Building Brand Recognition for Your Small Business
As a small to medium-sized business, people may not be as familiar with your brand as they are with bigger companies. You have the power to change that.
When patients or clients search for a healthcare professional in your field, you want to be the first practice that they think of and choose to purchase products and services from or book an appointment with. Brand visibility gets you recognized and remembered by people.
Brand Recognition Strategies
As people begin to recognize your practice’s brand, you establish yourself as an authority figure in your industry and gain the trust of your clients. Let your brand stand out from the local competition by using effective brand recognition strategies. Here are a few ways to become more identifiable among your target audience.
1. Use your logo in all marketing materials.
Consistency is one of the key elements in becoming more recognizable. People should be able to identify you just by looking at your logo or whatever graphic is associated with your business.
Designing a logo that accurately represents your brand and sticking with it will help patients or clients be more familiar with who you are. Try to avoid switching between multiple logos because it can cause confusion for your clients.
Unless you are completely rebranding, the logo that you choose should be the one included in all marketing materials and social platforms as well. This includes:
- Blog posts
- Newsletter articles
- Website
- E-signature
- Videos
- Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
- Printed marketing material
The more you utilize your logo, the more people will be able to pick out your practice’s name from the crowd.
2. Tell your story.
People love to know more about the brands they choose to support with their business. Give them more insight into who you are and what you do or stand for.
Storytelling gives your patients or clients a sense of intimacy because they get to know your brand as well as the people behind the scenes.
Get personal and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. How did you get your start in the industry? How did you build your practice from the ground up? How have you changed the life of one of your patients or clients?
People don’t just relate to a brand, they relate to those that keep the brand alive. Allow them to know you and they’ll begin to trust you.
3. Provide excellent customer service.
Besides providing great products and services, what’s something else most businesses want to be known for? If you said excellent customer service, you were right! Customer service can either make or break your business.
If people do not have a pleasant experience when they come to visit your office, they will not return. There is also a great chance that they will tell others about their experience and deter them from visiting you as well.
Tarnishing your practice’s name is something that can take years to repair and that’s why it’s important to make sure people get the best service possible every time they come in for an appointment.
Every member of your staff should do what they can to encourage your clients or patients to come back for another visit. Some examples of how you can provide unparalleled customer service are:
- Maintain a positive attitude
- Respond to customer concerns in a timely manner
- Always be professional
- Personalize your products and services
- Be willing to help customers problem solve
To put it as simply as possible, if you want your brand to be recognized as one that prioritizes its clients, actively listen to their wants and needs. Be mindful that everyone is different and wants something different from you. When you listen to what your patients or clients want from you, work towards providing them with just that and more.
4. Use pay-per-click advertisements.
Pay-per-click ads, or PPC, are an efficient and effective method to get your name and brand in the face of your targeted demographic. Using Google Ads to reach your ideal clients is useful in helping to put your business out there.
Take advantage of Google’s paid ads in order to be seen by potential clients or patients that may not know about your local practice. When using PPC, be strategic about what message you include in your ad copy.
Create a compelling message that also focuses on what you have to offer along with how it will be beneficial to them. Your message has to interest them enough to click on your ad and enter your website in order to increase web traffic which in turn increases ROI.
How to Measure Brand Recognition
So, once your brand becomes more recognizable, how do you measure brand awareness? There are multiple ways that you can do this including:
- Website Traffic –
When you check your website analytics, Google shares a direct channel number that shows you the number of people who have searched for your website’s URL or used a browser bookmark. Essentially Google will include these visits in the direct traffic category if it doesn’t know exactly how someone arrived on your site. You can monitor this number over time and see how it fluctuates to measure awareness. - Social Listening –
Social listening is when you monitor your brand’s social channels for any mention of you, whether it’s your products, services, or any words that are relevant to your brand. The volume of your mentions can be determined by adding up the number of times your brand has been mentioned on social media without specifically using your business’s username. This number gives an insight into how often people are talking about you on social platforms. - Surveys –
When you receive someone’s email address, you can conduct a survey by email for new and existing subscribers. Ask how they heard of your business and this will give you an idea of how many people can recall where they recognize your brand from.
Brand Awareness
It may take some time, but as your practice begins to implement these brand recognition strategies, and actively work towards reaching more people in your local community, you’ll become a well-known business in no time.
If you’re looking for more in-depth information on how to build your brand, contact us today!
