How can small businesses increase sales through brand awareness

 

Brand awareness is extremely important if a business wants to succeed in a competitive business environment. As an entrepreneur, on the lookout for growth and success, it is necessary that you work on increasing your brand awareness. Brand awareness is a marketing concept defined as a consumer's ability to recognize or recall the brand in sufficient detail to make a purchase. It is related to the trace in memory, which we can measure as the consumer's ability to identify the brand under different conditions.

In common parlance, brand awareness means the number of times your brand or product name comes up in conversations. The more often your brand name pops up, the better chances you have for generating interest and sales. So, proper brand awareness can have a positive impact on your product sales, and hence your business’s growth.

Importance of brand awareness in driving consumer Behaviour

Consumer buying decisions are based on brand awareness. During the product selection, consumers generally go for those brands which they recall. It may also be that the consumer recalls a product in the context of a specific product category. However, awareness increases the probability that other products of that same brand also become a part of the consumer’s consideration set. Like in the case of Nestle’s Maggie, noodles as well as its spice sachets ‘Maggie Masala Magic’, sold separately, are also hot sales.

Brand awareness is, thus, necessary for two important reasons:

It increases sales

Consumers choose brands with strong reputations. The visibility of your brand will embed a picture in the consumer’s mind. Growing your brand will help to boost your sales. It will give you a competitive advantage. When people are more familiar with your brand, they are more likely to buy your products. On the contrary, if they do not associate your business’s name or logo, they might opt for something else. Let them know what makes you or your product unique. Visibility influences buyers’ trust in you. Trust can drive sales. However, you must also be careful of customer service to your client. Poor service can hurt brand awareness.

It increases loyalty

By building brand awareness, businesses can also build customer loyalty. It is a critical component of increasing revenue. Finding new customers can cost many times more than selling to your existing customer base. However, a small percentage of customer retention can drive a 25-95% increase in your sales revenue.

Strategies for Brand Awareness

Certain marketing tactics can help small businesses in creating brand awareness for their products and services. Marketing strategies help in promoting a brand message in a target market. Some of the brand awareness strategies that small business owners can implement are:

Create a logo and tagline

A creative and catchy logo for your small business can help you stand out in the crowd. You need not spend thousands of dimes to make a logo ready. If you are even slightly creative, there are a number of free platforms like Canva, Designhill, 99designs, and many more, where you can create a design of your own. Otherwise, you can always hire an expert to design one for you.

Create a catchy tagline, as well, to jingle with your logo. Some taglines become the song for the ears. And believe me, it helps retain customers always. The Tata Sky tagline, “Isko laga dala to life zingala’ has never left buzzing in our eardrums. We are the proud customers of the brand since the time it arrived in the market. So, spending some time, energy, and money on the logo and tagline is worth it!

Make Social Media Work for your business

Small business owners! Why worry when Social Media is here? It has a huge share in creating many renowned brands today. Make use of the easiest marketing tools like Facebook Page, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. to make your presence felt in the targeted customer segment. Social media penetration can never be overlooked if you want to create a buzzing sound in your prospective customer’s mind. Even large companies with strong market sense have pages on these sites. Think on creating a longer relationship with the users to make them your customers. Create content that imprints in their minds, so that your brand becomes the first name they recall during their purchase spree. But make sure that you do not overwhelm them with too many posts.

Tie-up with Social Media Influencers

Influencers have a huge fan following of their own. So whatever, they market, their fans agree to it. Hence, cooperating with them can help you reach a further audience, which otherwise would have been out of your reach. Influencers help spread your product and services’ content, and thereby build brand awareness for you. They also legitimize your message that the audience finds hard to not believe. However, you need to choose the right influencer for building awareness for your brand. There needs to be synchronicity in what they do or believe in, and what your brand stands for.

Work on Search Engine Optimisation

These days, business is for those who rank high on Google pages, who are search engine optimized! According to Search Engine Watch, businesses listed at the top of Google’s search, receive around 35% of the traffic. This percentage decrease with descending listing rank. Small businesses thus need to put more effort into this aspect to build brand awareness. SEO is not just about keywords; it includes technical aspects as well, for example, page loads, page feeds, and loading speed. You can try out some free tools like Bing Webmaster, Google Analytics, MozCast, etc. for doing the SEO part or you can take the help of some SEO professional. SEO really works for your visibility among your competitors.

Partnering with local businesses

Always remember, your customers are everywhere. All you need is a proper search. Local markets can be the first step to your growth. Partnering with other local businesses can propel your visibility and brand awareness. It is like working with social media influencers. You can always team up with respected complementary businesses of your locality. That way, it protects the market share of your partner and increases awareness of your product. If you are a caterer of energy bars, try tying up with the local gyms.

Keep Doing Remarketing Campaigns

It’s not unusual for buyers to visit your shop or website, and leave without buying. Remarketing helps to convert the unconverted buyer into your customer. Remind your customers about your presence from time to time. Run engaging ads or offer freebies on your products on your websites, and other websites as well. Once they start seeing your business everywhere, they will definitely make another attempt to complete their incomplete business with you. Purchase! The benefit of remarketing is that it will give a larger-than-life image to your small business. This way, in no time, your business will become larger in the true sense.

These first-hand brand awareness strategies will help your small business grow leaps and bounds. So readers! do add any other strategy you know for our small business owner friends. Comments are always welcome!

Tactics for Small Businesses to Stay Afloat and Grow during Economic Downturn

 

 

Global economic indicators suggest that economies worldwide are entering the phase of recession. Many countries are on the verge of total collapse as they are unable to repay their loans. Sri Lanka has been seeking economic packages to run the country. Pakistan and Nepal are also going the same way. Their Governments have already asked their people to cut down on unnecessary consumption. Lebanon is also ailing economically. Images of long queues of people struggling to buy fuels and essential commodities are everywhere.

Developed countries are also facing the brunt. Earlier it was the COVID-19 pandemic, and now the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. It has given a major jolt to the commodity markets worldwide. The countries being the key exporters of many commodities such as wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizers, and energy, the entire production and trade is under disruption. Prices of wheat and sunflower seed oil have been skyrocketing as Ukraine has been unable to export the commodities to the European countries. Energy prices have soared. Living expenditures are at their height. Not only Europe, but Africa is also suffering due to the war. Inflation is at its peak in the United States. Recession has begun to set its foot in India as well. The world over is becoming hawkish under such circumstances. Investors are becoming awry of the markets. Recession, for sure, is at our doors.

Economic downturn hits all: developed and underdeveloped countries, rich as well as middle-class people. It brings a fall in demand for goods and commodities, and hence a fall in the aggregate sales for businesses. Large businesses have greater resilience to cope with economic shocks. But, small businesses are more vulnerable to changes in the economy and get hit harder for the reasons cited below:

• The performance of the entire business depends upon the competencies of just one or a few persons.
• As they are already small, downsizing, to cope with rising costs, is also difficult.
• Small businesses have less diversified economic activities, and this makes them susceptible to poor demand-related shocks.
• Financially also, they are much weaker.
• Their inventories are also limited.
• They depend heavily on credit.

Handling and surviving recessionary trend, is, therefore, more difficult for small businesses than the bigger ones. However, small businesses can adopt some strategic tactics to manage their businesses during downturns and grow. Strategies may vary with resources, capabilities and abilities, and perception of threats and opportunities. An entrepreneur’s response to such downturns should be guided by the cyclical nature of the industry they are in. The extent to which recession is affecting their competitive environment should also be taken into consideration.

If you are a small business owner, below are some strategies to strengthen your business during an economic downturn.

Realign your business model to create multiple revenue streams: 

You can’t stick to just one specific, product, service, idea, or strategy, even when the economic sky is clear and blue. You need to be proactive and try everything to understand what works for you and then steer accordingly. It’s even more important to pivot when the aggregate demand for products and services slows down. If you had a B2C model, try going B2B, and the other way round. Make sure you are venturing into the allied areas just to ensure that the deviation does not pull you off the track. If you sold soaps to customers before, try selling soap-base to small soap-making businesses as well.

Break free from the local market mindset: 

One need not sell just locally when there is an option to sell globally. Businesses today need not be the traditional types. There is no need to worry about filling the pipeline with inquiries to get confirmed orders. There are readymade platforms with ready-to-serve customers. Go digital. Make your store available in the online space. If you already have one, try out other online marketplaces as well.

Monitor your inventories well: 

Monitoring inventories do not mean holding those so tight that might result in sales loss. During the slowdown, demand slows. Hence, inventories need to be such that it's neither more nor less. It’s about maintaining a balance between converting inventory to cash and retaining the ability to fulfill new orders. Small businesses may take the help of low-cost tools to manage their inventories. Some of those are Zoho inventory, Orderry, Quickbooks Commerce, Vyapar, etc.

Scan your environment for possible association with other businesses: 

During the economic slowdown, people are on the lookout for bargain deals. It’s tempting to get butter for half the price with their usual bread buys, right. So, networking and associating with businesses similar in line with your business can be a great way to push sales. Consider forming alliances with other businesses. If you sell flowers, collaborate with your next-door chocolatier. Your special friend would always appreciate some flowers with chocolates. That way, you may also discover new opportunities, customers, staff, and business partners with little or no cost.

Keep investing in your existing customers:

It’s comparatively cheap to maintain your existing customers than to acquire new ones. This is true for all seasons and times. But, during the economic slowdown, people cut down on their expenses. Persuading new customers to try your products and services for free for a short time can be a method to retain your customers. Therefore, it's crucial to invest in your loyal consumers. Promote the goods and services to this clientele. Give discounts, freebies, or supplementary offers while putting an emphasis on establishing long-lasting connections. Your clients' problems should all be resolved. Let your consumers know how much you respect their experience and pleasure. You can navigate challenging market conditions if you have a highly happy consumer base.

Keep an eye on your spending: 

The path to recession is long and hard on the wallet. So reduce wasteful spending. Pay strict attention to your budget and cash flow. Of course, cutting costs without sacrificing high-quality goods and services is difficult. However, being innovative with your company expenses may be incredibly beneficial. Make sure you have a solid understanding of your financials and a defined business vision.

Worse has not yet begun. However, you must plan how to make your small firm recession-proof as a business owner. It's critical to take preemptive measures before the economy plunges much more if you want to stay afloat.