Create Brand Awareness with Unique Content in 9 Steps

Introduction

Okay, so let’s start with a small exercise. What is the first name that pops in your head when you hear the following? Search engine! Watch! Sports shoes! Tires!

What did you answer? Google! Tissot! Adidas! Michelin!

It is not too difficult to answer these questions because we associate all products with a particular brand manufacturer(s). If brand identity is what you are trying to establish, you should make efforts to expose your brand to the target audience.

Presenting the brand across various platforms consistently increases revenue by 23%. Well, this establishes how important it is to build brand awareness. And content marketing generates 3x more leads per dollar as compared to paid search.

Unique content is often associated with brand identity. And brand identity comes with the USP of a product. Therefore, there is no doubt in establishing the fact that to highlight the benefits of your product/service; you can rely on the creation of unique content.

Content is often referred to as the “king” of digital marketing. Hence, most businesses relying on content to enhance their brand awareness is pretty much expected.

It is about creative marketing. And nothing gets more creative than a well-crafted piece of content.

91% of marketers use content marketing to promote brand awareness.

It is difficult to make your consumers aware of your brand’s presence. However, with good content, the feat becomes easier to achieve. Content marketing increases brand awareness. But what are the strategies you can implement to ensure that your content contributes to building brand awareness?

Here is listed nine unique ways in which you can use content to create brand awareness.

1. Identify Your Target Audience to Create More Personalized Pieces

Before you start building brand awareness, you need to know who you are targeting with your content. 56% of consumers believe businesses need to have a deeper understanding of their needs.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is your audience?

• What tone will they understand? Formal or informal?

• What products are they looking for?

• Where are they located?

• How much time do they spend online?

• When do they spend their money the most?

• Which type of content do they interact more with?

Knowing your target audience helps you cater to your prospects effectively. Personalized contents perform better and engage greater.

When you have answered the above questions, you pretty much have a rough sketch on who your target audience is. Understanding your audience is vital for a successful content marketing strategy. Go deep into researching about your audience – their demographics, their responses, their likes and dislikes, their pain points, etc.

When you have a better understanding of your audience, it is easier to craft personalized content pieces that can appeal to them — the more personalized the content, the higher the chances of recognizing the brand.

2. Design an Effective Content Strategy

There is no “one-size fits all” when it comes to content. What works well with one segment of your audience might not work at all with the other. So, when crafting content marketing strategies, you should have a backup plan ready for execution.

There are three aspects you have to bear in mind when designing your content strategy:

a. What’s the story of your company?

Letting your audience know your story is the best way to increase your brand awareness. It’s like selling hot pancakes. In no time, it’s sold out. Show your audience that you can connect with them on a personal level and beyond your products too.

For instance, Apptopia doesn't include business babble when narrating its story. There are no industry jargons forced into the content. It narrates a story that feels personal. People appreciate straight talk, and Apptopia gives them just that. The language is polished and effectively communicates their story.

b. Choose your medium

Next, pick a content medium that works well for you. It can be any or all of the below:

Company pages: When you want to know about a brand, what is the first thing you look at? Yes, it is the ‘About us’ page. Highlight the story behind your company. Talk about how it all began, your ethics and work culture, etc. If you have overcome significant challenges, don’t forget to stress these as well. Leveraging the story of your company to engage with your customers is simply a fantastic technique to build your brand.

The “About Me” page for Joe Peyton is an excellent example of how company pages can be creative, confident, and easy to connect. The illustrative self-portrait makes the brand feel relatable. The well-organized page allows the readers to be aware of the brand even before they browse other pages.

Blog posts: Blogs generate a generous amount of traffic to your website. Become a voice that your customers can rely upon. Share your expertise and become the voice answering their concerns.

Free downloadable materials: Time and again, consumers have shown an affinity for materials that come for free. Right from your eBook, whitepaper, template or calendars advertise these resources on your landing pages or pages where relevant information is present.

Videos: 81% of marketers feature videos on their brand’s website. And by the end of 2019, 80% of the global internet consumption will be videos. Videos have a profound impact on your audience. Sharing explainer videos or behind-the-scenes makes your audience feel like a part of a close-knit family. And these are known to work as well.

Webinars and Podcasts: This is a great marketing technique that is turning heads in the world of content marketing. Why? Your target audience can watch the webinars and listen to podcasts to gather more information on the product/service. You can link these to blogs that cover a similar topic.

c. Create your schedule

A schedule helps you keep a tab on your plan. Decide on the author’s, the frequency of articles, and the channel where you will post it. Create a schedule and stay on track with your content marketing strategies.

It is better to prepare and plan than repent and regret not having organized your time well.

3. Add Visuals to Improve the Appeal of the Content

According to scientists, when you hear a piece of information, you only remember it for three days. But if you add a picture to the same piece of information, you tend to retain 65% of the same. Now, an average person’s attention span is only 8 seconds. 81% of the people skim through content. And the first impression is formed within a span of 50 milliseconds.

When first going through your content, readers check images. That is what stands out. By adding elements such as images, GIFs, videos, and creative sketches, you increase the visual appeal of your content.

Content marketing guru Neil Patel has created several visually appealing content, which not only makes it easy for the readers to gather information but also adds to the aesthetic of the blog. “The Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing” is an exceptional specimen. The eBook instantly becomes compelling due to the judicious use of visuals. This new approach makes it easy to create an ever-lasting impression on the audience.

If your ultimate motive is to win your prospects and improve the status quo of your brand, you should invest in making your content visually pleasing.

4. Make Sure the Piece is Unique

You should come up with unique ideas to ensure that your content stands out to the readers. A quick glance through the internet, and you will find a pool of information on the same topic. It might seem challenging to come up with new topics; however, there are ways you can come up with topics that are still uncharted.

You can conduct surveys to find out the pain points of your audience. Leverage social media channels to find out what is trending. Several tools allow you to find the most popular topics. This is the first step to creating unique content.

Run-of-the-mill content is not enough if your aim to make long-lasting impressions. If you are looking to heighten your consumer’s awareness about your brand, it is time you start drafting engaging content.

5. Support Your Content with Facts, Figures, and Graphics

Adding statistics, quotes, and graphics increase the credibility of your content. It helps establish that you know about the topic. When you present facts and figures in the content, you indirectly let the readers know that you have conducted thorough research. This influences them to trust you.

According to research conducted by Sussex University, adding graphs, facts, numbers, and other measurable elements in content gives the readers a more precise understanding. Just remember to include proper explanations along with the figures you are mentioning.

The more credible your content, the better your inspiration on them. And the more inspired they get; they will follow you.

6. Check for Grammatical Errors as well as Plagiarism

To err is to be human, and edit is divine! Let’s get one thing clear- if your content is laden with grammatical errors, it will be difficult for people to read. No one likes reading blogs and articles with grammatical errors such as spelling mistakes, incorrect tense, and improper punctuation. So, be sure that you check your content for such flaws before publishing the same.

Tools such as Grammarly ensure that minute errors are rectified.

Also, plagiarism is a big no-no. No one accepts plagiarized content. It is all about being unique. If you blatantly copy your article from someplace, you lose any uniqueness whatsoever. So be sure that you rectify all grammatical errors and plagiarism.

Proofread and edit your content. Check for such inconsistencies to give your content a stand-out quality.

7. Be Careful with Your Tone

Believe it or not, your tone plays a huge role in determining how you connect with your audience and how they will perceive your brand. Whether you want to maintain a formal tone throughout your content pieces, or you want to keep it casual depends on who you are writing for.

The tone you chose to write in becomes the voice of your brand. And it should remain consistent.

Understanding the difference between the tones can help you craft the most appropriate messages for your audience. And the more relevant your tone, the better your connection with the readers.

8. Check Social Media to Find the Hottest and Most Relevant Topics

Social media is the world right now. Everyone is on social media. To get your brand noticed, you need to connect with your audience, and most of them are on social media.

Different channels, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, have risen to the peak of their popularity. And all businesses, regardless of the sector they are in, are opting for the various social media platforms.

If you want to know what is trending and what should you write about (to connect with your audience), check the different social media channels. You cannot go wrong with social media. Publish content related to whatever is in demand.

Incorporate trending topics, most viewed articles, viral videos, and the latest news in your content.

For instance, 56% of B2B marketers find YouTube useful when marketing their product. So, you can try out vlogging as a part of your content marketing strategy to build brand awareness.

With 9 out of 10 businesses finding LinkedIn an essential marketing tool, you can find topics that interest your audience. Also, with 72% of adults using Facebook, conducting live events can help engage your audience with ease.

To know what works best in the current landscape, leverage the different social media channels.

9. Talk More than Just about Your Product/ Brand

B2B brands fare better with consumers when they use emotive rather than rational marketing messages.

Honestly, no customer likes it when all they see and everything they see is brand promotion. Yes, promoting your brand to grab the attention of the audience is necessary; however, shoving it in the face of the customers are not going to make the cut.

When promoting, you should be more than just a brand. Your content should appeal to the audience. It should have an emotional aspect to it.

For instance, this advertisement banner from Nike stands out. Not because it's flashy or extraordinary, but because it conveys a message that appeals to the emotions of the audience. The message is strong and syncs perfectly with the brand. It feels human!

(Picture Courtesy: Nike)

The main motive is to show that there is a human behind all of it. The moment your audience connects with that human aspect of your brand, it will become easier for them to recognize your brand.

To Conclude

The popularity of your brand determines the growth chart of your company. And given the future trends, the best way to flourish is by using unique content. The process might be tedious, but with the right direction and effort, you can use your content to establish your brand’s reputation. Also, it might seem like a time-consuming process, but the truth is that using content to create brand awareness is bound to bear good results.

If your content is influential and attracts more traffic, your business will reach the epitome of success.

Work on crafting unique content and witness your audiences to become aware of your brand!