Many businesses closed their doors permanently after they failed to recover from the losses caused by the pandemic. Some were lucky enough to make the necessary adjustments and continued to serve the needs of their customers by maintaining an online presence.
The situation has improved over a year after the health crisis started. But businesses have to continue working hard to make their presence felt in the market. Due to this, they have a lot of work to do to increase brand awareness without being insensitive to the current situation where new variants of the virus have emerged.
Here are the ways that businesses can increase brand awareness in the middle of a health crisis.
Connect with the Customers
Businesses should continue to connect with their customers online. This allowed them to stay afloat during the crisis and can increase brand awareness in the market. And with many restrictions lifted, businesses can expand their marketing activities to extend their reach in the market.
Businesses can also check brand awareness by sending surveys to new and existing customers. This allows the business to know how these customers became acquainted with the brand. They can even conduct targeted surveys for selected customers to check their knowledge about the brand.
Analyzing their website traffic provides businesses an idea about any changes in brand awareness. They can use Google Analytics to monitor website data, including who visited the website, the visitor’s behavior on the website, links that the visitor clicked, and if the visitor returned to the website.
Businesses can use the data they collect to enhance the website to make it appealing to potential customers. It can also help them improve the website’s search engine optimization and increase the traffic to it.
Become Socially Responsible
Being socially responsible shows that the business is also helping people in the middle of the pandemic. When businesses demonstrate corporate social responsibility (CSR), they enhance their reputation in the community. This also helps increase brand awareness as people will view the business in a positive light.
So, businesses should not only focus on making a profit during the pandemic. They should also assist whenever necessary. The current surge in cases has started to affect both their customers and employees. Due to this, businesses can help them by providing them with a safe and healthy place to shop and work.
Businesses can also go the extra mile to help people who are struggling financially. For instance, they can increase the salaries of their employees whenever possible. They can also provide discounts to essential workers or suspend delivery fees for people who cannot leave their homes to shop. These simple acts of kindness can encourage people to patronize their products and increase brand awareness in the market.
While helping the public during the crisis, businesses can increase awareness about their brand by putting their logo or brand on the items they donate. Business owners can acquire a laser-etching machine so that they can put their branding and logo on all materials that they use to deliver their donations. For instance, the machine can put the logo on a crate holding the donated items. They can also donate items featuring the business’ logo, which was etched using the machine.
Use Branded Packaging
New businesses should also make their brand recognizable by using branded packaging. Customer experience starts with the packaging product has when it is delivered. Businesses should make sure to customize the packaging to make it stand out in the market. This allows customers to recognize the brand once they see the package.
Combining the packaging and its CSR activities will increase brand awareness as consumers will associate the help the business provides with its products in the market. With this, they will tend to patronize the business’s products due to the good things they did for the community.
It may reach a point where the market will recognize the brand logo even if the business’s name is not emblazoned on the packaging. At this point, the business can say it was successful in its brand awareness campaign in the market.
Focus on Authenticity
Being authentic is crucial to promote positive brand awareness for a business. When they implement digital marketing activities, businesses should show an authenticity that customers can easily perceive. Businesses should show their human side, especially when they interact with their customers. This encourages customers to connect with the brand and patronize the products and services that they offer in the market.
Increasing brand awareness in the market during a pandemic can be challenging. But if businesses consider what their customers see and feel, they can increase their chances of making their brand recognizable to their target market.
