This question poses a few challenges for a lot of marketers out there. Yes, running boosted ads on social media platforms can indeed get your brand, product, and/or service in front of the eyes of new audiences. However, there is far more to brand awareness and audience engagement than you may think. Some data received may be classed as vanity data, whereas we are in the business of transparency. In this blog post, we will visit some of the alternative methods available to build brand awareness.
Press or Public Relations
Seems pretty obvious right? Let’s dive a little deeper here. News media and corporate communications have intersected over the last decade. That has created a very prominent new way to market your brand to audiences you may have never imagined. Who is to say that someone in Spain wouldn’t want to know about your brand? Successful companies have been selling globally for years. Well, how does press come into that process?
You may be already aware of press release platforms such as Newswire, where companies will offer information to either shareholders or the public audience. The added benefit to a press release on a platform such as this is that is viewed by investors all across the world. To that point, utilizing the network and relationships of a marketing company such as ours can offer you a foot in the door for publications around the world.
Example 1: If you created a new technology that could attract foreign investment, wouldn’t it be in your vested interest to have your story shared in publications they actually read in counties such as Germany, China, London, and Japan?
Example 2: Say you are a small business focused on selling life coach packages, wouldn’t you want your services to reach coast to coast across Canada? Having your story shared in local publications across the country can put you a big step above the competition.
Promotions
When was the last time you got something for free? Yes, the physical world does still exist. We believe that making a human connection with potential customers has seen a downtrend since the rise of social media giants. Whether or not it is a discount code you can offer through your website, gaming apps, or even television, it can be a sure-fire way to build brand awareness through connection.
Affiliate marketing
These can be looked at in various ways to implement. The traditional form of affiliate marketing is paying a high traffic publication to write a story specifically about your brand or products. Where this is still highly practiced today, it has morphed into an idealogy that can open up a world of opportunity. If you have a great product but little buyers, why not partner with a company that has buyers but a lack of product?
Example 1: Local brewery offers tester products as a partnership with a local concert vendor.
Example 2: A home school tutor wants to showcase the quality of their service through an editorial piece on an online eLearning publication.
Sponsorships
Looking for a good way to build a better community? Sounds like a sales pitch to me. However, sponsorships tend to be overlooked by most but can be the most impactful when it comes to engaging local and broader communities. Think of your local sports team receiving brand new gear paid for by a company sponsor, that can easily have families and fans develop an emotional tie to the brand for the future. The same can be said for professional sports, where the most successful brands in the world sponsor teams to simply get their logo in front of millions of eyeballs. The spectrum of audiences can be wide, but the goal remains the same.
Partnerships
As mentioned above, leveraging the strengths of a potential partner could allow a lot more than monetary gains than just new sales(which are great). We tend to forget that publicity can go a long way, especially in times where it seems like the cogs of the world have stopped turning. Working with an agency that has built relationships with various provincial bodies, venture monitoring services, large enterprise and SME’s can allow you direct access to new and exciting partnerships.
Example 1: A tour guide company partners with Tourism Alberta to showcase the beauty of the province.
Example 2: A tech-startup partners with a large energy company to showcase the use of their technology.
Example 3: A recruitment agency partnership with a news media agency to promote employment literacy through a series of articles, formally known as “brand-journalism”.
True to my original statement, there are great options out there that can go far beyond the metrics of social media marketing. While it continues to be the best way to engage with potential buyers and communicate with your active customers, the landscape continues to shift and it can be difficult to gauge real interest in times of change.
What is the best way to build brand awareness?
All of these in unison.
