CEOs, there is a good chance that your marketing team is going to come to you to discuss the need for your company to focus on brand awareness.
Both the data and anecdotal evidence show increasing interest in the topic. Every day there are multiple posts in my LinkedIn feed about the need for brand awareness. It’s not just talk – data from Google shows that searches for brand awareness have been growing significantly over the past few years and have surged 27% year-over-year.
Why the increasing interest? Three factors:
– Marketing teams missing their targets
– ‘Performance marketing’ tactics falling short
– Research showing improved mental availability drives growth
As marketers chase the next growth driver, brand awareness becomes the hot new tactic.
But here’s the catch: without the right approach it won’t deliver as expected.
Many B2B SaaS marketers who have been focused on ‘performance marketing’ for years will apply short-term ‘performance marketing’ thinking to brand building. They’ll run a few months of ‘brand ads’ via display, YouTube or other limited channels, see minimal impact, and then move on to the next tactic. This approach misses the fundamental shift required.
As a CEO, how can you tell if your marketing team is taking the right approach?
The strategy should address these components:
– 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: Mental availability means that buyers think about your brand in buying situations, not just that they aware of your brand.
– 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀: Category entry points (CEPs) are the triggers, reasons, or occasions that cause someone to consider buying a product in a specific category.
– 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: To build mental availability, it’s essential to develop strong, distinct creative that forges emotional connections and creates memorable associations in the minds of prospects. Standard creative often fails in this regard, as research shows a significant percentage of advertising is wasted due to a lack of recall and emotional engagement with prospects.
– 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: Building mental availability requires ongoing, consistent presence and refreshing associations.
– 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀: It is likely that you are not seeing any reports that are measuring awareness, reports that measure changes will have to be developed.
If your marketing team is not addressing these components, their ‘brand awareness’ efforts are likely to fail. The correct approach may seem complicated, but like all marketing, success lies in thinking about your prospects and treating them like people.
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