3 Low-Budget Ways To Spread Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is a straightforward concept. If people are aware of your brand, then the likelihood of gaining customers increases. When someone knows that your company exists, they’re way more likely to contact you if they need what you provide. This leads to the question; how can you spread brand awareness? 

Realistically, there are lots of different things you can do. However, some cost a lot more than others. While you want to spread as much awareness as possible, you must be conscious of how much money you spend. So, you’ll be over the moon to know that there are plenty of low-budget (and minimal effort) ways to increase brand awareness. Here are three to help you get started: 

Branded Clothing

Make your employees wear branded clothing when they’re at work. Instantly, you increase brand awareness by getting your logo out there into the public eye. The beauty of this idea is that you can make some really nice personalised hoodies that your team can wear when they’re on lunch – or just out away from work. Here, they spread brand awareness by showing off your logo, displaying contact details, etc. Everyone that sees them will see your brand – it’s so effortless. Nobody has to do anything other than walk around as normal. The only costs involved are the initial ones when manufacturing the hoodies. You could even hand these out as free gifts to customers, so they can advertise your company for you!

Signage

That’s right, something as simple as a sign can help you spread loads of brand awareness. Upgrade the signage outside your business premises so more people are forced to stop and take a look. An impressive sign will turn heads, which means more consumers become aware that your brand exists. In a world where you’re probably sandwiched between loads of other businesses, it’s hard to stand out. Big and bold signs allow you to do this, and with very few costs involved at all. 

Social Media Hashtags

Of course, social media is the most powerful tool when it comes to brand awareness. The reach you have on various social platforms is ridiculous. However, you can improve things by utilising social media hashtags. Hashtags are basically keywords that people can search for. They go into Twitter or Instagram and search for specific phrases or words. Then, they’re presented with all the posts that use these hashtags. Already, you can see how this will spread more brand awareness. If you use hashtags in your posts, then you open your business up to all the users that also use those hashtags or the ones that are searching for them. Without them, your post would probably only be seen by your followers. Just make sure you choose hashtags that relate to your business, target market, and the post itself. For example, if you were to tweet about social media marketing, then use hashtags like #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing, and so on. Also, one last note, don’t overdo it with your hashtags. You can use more than one, but there’s a point where you go from effective to too many. 

All of these ideas are very cheap ways for you to spread brand awareness. The last one doesn’t cost a penny, but the other two only include initial costs to pay for the sign or clothing. Hardly any effort is involved either, which makes these ideas perfect for small businesses without much time to dedicate to marketing. 

Five Simple Social Media Tips For The Construction Industry

The construction industry is often very traditional and can be slow to embrace new technology or business methods. However, competition in the industry is high, and those new methods can be important tools to help you stand out from the competition. Construction businesses need to embrace social media to do this. Here’s how you can do it. 

1. Post regularly. It can be hard to post as often as you should, but regularly posting, whether that’s on Twitter or Facebook, can be a big help. Most social media users are following hundreds of other accounts, so your posts will be buried in the newsfeed pretty quickly. If you want people to see your posts, you should aim to post three to five times a week on Facebook and even more frequently on Twitter. Assign this task to a social media savvy employee, employ a specialist or hire an agency to do this. If you’re struggling for content, you can share reviews, industry news, and information about the services and products you use whether that’s sharing the results of a finished project or your suggestions for the best dredging pump.
2. Stick to one or two social media platforms. There are a lot of platforms available now and trying to be present on them all will leave you spread too thin. Instead, focus on one on two platforms when you’re starting out so you can better keep up with your accounts. Claim usernames on all the major platforms so you have them if you need them later, but focus your first efforts on the platforms where your customers spend the most time. You can add more platforms as you get used to creating content for social media.
3. Mix up your content in your posts. It can be hard to know what to post, and most businesses just focus on self-promotion, creating a feed that can be dull to read. Around half of your content should be promoting your business and the rest should be something else. Share news, inspiration or humor that is relevant to your industry. Think outside the box too; all sorts of things can be made relevant. For example, you might be a construction company but you can show the human side of your team by sharing jokes about the industry, or posts about working outdoors and how best to deal with that. 
4. Take before and after images of your work. One of the best forms of content for construction companies is before and after images. Get permission of the property owners before sharing, but they can be a great way to showcase what you can do. If you share these images with your customers that you did the work for, they might share them with friends and family, getting your company in front of more pairs of eyes with positive feedback. 
5. Encourage your employees to follow you. When you first start posting on social media, it can be hard to start building a following and get any engagement on your accounts. Start by encouraging your employees to follow and engage with you on social media. Their interaction will push your company into other people’s timelines and newsfeeds, letting them know that you’re out there. Share your accounts with your staff, and add links to everyone’s email signatures so people know you have these accounts. 

Corporate Gifts: FAQ

Corporate gifts can be a valuable tool for any business, but the subject is often surrounded by misunderstandings, confusion, or a simple lack of awareness of the numerous benefits gifts can bring to a business. To help bring some clarity to the matter, here’s a look at the most common questions business owners tend to ask about the world of corporate gifts… 

What are corporate gifts?

Corporate gifts are products that are sent by a company to, most commonly, clients or customers of their business. Sometimes, corporate gifts can be used for promotional purposes, such as included in “goody bags” at a trade show. 

What is the purpose of corporate gifts? 

Corporate gifts are, at their core, designed to provide genuine thanks to the recipient – usually for their custom of the business giving the gift. This can mean gifting in order to welcome a new client to the business, or – most commonly – gifting to a long-standing client to thank them for their loyalty and continued patronage. The hope is that the recipient will feel pleased to receive the gift and aware that the company who sent the gift genuinely does appreciate their involvement with the business. 

In addition, corporate gifts can also help to strengthen relationships with clients or customers, which can be conducive to a successful long-term relationship. Corporate gifts can also have promotional benefits thanks to branding, with gifts often including a logo for the providing business. Finally, corporate gifts offer the ability to help a business enhance their reputation for being the kind of company who shows genuine appreciation for their customers – which will always reflect well on the culture of the company itself.

What are the options for corporate gifts?

Any item can be a corporate gift, but there are a few popular options to consider. Flowers and perishable items – such as food hampers – can be a good choice. Another option is to focus on products that are inherently useful to the recipient, such as Bluetooth speakers from the likes of dynamicgift.co.nz, stationery, office items, or flash drives; products that everyone tends to use, and will always be incredibly happy to receive. 

Is there anything that needs to be avoided when it comes to corporate gifts? 

Gifts should always be culturally sensitive where appropriate, so it’s helpful to research the intended recipient and take note of anything that you may need to keep in mind in this regard. What’s more, try to ensure the gifts are reasonable in price and proportionate; essentially, avoid “going overboard” when making your selection – choose nice, useful gifts that you’re sure the client will appreciate, but avoid anything too outlandish. 

Should you use corporate gifts in your business?
Realistically, the benefits corporate gifts can bring to businesses mean that offering gifts is always worth considering. You’ll need to set a budget, choose your intended recipients, and then choose gifts that offer the simultaneous ability to be useful to the receiver while also bolstering your business’ visibility, reputation, and relationships with customers and clients. If all of these goals are met, then you should find that corporate gifts can be a hugely successful tool for your business.