Brand awareness is a key metric for advertisers and chief marketing officers (CMOs) that helps them understand the level of familiarity consumers have with their brand or company, and knowing which targeting option is best for brand awareness can make or break success.
In today’s fiercely competitive business landscape, where countless brands are actively competing for consumer attention amidst a cluttered digital environment, building and maintaining strong brand awareness is more important than ever for a company’s success. The digital landscape is saturated with ads, content, and messages from brands everywhere, making it increasingly difficult for businesses to stand out.
Effective brand awareness not only aids in distinguishing a brand from its competitors but also ensures a brand captures consumer attention amidst the overwhelming amount of clutter online. Recognition and familiarity lead to increased customer loyalty and trust, and ultimately, higher sales. In a world where consumers are bombarded with a colorful array of choices, being top-of-mind is essential for a brand to be considered, making brand awareness an indispensable asset for long-term business growth and market relevance. At its core, brand awareness advertising refers to the extent to which consumers are familiar with a brand, recognize it, and associate it with certain attributes or products. So which targeting option is best for achieving brand awareness?
Which Targeting Option is Best for Achieving Brand Awareness?
Advertisers and CMOs engage in a variety of marketing and advertising activities, but don’t often get to see how the technology is actually working. It’s important to understand the nuances of each primary way of targeting so you can think through a campaign on a tactical level.
In general, here are the best targeting options for achieving brand awareness (+ corresponding brand awareness KPIs) for top brand awareness channels and tactics:
It is important to develop a clear, consistent approach to brand media that resonates with the target audience and uses memorable and distinctive messaging and visuals. This requires an understanding of the target audience and their preferences, as well as keeping up with industry trends and changes in consumer behavior.
Benefits of High Brand Awareness
There are three core benefits to achieving high brand awareness:
- Consumers are more likely to trust the brand: A strong brand can increase consumer loyalty, trust, and willingness to pay a premium for its products or services.
- Consumers consider the brand when making a purchase: strong brand awareness can help businesses differentiate themselves from their competitors and increase their market share.
- Consumers recommend the brand to others: It can lead to increased word-of-mouth advertising, as people are more likely to recommend a brand they are familiar with and trust
The importance of brand awareness is evident in the many ways it can impact a business’s success.
How Can I Measure Brand Awareness?
The targeting and objective settings in the chart above assume that brand awareness is measured consistently from channel to channel. The problem is… it’s not. For advertisers and CMOs, measuring brand awareness is a necessary part of evaluating the effectiveness of paid media at growing brand equity. But there are various methods for measuring brand awareness. Here are three common brand awareness KPIs:
- Surveys: An online brand awareness survey is a good way to get insight into how many people are currently aware of your brand. You also can run them as targeted ads. Surveys help businesses understand how many people are familiar with their brand and how they perceive it.
- Online analytics: By tracking website traffic and search engine rankings, you can understand how often people are searching for your brand (see “Search” in the table above).
- Social media engagement: This can provide valuable insights into how often people are mentioning the brand on social media platforms and how much engagement those mentions are generating. The more your mentions are, the higher your brand awareness is.
There are also several levels of brand awareness – some theorize regarding a hierarchical brand pyramid of aspects, but aided brand awareness and unaided brand awareness are undoubtedly its base. And they are are NOT created equally:
- Aided brand awareness: recognition of a specific brand or product from a list of possible names offered as a prompt
- Unaided brand awareness: recognition of a specific brand or product without being prompted with possible names.(Source: Wikitionary)
Beyond this are the various tiers leading up to brand equity and brand value. For more, read about the 2 core theories of brand equity.
The Role of Brand Awareness in Brand Growth
In today’s digital age, brand awareness has become more important than ever. With the rise of e-commerce and online shopping, consumers have access to a wider variety of products and brands than ever before. This means that building strong brand awareness is especially important to ensure that a business’s products/services are noticed by potential customers. Luckily, social media and other digital marketing channels have made it easier for businesses to build and maintain brand awareness, since they can reach large audiences with targeted messages and creative campaigns.
In conclusion, brand awareness is a critical component of any successful marketing strategy. It helps build trust with consumers, influences purchasing decisions, and differentiates a business from its competitors. Advertisers and CMOs must invest in building and maintaining strong brand awareness by engaging in various marketing and advertising activities and keeping up with industry trends and changes in consumer behavior. As the business environment becomes more competitive and digital, having a strong brand awareness is more important than ever.
Sources Referenced + Suggested Reading:
- Brand Equity + Why It Matters for Growth
- How to Grow Brand Equity? A Framework [Barbie Case Study]
- How to Launch a New Brand [Awareness Campaigns 101]
- Marketing Chart | Which targeting option is best for achieving brand awareness
- Marketing Chart | Brand awareness metrics