Brand awareness is a measurement of how familiar consumers are with your business, its services or products. Creating a well-established and robust identity will help potential customers generate a preference for your brand and help build a trusting relationship with them.
In a recent poll, we found that the marketing tools most used by businesses in Huddersfield were social media and public relations at 42%. Local networking events were not so popular; however, due to the circumstances of the pandemic and restrictions on social gatherings, this is not that surprising.
There are many efficient methods of increasing brand awareness in your local area; however, some tools may be more suited to your business than others.
To help you define your marketing strategy, Huddersfield-based PR and marketing agency, KC Communications, has put together five ways to build brand awareness in Huddersfield.
#1 Social Media
In a world where you can communicate with anyone from around the world directly from a smartphone, your business needs to be making the most out of the convenience and accessibility of social media, no matter where and what sector your business is in.
Although you may believe that your business has no interest on social media, staying up to date with what is happening in your sector and what your competitors are doing can help you develop more as a business.
When developing a social media strategy to increase local engagement, consider the 80-20 rule. Use 80% of your content to inform, educate, or entertain your audience whether that’s with a competition to win a free meal at your restaurant or behind the scene content in store. Then use the other 20% to promote to ‘sell’.
Share content that will benefit your local area, including recruitment updates, business wins and insight on trending topics. Local areas often have hashtags or community groups where you can get involved and target people in your area directly.
National Awareness Days can also be instrumental for brand awareness as well as an increase in engagement. Some examples coming up include Cycle to Work Day (August 6th) Stand Up For Food Month (September) or National Charity Day (5th September). Consider what your business could do to participate.
#2 PR
Having regular, positive press coverage in various local publications will help create a strong brand image for your target audience. It’s important that you share business wins with the community to build trust and awareness, such as new hires, contract wins, business awards, and CSR (corporate social responsibility).
Some online publications will include a link back to your website, directing traffic directly to your website, leading to goal conversions and lead generation. Getting links back to your website can also help improve your keyword visibility and authority, which will also help direct more traffic your way.
Some business publications run regular features that business professionals from any sector can take part in. For example, Yorkshire Post runs a ‘My Passion’ feature where people share an interest they have outside of their work and how it has affected their lives.
Huddersfield Unlimited also runs an ‘Interviewing…’ feature for business leaders to share their background and thoughts on Huddersfield as a business hub, as well as “Industry Insights”, a new feature where businesses can share advice and insight into their sector with the Huddersfield business community.
You should also be aware of any local business awards and look for categories your business or employees are eligible. For example, Eaton Smith runs a monthly Business Award for the Kirklees and Calderdale areas. Huddersfield Examiner also runs the biggest and longest-standing Business Awards in the area, with a history of recognising and rewarding successful companies.
#3 Networking Events
Networking is an excellent way of building brand awareness among potential customers, stakeholders or employees. By meeting other business professionals face to face, they are more likely to remember yourself and your brand than simply hearing about your business.
Local networking events also help showcase local businesses and what is available on your doorstep – you don’t need to travel to Leeds or Manchester when Huddersfield has some award-winning local businesses with extraordinary talent.
The HD8 Network holds a monthly networking event that brings together various people, places and resources in our local community. With events hoping to return in Mid July, we are likely to see more events returning to the local calendar. In the meantime, there are many virtual networking events you can attend straight from home.
Huddersfield Business Week is also set to return in October, with plenty of opportunities to get to know other professionals in the local area and providing a platform for businesses to share knowledge and best practice, enhancing the outcomes of local companies.
#4 SEO
Search engine optimization is a tool that every business seeking an online presence needs to be aware of. People are much more likely to click on a site that appears high up in search engine rankings than one located at the bottom or on the next page.
An easy place to start would be updating meta information on your website and ensuring relevant industry and location focused keywords are used. If your not sure what your target audience is searching online, you can use Google Trends and Answer The Public to find out popular questions around your industry. If you have a large enough budget, you can invest in programs such as SEMrush and MozPro for further insights or an SEO specialist.
The great thing about SEO is that even if your business is small you can still position higher than your competitors and attract more visitors to your page.
Another easy way to make sure you appear in the top search results is to have an optimised Google My Business account. This section should include correct business information, including company name, opening hours, and address, which will help your company attract more footfall and website traffic.
For more information about how you can improve your brand awareness and tips for using PR and Social Media, check out the KC Communications website and follow them on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for more.
To submit your own industry insight feature, email us today using your company name and headline.