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 โperformance marketingโ for years will apply short-term ‘performance marketing’ thinking to brand building. They’ll run a few months of โbrand adsโ 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:
– ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐: Mental availability means that buyers think about your brand in buying situations, not just that they aware of your brand.
– ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐: Category entry points (CEPs) are the triggers, reasons, or occasions that cause someone to consider buying a product in a specific category.
– ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐: 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.
– ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ: Building mental availability requires ongoing, consistent presence and refreshing associations.
– ๐๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ต๐ป๐ถ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐: 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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