Online Brand Awareness

Not every business needs to know how to create brand awareness on the Internet. You may own/run a local mom-and-pop shop in a great physical location. Or perhaps, the large enterprise you’re now CEO to has forged enough contacts in the industry to sustain its continual development & growth for decades to come. Either way, providing stellar products/services and sales/technical support to an already-enthusiastic customer base is sometimes enough to reach exponential numbers, let alone satisfy a few KPIs, moving forward. So, who and/or what is online brand awareness for?

Start-ups, Inventors, and Everything in Between

There’s a common misconception that only big companies should foster healthy initiatives associated with their brand (including its identity across channels, devices, and platforms). In fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Even, if not especially, the little guy (i.e., consultants, small businesses, tech venture startups, crowd-funded campaigns/inventions, etc) needs brand awareness in order to survive in this digital and mostly mobile age. Rest assured, popularity isn’t necessarily synonymous with awareness in each regard. You can be recognizable & respected (and very, very profitable) without representing a monopoly or being a household name, as a general example. Your reputation likely scores higher value points by avoiding the tapping into of negative emotions (used to make things go viral… kind of like a virus) is another one. You could remain a good person offering good products and/or services while marketing them in an ethical, unobtrusive way. It’s not only possible, but somewhat necessary in a time when scrutiny (i.e., reviews, whether formal or not) is the name of the game — which brings us to our next point.

Be the Game

Rather than compete in an already-saturated market, create a new one by simply being unique. Deviate from the path, not to be recognized as a novelty, but to offer something different and arguably better. Companies large & small are beginning to realize that they don’t need to be everything to everyone, just really good at a couple of endeavors… and that requires focus. Own a bakery, but sell baguettes exclusively. Be a car manufacturer, but make sedans only. Do what you’re good at, have a passion for, and/or are academically knowledgeable in — never sacrificing on the quality of your final output. This, more than any other way, is how you build a brand and its awareness with your user base.

Brand Identity

Brand identity offers a large area of contrast with brand awareness. Online, this may be more apparent. A meticulously-crafted logo, a relevant slogan and/or mission statement, well-devised website typography & color palettes, and other original Web design elements (displayed on both website and social media pages) make up (or, rather, attempt to make up) who or what your company and/or organization represents. Childhood education brands will, for example, use brighter colors, playful text fonts, and simpler navigation menus on their sites. Fintech (i.e., financial technology) and other SaaS (i.e., Software as a Service) brands, on the other hand, will incorporate more shades of gray along with complex content structures to pitch, monitor, and assist their clients and cloud-hosted infrastructure/initiatives. Regardless, it helps say what they’re about and who they serve as a visual unit.

Accessibility

Online brand awareness can be accessible. Screen readers quickly detect slogans (among other brand-specific text-based content); podcasts emphasizing brand names, slogans, and, occasionally, related theme songs can also accommodate the visually-impaired. Speech-to-text software, in a similar way, enables video and audio-exclusive multimedia (once again, those infused with brand messages) to be digested by the hearing-impaired. As the Web evolves, site accessibility will likely be a priority and without the need for third-party applications. And so, by regularly growing their readership, viewership, and listenership — strong brands will continue to improve on their brand perception which naturally raises their ROI (i.e., return on investment) & bottom line.