do to garner more interest in your business and increase its visibility.
Treat your current customers right
Personalized customer support and service that extends beyond the product or service benefits your business in multiple ways, including in increasing brand awareness and trust.
Encourages word of mouth. When you make sure Suzy’s wedding dress fits her to a T, was ready on time, and you also send her a congratulations postcard after her big day, she’s more likely to tell her friends about your tailoring business than if you had stuck to just offering a stellar service.
Increases social media traffic. Customers who feel that you went above and beyond like your page, tweets, and photos, and comment positively on your review pages. In turn, this increases traffic to your site and social media accounts, and puts your business front and center among their friends, family, and acquaintances, with minimal additional effort on your part.
Drives foot traffic. John, the local hotel manager, comes in to your bakery every Sunday with his son and orders a dozen donuts – you always let his son pick out an extra just for him. When hotel guests ask John where the best place for breakfast or dessert is, guess where he’s going to send them?
Set up regular social media contests
Social media contests increase engagement with your existing customer base, and also push them to share your business in order to win the prize. Have customers submit a photo or video that works with or complements your product or service, with the winner being the one who gets the most votes. They’ll share their submission with their friends and followers to try to win, giving you loads of exposure for the price of a gift card or free service.
Utilize referral programs
Referral programs, when strategically implemented, give the average happy customer a reason to talk about you to friends, family and acquaintances. A referral program:
Gets your company name out there and functions as an advertisement. With proper branding, even if the people seeing your information don’t currently need your product or services, they’ll remember it when they do.
Is cheaper than other brand awareness initiatives. Instead of dumping money into new marketing campaigns, you’re using someone trustworthy (your customer) to reach out to people who likely share similar needs and interests (their friends and followers). The small cost of the referral program is typically worlds cheaper than your average marketing campaign.
Be mobile friendly
Even when at home, people are turning to their smartphones as their primary internet device. If your site isn’t mobile friend, you’ll lose a lot of potential customers and visitors, decreasing the amount of people who one, know your brand exists, and two, know what your brand offers. No matter what other tactics you’re using to increase brand awareness and market your product or service, if your site isn’t mobile friendly, people will close out of it before seeing your efforts. Converting your existing site is relatively cheap and fast, and ensures that your information is available to every potential customer.
When tied with content marketing, traditional marketing, and an engaging online presences, these simple programs and initiatives help your business take center stage in your niche.
