For small businesses it can seem like an uphill struggle to get your brand out there. Matthew Rogers, Head of search at gift retailer toxicfox.co.uk, highlights some key tactics for small business to get their metaphorical foot in the door when it comes to brand awareness.
Social Media
It doesn’t cost anything to set up profiles on the major social platforms, and they each offer setup sections for businesses. Spending time developing your story and how you look on social platforms may not seem necessary but will certainly be worth it.
This can be a great place for people to review you, interact with you and to get an idea of what you are doing and why they should care. In terms of brand awareness it can be relatively cheap to advertise on some of these platforms and with the geographical and demographical targeting you can do, it offers a way in which you can laser target the right people who need to know about your brand.
Trade Shows
Trade shows are great places to find like-minded people who can help share their success and the methods they used to achieve it. By having a stall, or even just by attending, you can start to hand out your business card and look to build connections and showcase your brand.
You are after all your brands chief ambassador and if you’re excited about your product then this will pass along the chain and could offer new opportunities to expand your brand awareness.
Talking To People
In a similar way to the above you should treat all opportunities, when talking to new people, as a point to build on that brand awareness. It doesn’t have to be some crazy stunt; it could be as simple as attending a local event and talking to people so they are aware that you exist and can learn what you do.
Like the trade show, remember you are the ambassador for your brand so enthuse people about what you are doing and the word will spread.
Branded Items
This is one particularly close to our heart at toxicfox.co.uk as we supply a number of well-made and competitively priced promotional items to top brands across the UK. Use these items to gift your loyal customers, sponsor events and just get your brand into people’s hands.
By gifting items which are commonly used your aim should be that your brand message, or at least identity, will be on the tip of their tongue when they need your product. It also means that you are getting regular exposure to the right people on a consistent basis.
Local Press
You will no doubt follow your local press, so why not talk to them about opportunities for coverage? Within your community you are adding a service which people will want to know about. There are many ways with which you can engage the local press, with ideas from feature pieces to sponsorships.
Being local will tend to be cheaper than national press associations and will show your connection and relevance to more people in your community.
Entrepreneur Sites
Sites such as these can be great bastions of information, offering fantastic insight and information for new entrepreneurs and helping you garner your own brand exposure. Sharing your knowledge and experience offers a fantastic opportunity to expand your awareness while helping others in a similar situation.
These sites not only offer insight and training for free, they create a community for you to engage with and build relations in, which will help build your brands profile.
Take Away
Through working and learning from others you can accelerate the growth of your business, which is why building out your brand even for a small business needs to be a consideration. With the tips above I have highlighted some of my top and low-cost options for brand building. Of course if you have deeper pockets then there are many other ways for you to spend that money in developing brand awareness, from TV to radio to PR stunts. But for many SMEs the budget isn’t there so you need to be more economical.
Remember that as a business owner you are the best brand evangelist you have and being excited about what you are selling will help build your brand and build confidence in what you are doing. And if you are in the UK and need promotional items then I implore you to visit toxicfox.co.uk for the best deal!