61. What is Top of Mind Awareness?
Are you and your business Top of Mind?
If I say computer: what is the first brand that comes to mind? For me Apple, it just so happens that I am an Apple fan, love how intuitive it is and the design and how everything perfectly connects with everything.
If I say car: what is the first brand that comes to mind? For me Volkswagen… my dream car is to have one of those VW Microbuses, that looks like the old ones, but maybe the new electric one.
If I say fast food: what is the first brand that comes to mind? For me it is McDonald’s, I grew up eating that, I haven’t eaten anything there in years, but it is still the best representation of what fast food is. Funny, I asked my youngest son, as I I just told you we rarely eat there, as a matter of fact the first time he ate there he wanted to order “Schnitzel mit Pommes” (cutlet with french fries)... so I asked him the question of the fast food and he said: “Dönner”, which is like a gyros on bread, but turkish.
If I say coolest school drop-out billionaire? Sir Richard Branson!! Not only has he used his Personal Brand to create a crazy array of businesses, but also by himself probably one of the most admirable Personal Brands on how he lives his life and the impact he makes.
Anyway the point of this exercise is that once you are presented with a prompt for a product or a service… which is the first Brand or Personal Brand that comes to mind?
That is what we call TOP OF MIND AWARENESS or TOMA, for short.
Top of Mind Awareness can be divided in two:
Brand recognition: this relates to whether a person is presented with your Brand logo for a business or your face for a Personal Brand and people are able to identify what they do, who they are.
Brand recall: refers to whether a person is able to remember your business or person from their memory when asked for the category of business in which you are active. Like the previous example.
BENEFITS OF RANKING HIGH ON TOP OF MIND AWARENESS
If your Brand or Personal Brand ranks high in your category of product or service in your market segment, this means that people will instinctively think of you when needing to purchase or book the kind of service that you offer.
Brand recognition leads to being able to charge higher prices, it helps you convey more professionalism.
It will help you position yourself or your business as an Expert in your field.
It impacts on how consumers make decisions. If your brand has a good reputation, they will be more likely to purchase from you, even if they have never actually been your client before.
It will promote Brand Loyalty.
¿CAN TOP OF MINE BE NEGATIVE?
Yes, Top of Mind Awareness could be negative, for bad reasons, like if the brand has been involved in a scandal or has a bad reputation…In my mind, McDonalds is not top of mind on Fast Food Category for a good reason. You can think for example of oil companies with large oil spills causing large environmental issues, like BP.
In summary, you need to STAND OUT. You need to be MEMORABLE.
Can you do it with “same as everyone else’s” visual branding? I don’t say it is impossible…but think about this…how can you stand out, if you are using the same photos, same type of templates, same kind of “faceless videos” as everyone else?
HOW CAN YOU BUILD TOP OF MIND RECOGNITION?
Stand out through a consistent visual brand (read this article here) use consistent style of photos, brand colors, fonts, tone of voice.
Show your face, it is important that customers recognize you as the face of your brand (read this article here).
Make sure that the visual brand has the level of quality that you want to convey to your customers. If it doesn’t look professional, it will be hard to position yourself as someone who knows what they are doing.
Be available through different touchpoints in which your ideal client will be active. There are many different options, from Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Search Engines like Google, through your own created content on your website, Pinterest, or YouTube for example. But also Meetups, Conferences, or Networking events. The more they see you, the more they will remember you.
Provide an outstanding Customer Experience all along with the service you provide when selling your product or service. Think about all the instances in which a customer that buys your product will come into contact with you or with anyone who works for you. Do you have standards on how customers will be treated? How will they be greeted? How will you handle questions? Or even complaints? Is there a follow-up after the delivery? Happy customers are great to recommend you and expand your Brand with others.
Create an emotional connection. People don’t want to be sold to, people want solutions to their problems, people want to work with (or buy from) brands they know, like, and trust. It is said that people buy for emotional reasons, but justify them with logic…after the fact.
Have a motto or slogan that reflects your brand. In my case it is: “Your life is a story that deserves to be told”, but of course, there are much more famous ones, some of my favorites are:
> Nike: Just do it!
> Mastercard: There are some things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.
> Disneyland: The happiest place on Earth
> Apple: Think different
> Airbnb: Belong anywhere
> Honda: The power of dreams
> Puma: We are forever faster.
Loyalty and Referral programs are great to motivate your current clients to do repeat business with you, but also to be your Brand ambassadors, by spreading the word about how great your products and services are.
Online advertising or the “good old online ads” are, at a cost, a great way to more rapidly reach a larger base of potential customers. I always recommend though, to have already established an Email Marketing system which will allow you to capture all those potential customer email addresses in a platform that is your own, outside the Social Media Platforms.
Sponsorships are great, especially if you have a regional customer base, it can help showcase your brand in events that are attended by your potential customers.
If you think about it, many of the points above require some degree of Visual Branding Quality and Consistency to help promote recognition. If this is one of the things you struggle with in your business, you are not alone.
Even though, the MOST EFFECTIVE visual content used by businesses to market their products and services is ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND GRAPHICS, the BIGGEST STRUGGLE for businesses and brands in regards to marketing their businesses? Is to consistently create this content. (source)
If you need help creating more Original content for your business, join my Smartphone Photography Course the next time it launches:
Hi! I’m Blanca!
I’m a Brand Photographer and Personal Branding Coach, helping female entrepreneurs to create a Personal Brand online that STANDS OUT.
I bring your vision to life, help you come up with one and take you by the hand into the online World if you need me to.