The term brand recognition is used to determine how well consumers can identify your brand from visual or audio cues like your logo, colors, slogan, products, or even song used in a commercial. The bigger your brand the more recognition it will have. Think of big brands whose names are now used as synonyms of products, for example, band-aids, popsicles, or post-its; in reality, they’re all brand names. But let’s not set the bar too high (just yet!).
Working on brand recognition might seem like a tough nut to crack – but it doesn’t have to be. As soon as you set specific goals you can start engaging your audience with digital promotions because generating positive noise around your brand is a great way to improve its reputation and recognition. We will now take a look at different steps to brand recognition and how online promotions can be used in each one of them.
Brand non-recognition: get out there with social media giveaways and boldly promote your brand and products
Social media giveaways are the most straightforward type of digital promotions, as they’re easy to set up and finalize, and take just a few seconds to participate in. They generate brand engagement and interaction between the user and the brand.
When your brand is a startup or a small business that hasn’t yet gained much attention from the target audience, you should totally put your bets on social media giveaways. Apart from their simplicity, which is undoubtedly their biggest advantage, they also require very little investment – and that’s something important for small brands.
Sweepstakes increase social media engagement, attract new followers to your social media profiles and concurrently boost brand recognition and awareness. Take a look at the above example of a comment giveaway organized by an organic products brand. The giveaway did its job for the organizer: the brand gained visibility, grew their following and exposed more users to their products. But there’s a way to take brand recognition even further.
Instead of asking users to explain why they want to win, ask them what they want to win! And instead of raffling a product bundle, give away a gift card to your store for a product of their choice. Ask your followers to mention their friends in the comment section (so that your giveaway can reach more users) and explain which product they’d like to try. You can even encourage them to visit your website to discover the new collection or the best-selling items. Apart from driving traffic to your website you also get to expose your target audience to your products.
Brand recognition: get ahead of your competitors and work towards brand preference
Has your brand already gained some recognition and your target audience can recognize your logo, products, or slogan? That’s great news because your customers can actually recognize your brand now and that can play a big part when it comes to their purchases. But your job is not done yet! You now have to put some effort into maintaining your brand recognition and gaining a positive reputation because your next-door competitor is most likely working on the same thing.
Discount codes are a great way to attract new customers and put the spotlight on your brand and products. By offering special discounts and offers you get to acquire paying customers but also retain the existing ones. Discount code distribution has proven to be a successful way to increase brand recognition.
Launch a coupon campaign and give away discount vouchers to all users that share their email address with your brand, and remember that the more attractive the offer the more likely you are to convert prospects into customers. Have you ever wondered why discount codes actually work? The principle of urgency and fear of missing out play the major parts here – if the user doesn’t redeem the code before its expiry date they won’t get to save money, and that’s what often pushes users to make use of the discount.
Brand preference: incorporate gamification for added value
Brand preference is yet another stage of brand recognition but it’s actually much more than just recognition… At this stage, your customers are likely to lean towards your brand when it comes to their purchase choices. It might be because your prices are more attractive or your products are of better quality than most of your competitors. And this is when it’s time to put extra effort into working on customer relationships.
Offering great post-purchase customer service and following up with (more!) discounts are some ways of adding value to your products. But apart from positive experiences, online users also look for fun, engagement and entertainment and they don’t necessarily have to find it on online gaming websites.
Differentiate your products and brand from the crowd by incorporating branded mini-games. Additionally, you will generate a new experience for your audience, convert more users, and better position your business.
Take a look at this example of a branded Memory game that can be launched by any business! In this case, the example shows a gamified promotion organized by a fashion brand. Users looked for matching images for a chance to win a gift voucher to the organizing store.
Gamification is a great solution for brands whose audiences are engaged and respond well to digital promotions. As branded games leave a positive impression, your audience grows more attached to your brand, putting you on the right path to customer loyalty.
Brand loyalty: attract lifelong customers and brand ambassadors
From brand recognition to brand loyalty – the ultimate goal for many brands. If you’ve managed to position your brand in the market, attract customers and generate buzz around your products… You’ve done a great job. But once you create customer relationships you can’t just abandon your customers. You need to foster the existing ties.
Loyalty schemes go way back. Before loyalty cards were introduced, people used to cut out barcodes from cereal or biscuit boxes. Nowadays, we still use loyalty cards but there are also more digital solutions for loyalty programs.
So if you’re looking to encourage customer loyalty, here’s an idea for you; distribute unique codes to your customers every time they make a purchase. Invite them to accumulate five or ten codes for special rewards like prizes and discounts.
Take a look at this example. The organizing brand was giving out unique codes for each $20 spent at their petrol station. Once the user accumulated and validated five codes they received a $5 discount for their next purchase. This kind of promotions will drive your customers back to your store. Because who doesn’t like to save money?
We hope that all these examples have given you a better understanding of brand recognition and digital promotions. But don’t worry if something’s still unclear – contact our customer support team!
