It’s easy to understand how influential the internet has become. Without having to do intensive research, we can easily see how dependent we’ve become on this technology. That’s why brands aiming to be competitive these days will need to have a presence on the internet.
With the sheer numbers of people accessible over the internet, and many millions constantly conducting online searches, the best move would be to make your brand available to them; be it for products or services, or sometimes just plain information.
Latecomers to the internet-era are definitely missing out, considering how brand awareness is essential for your business. The potential to increase brand awareness and development here is not one to pass on.
To help you understand why the digital approach is important, we’ve compiled a few key points for you. By the end of this article, we expect you to jump at the next chance you get to have your brand online!
5 Reasons Why Brand Awareness is Essential
1. A different kind of customer interaction
One of the primary reasons why the internet is a great place for brands is immersion. Websites are able to create a virtual storefront. The twist with this one is that you’ve got different sets of options.
Check out this screenshot of Coca-Cola’s website. Imagine each of these individual pages as rooms in your store. With each room, you can target the specific needs of your customers. With this expansion available, your brand would be better able to be of service.
Video calling, for one, would increase the capacity of phone call inquiries. Customers complaining of damage or asking for product assistance can do so with a visual aide.
Additionally, customers will be able to reach you more often and with greater ease. Take chatbots as an example. Using these will allow your site to reply to basic inquiries or appointments.
Overall you’ve got a platform with a host of options available in terms of communication. Be it the ability to communicate ideas or to communicate with your audience. Either way, you are guaranteed a certain improvement in service.
2. Non-exclusivity of availability strategies
The past has shown us that building a brand needs a ton of cash. Fortunately, the age of the internet has brought about new ways to reach customers. The best part? You can do a lot of this at a much lower cost.
One of the most effective methods of brand building is SEO. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is basically streamlining your website so it ranks higher on the search engine results page(SERP).
The thing is, SEO ranking can be tackled through different strategies. Often, people make use of a combination of different strategies to make the most out of it.
The use of most of these strategies will depend on your company’s specific needs; however, some strategies apply to most brands.
Take link building as an example. Simply put, link building involves building relationships with other sites. The fruits of these relationships are links and backlinks.
These are simply links leading from one site to another. The more links you have, the more you improve your rank.
This works because this tells Google that your site is authoritative. The authority of a site is one of the main ranking considerations. That’s why it is seen as an important SEO component in this link building report from LinkDoctor.
3. Approachable through different channels
Odds are most people you know are on some form of social media. It could be Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. The point is, you can be sure there are thousands of people online at any given time.
You’d be missing out if you weren’t making the most of these platforms. The sheer amount of traffic social media gets should be enough to convince you. It’s like having a sign right in the middle of a busy highway.
The bonus here is that with quality content, you can expect your content to advertise itself. And with social media, the sharing of information happens so fast.
One individual’s share would instantly reach all their contacts.
That’s why it’s so common to find websites with pages that can be shared. While it’s nothing new, it still holds promise for anyone trying to build reach.
It’s pretty much free advertising for you! The trick is making sure you’ve got something worth sharing.
4. Advertising matters
Speaking of advertising, you’ll find advertising online is friendlier to your budget. Generally, that’s thanks to the possibility of the Pay-Per-Click option with most hosts.
Pay-Per-Click, or PPC, simply means paying only for those times when the ad was clicked. This is supported by ad services like Google which let you set a budget cap right where you need it to be.
Another thing to take into consideration with ads is the ability to target them. This means choosing a specific group and focusing your attention and finances where it will be most worthwhile.
You can imagine how this makes everything more efficient. In this way, you can be sure you’re talking to the audience you’ve been targeting. That’s one way to limit overall expenses.
5. The flexibility of digital media
Lastly, did you know that most people use their smartphones to search the internet?
Statista reports that more than half of organic searches in the US were done with a mobile device. What this tells us is that there is a larger share of traffic originating from mobile users.
And the fact that people carry their smartphones around with them all the time, also tells us that you can reach more people more often. Anytime someone does a search on the internet, there’s a chance that they’ll find your brand.
Taking this into account, you’ll need to make sure your site is responsive. Do that well, and you’ll see an improvement in brand reach through mobile devices.
Conclusion
What all this tells us is that the internet is a gold mine. The dependent variables are really what tools you have available. And the best part is–the most important ones are available already!
The challenge here is making sure you’re able to use them efficiently. As with anything, you’ll be on a learning curve. Work your way through it and you can be sure to see improvements.
Become familiar with available new developments. The internet is the next big adventure for any brand that hasn’t adopted it yet. As long as you put the work in, brand awareness shouldn’t be a problem.
