Brand awareness is the brass ring in marketing, but what does it really mean? When your kid sends you to the store to get a box of cereal, does he really want any box of cereal? He may say cereal, but what he means is Lucky Charms. His brain automatically connects breakfast cereal with those delightful marshmallow treats. On the other hand, if that same kid tells you to pick up milk to go along with his cereal, he probably doesn’t care what brand you get.
General Mills is offering a product that appeals to their target audience, engages them with bright colored boxes, a memorable leprechaun and interesting shapes. They have brand awareness – proof that their marketing strategy is effective. You experience brand awareness every time you go to the grocery store and pick up your favorite brand of anything. Brand awareness is a connection that drives sales. It is the ultimate performance metric.
Why Brand Awareness Matters
Brand awareness is a clear indication that consumers have an emotional attachment to a product. In the social world we live in that level of commitment is even more important. Social media marketing is built around people being willing to say Lucky Charms is my cereal. It is the marshmallows or I’ll stick to toast.
When you make that brand awareness summit, you know:
- You have generated just the right amount of touchpoints for your target audience.
- You have the proper level of customer engagement.
- Your event marketing campaigns made an impression that led to conversions.
When you sit down to develop a marketing strategy, what things do you consider?
- How many touchpoints you need?
- How to engage the customer?
- How to create conversions?
It is Marketing 101.
How Do You Know When You’ve Got It?
Brand awareness isn’t a number you can read or a column in a spreadsheet, but you can still track and measure it. YP Marketing Solutions offers some tips on recognizing brand awareness.
- Track impressions – Impression measurement refers to online ads – how many times your ad is viewable whether it is clicked or not. As long as the ad is viewable, it makes an impression.
- Searches – When someone types your brand name into a search engine, you know you have made a connection. If you make enough of them, you foster brand awareness.
- Mentions – Mentions are just as critical. Whether it is an industry leader or the guy next door who blogs from his mother’s basement, if your brand gets mentioned in a blog, forum or on social media, it means people are talking about it.
- Reach – Are your marketing campaigns reaching potential leads?
Your job as a marketing professional is to put together a toolbox of resources that helps you measure the performance of your brand. The goal you are striving for is brand awareness. Tracking mentions in social media, monitoring page views and engaging with your audience via Twitter and Facebook is how your brand becomes the name they connect with when it is time to buy.
Darla F is open-minded about writing topics, but her goal is to pick up work she finds compelling. She is interested in art, art history, news, health, fitness and programming.
