Brand awareness and brand recognition are parts of the brand itself. Without a high level of brand recognition, a brand can’t exist. Simply put, if the brand doesn’t resonate in some way when people view brand elements, the brand means nothing.
However, when the brand is strong, people aren’t just buying a product. Instead, consumers attach a portion of themselves to the brand. That little bit of personal attachment is what helps a brand to thrive, and it’s a direct result of the work undertaken by the company to increase brand awareness and recognition.
Let’s take a look at brand recognition. What is it, how to build it, and why is it important?
A Strong First Impression
Before you can hope to build brand loyalty, you first have to attract customers. And the best way to do that is through a presentation that catches the eye and makes people curious. Choose a logo, colors, and a typeface that hints at your brand’s overall story, while enticing consumers to learn more about the personality beneath the surface of your brand.
It takes less than a second for consumers to form an opinion about your brand. Make that first impression a good one. Remember, in the battle of brand recognition vs. awareness, people first have to be aware of something before they can recognize it. Your first job is to make people’s initial brand awareness a positive interaction.
Stand Out
Branding decisions aren’t made in a vacuum. Instead, they’re crafted specifically to stand out in a cluttered marketplace. Generic branding isn’t going to get it done. You need your imagery to jump off the shelves and speak to the viewer. How are you going to earn a customer’s sales if you won’t ask for those sales through strong branding and by standing out from the competition?
Tell Your Story
There’s more to branding than having a fancy logo and flashy colors. Those elements are important, but they merely set the stage for you to reveal your brand’s true nature to the public. At every opportunity, show the world what your brand is all about. Tell your audience what led to your company’s formation. Identify the causes that mean the most to your brand, and show how your business supports those initiatives.
You can do this through written articles on your website, YouTube videos, packaging inserts, QR codes, or anything else you can envision. As you tell your brand’s story, it becomes part of the brand, and it’s one of the reasons why consumers will stick with your company.
Take Part in the Conversation
Consumers want to support brands that make them feel like they’re more than just customers. They want to feel like they’re an integral part of the brand. One way you can help people to feel more involved is by responding to the feedback you receive. Show people you care about what they say, not just through your responses, but by incorporating consumer feedback into your marketing strategy.
Reply to online reviews and to social media comments shortly after they’re posted. Doing so provides immediate evidence of your dedication to customer service, while simultaneously showing the world that customer excellence is an important part of your brand.
Be Authentic
Much is made of authenticity in modern marketing. What’s key is to actually be authentic, instead of simply talking about how authentic you think you are. Authenticity, ultimately, is determined by customers — so give your audience reason to have faith in your brand’s integrity. Reinforce your authenticity through telling your story, charitable endeavors, community service, and an endless focus on the needs of the customer. If you do it right, you won’t have to talk about being authentic — your continued efforts toward authenticity will say it all.
Consistency
Brands don’t just happen — they’re built over time. A crucial element of that brand building is exposing people to your brand materials over and over again, in a consistent manner. As people see your brand repeatedly, they’re forced to assess how that brand works with their lives — especially as they learn more about the soul behind that brand. Not everyone is going to fall in love with your brand, but those that believe in what you’re doing will support your business even more passionately because of that consistent brand exposure.
Cultivate Your Own Style
Brand recognition means more than an easily identifiable logo and color scheme. Your brand is communicated through your company’s every action. Each communication either reinforces the brand or detracts from what you’re trying to create — and it’s obvious which one you’d rather have.
It might take some time to develop a style around your brand, but once you stumble upon what works, don’t let it go. Train your employees in how they should discuss your company with friends and customers, how they should post on social media, and how their content should reflect upon your brand. It’s these little touches that go a long way with customers, so keep them satisfied with what they’re getting from your brand.
Be Colorful
Just as your logo, app icon, and name convey certain things about your brand, so too does your color scheme. In particular, one standout color can go a long way. A signature color in your branding can increase brand recognition by as much as 80 percent.
Coca-Cola’s red, Pepsi’s blue, and Ikea’s yellow are just a few examples of color augmenting brand recognition. When people see that color in everyday life, they’ll think of your brand, giving your brand additional advertising for free. More than that, though, they’ll think of all of those other parts of your brand — the authenticity, the customer service, the dedication to causes — and they’ll feel proud to support your business, without even having to see your logo or your brand name.
Choose Partnerships Wisely
A partnership represents an easy way to grow your brand’s exposure, thereby increasing its recognition. However, enter into such relationships with caution. Before you strike your next deal, think about who you’re dealing with. Is this an organization you’re proud to be seen beside? Or is this a company that might negatively impact people’s opinions about your brand?
Recent years have seen countless instances of partnerships being dissolved due to negative public reactions, all of which have done damage to both brands. Instead of being the target of public outcry, choose partner brands that will increase your brand’s standing and that will expose your brand to the right audience.
Be Transparent
Earlier, we discussed the importance of authenticity. But transparency might be even more important in today’s world. People are warier than ever of brands that want to appear compassionate and caring but engage in unscrupulous activities behind the scenes. That behavior is disastrous when it’s ultimately unearthed — and it always comes to the surface in the end. The cover-up, as they say, is worse than the crime.
No brand is perfect, but do your best to be open with the audience that keeps your business alive. The public can be very unforgiving if they feel they’ve been deceived by a brand. Don’t let that happen to your company. Keep your brand strong by giving back to your core causes, owning your wrongdoings, and maintaining a clear focus on making your customers proud.
There’s no one method for how to increase brand recognition. Instead, it’s the combination of all of these factors, as well as those elements that make your brand unique to your business. Stay true to what made your brand successful, listen to your customers, stay authentic and transparent, and don’t be afraid to tweak your brand if an organic opportunity arises. If you’d like more information on how to enhance your brand’s awareness and recognition within your target audience, contact us at Commit Agency today.
